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House buying - how quickly did you know?

51 replies

nikkylou · 16/05/2018 22:47

We're looking at buying houses. We saw one yesterday. We haven't viewed very many in the grand scheme of things anyway (but lots on rightmove!).

How quickly did you know it was the right one?

The one we have seen is very different from the rest, and we haven't actually seen anything else like it - its a four year old new build coach house!

I love it buy so scared I've not considered everything.

OP posts:
Thehop · 16/05/2018 22:48

Sounds like you’ve found the one!

WeWere0nABreak · 16/05/2018 22:51

I worked in an estate agency for many years. IMO you know as soon as you walk in - it's an emotional decision as well as a practical one. I could tell within seconds whether 99/100 people were keen. Good luck!

CaliforniaDream · 16/05/2018 22:52

I knew right away. We only looked at our house and one other. I HATED the other one because it wasn't 'ours' (i.e. The first one we saw). I made my parents and DH's parents view it to be sure but I knew as soon as I walked in.

SmilingButClueless · 16/05/2018 22:52

When I saw it on Rightmove, before I’d actually viewed it Blush

I’d no intention of buying anything for a couple of years...

Mollypolly2610 · 16/05/2018 22:54

We were looking on rightmove. Saw one we liked, viewed it and didn’t like it. Couple of days later saw another one, viewed it and put in an offer straight away which was accepted.
You might regret not getting your one.

ISeeTheLight · 16/05/2018 22:56

Before we even viewed it. We'll, ours is a new build but the development has a show home of the same type. The layout and size was just perfect for us, we had quite specific requirements as DP works from home and needed office space.

Bluntness100 · 16/05/2018 22:57

The vendors had placed a video of it on the estate agents website. I knew as soon as I saw it.

Due to moving countries we viewed about ten houses in two days. It was the last one. My husband and daughter loved the one before it, and I liked it and could have lived there happily, but this was always rhe one and as soon as we drove up, we all knew.. Total heart over head.

However I've bought houses thay I haven't loved before. Because they were simply the best for what we could afford and were practical. This is the first one i fell in love with.

OhTheRoses · 16/05/2018 22:57

Instantly. On the drive or within seconds of entering.

User467 · 16/05/2018 22:58

When I walked in the front door.

We'd looked at about 7 before it and we're trying to argue ourselves into thinking they were okay but then saw this one and new immediately.

shadesofwinter · 16/05/2018 22:59

We've bought twice and both times we both knew within seconds of walking in the door.

nikkylou · 16/05/2018 22:59

I'm concerned it won't last us long. I have no children yet, but can see it working with one small child.

Its ready for us as a couple now though whereas the terraced houses we've seen, i fear we'll rattle around for years before we fill it and need to do loads of work.

I can see it working for 5 - 7 years, but first homes dont have to be forever homes? And it meets our needs now, with a little growing room.

But I love it. I think for what we want the older terraces are too big, just so we can have parking.

OP posts:
SpaghettiDinner · 16/05/2018 23:00

I've owned three houses. House 1 and 3 I knew the instant I walked through the door and I didn't care that we had to pay full asking price to secure them. It was worth it.

House 2 I bought because it seemed like s good choice and I got it £40k under asking price.

Guess which house I hated living in?!

'The feeling' is real!

Bluntness100 · 16/05/2018 23:01

If you love it buy it, Because you will always be thinking of it at the back of your mind if you buy something you don't love as much.

FASH84 · 16/05/2018 23:05

We'd seen about ten, had an offer accepted on another one but were gazumped by a BTL landlord. I knew with our current house when I walked in and as soon as I stepped into the garden there was no question. It is an emotional response, I got a feeling here I didn't get elsewhere even the house we lost!

nikkylou · 16/05/2018 23:09

Bluntness,;You're right. I know we'll move in all our stuff into another house, and think we've got two empty bedrooms to fill, and no real stuff (or people to fill them with).

This house would be perfect for us now and has flexibility to allow us to start a family! Not to stay forever but to start!

OP posts:
Seren85 · 16/05/2018 23:13

Took two views for me. We went to see it because I was intrigued by the slightly odd layout of the kitchen. DH fell in love with it right away but I was reticent. It needed more work than I wanted to do really. But we went again and he's mentally moving in furniture and talking about how "well this would be baby's room" (hopefully in the future) and how perfect the garden is and things we could do to improve certain rooms without a total renovation. I fell in love with it the second time, having considered it both objectively and subjectively. But then I'm incredibly risk averse.

ThreeJoeys · 16/05/2018 23:14

When we were looking at the house and driving into the tree lined estate. We knew right away. We did put an offer on another house but the seller even though he called us personally to say it was ours decided to sell it to the other buyer for more the next morning! And he lost that buyer and tried to get us back, but we were set on the smaller house in the beautiful estate and we love it here Smile

WindDoesNotBreakTheBendyTree · 16/05/2018 23:16

I have spent longer trying to choose a pair of socks than I did choosing our house.

We went for a walk, with no house purchase plans, saw a house we liked the look of, viewed it next day for a laugh and were moving in 6 weeks later. Still there 14 years later.

DarthArts · 16/05/2018 23:17

I've bought 8 houses over the years.

Each time I've felt about 60% certain it's the one from the details alone.

About 90% after the first viewing.

However I always go back for a second viewing - this time with my "devils advocate" head on.

By which I mean I'm looking for reasons not to buy it. I look past all the things that made me like it in the first place and try and search for reasons not to buy.

Did I look at the neighbours property? Is there a crack at the back of that built in cupboard? Are the floors level? What's the roof look like? Can I see in the attic? Is the cupboard under the stairs musty/damp? Are the windows all in good condition - ie not just painted but not filled and a cosmetic job etc etc

I make sure I go at a different time of day. Houses that can seem cosy in early evening can be dark and gloomy in daytime for example. What's the traffic like in the area etc

It's a big investment to to your heart rule your head.

Out of 8 properties I've had 2, that despite my initial feelings I finally rejected after a second "hard" viewing and I've no regrets. On the 2 I passed on I ended up with properties I loved even more.

So overall it's a home (unless you are an investor) and personally I think you should love a property. If for no other reason, if you do, others likely will also which is good for resale.

But keep your cool and really think hard about what you love vs all the negatives (and there always are some). Moving is expensive so tbh I'd always try and find something that will give you flexibility for the future (I know that's a bit odd from me with 8 moves so far, but some were deliberately bought to fix up and improve within a few years).

NotSureThisIsWhatIWant · 16/05/2018 23:22

For the first one... we saw 3 houses, for the second one... 31 (but we still manage to fall in love with it to a point of talking about putting an offer down even before we saw the first floor Blush

I suppose that, as with relationships, you just know Grin

NeedForBlossom · 16/05/2018 23:26

Had been sent loads of details, hadn't gone to look at any. Someone at work showed me the ad in the paper and I was interested.

Walked in the front door, through the conservatory (on the side of the house), and as we walked into the garden I was doing the thumbs up sign to DH who was behind me.

Hadn't seen any of the rest of it but that was enough for us to know! Been here 15 years now and still love it Wink

alwaysiero · 16/05/2018 23:28

With our current house, instantly. When we found out about it it wasn't on the market but was empty. I first saw it on Google maps and fell in love, we wanted a big project so it was perfect. A few stressful months later we were in and absolutely no plans to move.

thefairyfellersmasterstroke · 17/05/2018 00:21

Agree that you know the moment you walk through the door. I felt that with my first and the third, but not the second one. Never felt settled there and only stayed two years. Only trouble was trying to find that feeling again - I looked at 61 houses before I found it! But I knew straight away, and have been here nearly 20 years now.

Ha! Just spotted SpaghettiDinner saying the exact same thing!

Mandalorian · 17/05/2018 00:41

Funny story.... We fell in love with the house on right move. It had a particular unusual feature that both dh and I loved. We did a drive by and called the estate agent. It had been let that day after the owner became disillusioned with selling. We were gutted.
A bit of super sleuthing and we found the owner on social media. I guess she probably thought we were mad contacting her to ask if we could buy her house but she humoured us. We looked at other property but none measured up to this. We waited for over a year but finally she contacted us and offered to meet.

18 months later we got to see it inside (I didn't sleep the night before terrified I wouldn't like it after all this build up). We loved it, discussed an offer in the pub between ourselves and the sale is going through now.

Unconventional way to buy a home I'll give you but sometimes I think you just know, even before you walk through the door. I can close my eyes and picture my life in that house and I'm very very excited.

Good luck nikky!

tigercub50 · 17/05/2018 00:43

With our current house, I loved it as soon as we saw pictures & even more in real life. I am just so happy that everything worked out. I feel more at home here than at our old house.