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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To pay over the odds to secure a forever home?

44 replies

Pineapplepiepie · 24/08/2021 22:22

We have a property we love (over £1m). There isn't much competition, but there is another interested buyer and if we took our sweet time over it, there is a possibility (however remote) that they would offer an amount such that it becomes out of our budget.

AIBU to offer more than I think it's worth on the basis it is a forever home, so even if it might be priced more per square meter it doesn't matter at the end of the day because I will live in it and raise my family there and so who cares if others buy properties down the road for more of a bargain?

OP posts:

Tilly18101 · 24/08/2021 22:24

Not the same value, but my husband and I paid £35k over asking to secure our forever home due to the competition for it.

It still needs another £100k spending on it, but we love it and cannot ever imagine moving.

WorraLiberty · 24/08/2021 22:25

YANBU, this is how house buying works. Tthe cost of the house is irrelevant as long as you can afford what you're offering.

Obviously, the other buyer may up their offer too.

MrsTulipTattsyrup · 24/08/2021 22:31

Just remember that you’ll have to be sure that your mortgage provider is happy that the LTV is still within their parameters.

RyanReynoldsHusband · 24/08/2021 22:41

What a nice humble brag. Did we need to know the house cost over £1m to answer your question?

AmazinglyGraceless · 24/08/2021 22:43

Pay £2m hun. U know best xxxx

wonderstuff · 24/08/2021 22:43

If you can afford that and are happy then YANBU. A house is always going to be worth the value of a house at the end of the day, if you don't move it's academic.

Original poster

Pineapplepiepie · 24/08/2021 22:46

Sorry I wasnt trying to brag I just feel scared already of the mortgage (my DH not my own ability by any stretch of the imagination) and I would be happy where we are...

OP posts:

peachcherries · 24/08/2021 22:57

I know you weren't bragging Op, it's reality. If you can afford it then absolutely. Friends shudder at our mortgage but we can afford it and it's all relative. If it increase means an impact on your lifestyle, I would say no. Good luck

WorraLiberty · 24/08/2021 23:02

I live in a shit area and yet 1 million won't buy you anything too fancy here, so I know it wasn't a brag.

But you must know that's how house buying works?

Bells3032 · 24/08/2021 23:03

We ended up offering asking price on the day we saw the house we loved. We'd seen loads of other properties and didn't like any of them. Then we saw this one and tell in love. We may have paid a bit over the odds but don't care. We are happy here. No regrets

Original poster

Pineapplepiepie · 24/08/2021 23:05

Really happy to see other people willing to pay over the odds!!!

I basically told DH i really like it. He worked out its more than its worth but he wanted to get it because I loved it as our forever home...

Just feel guilty I guess...

OP posts:

minipie · 24/08/2021 23:05

The value of a house is what someone will pay for it. Which depends on how many people are interested at the time of sale and what their means are.

If you can pay £x, think you need to pay £x to secure it, and are willing to do so, then £x is what it is worth

Babyroobs · 24/08/2021 23:10

@RyanReynoldsHusband

What a nice humble brag. Did we need to know the house cost over £1m to answer your question?

Could end up as a Daily mail story - they are just obsessed with house prices.

RoomOfRequirement · 24/08/2021 23:10

This is exactly how buying a house should work! I honestly found it refreshing to read this as opposed to the usual whining about a person's property not increasing in value fast enough for them or about the resale values. I remember a video I saw, someone was asked 'what are all these people supposed to do with negative equity'? And his response was 'Live in it?'.

As long as you can afford the repayments, you have a house. It doesn't matter what others are prepared to spend later if it's your forever home.

gardeninggirl68 · 24/08/2021 23:13

its not your "forever home" until its paid for though is it?

anything could happen.....job loss, bereavement,relationship breakdown.....its just somewhere to live, the bank own it!

why bother about other people though,dont understand your thinking there, just get on with it?

HeddaGarbled · 24/08/2021 23:22

I think the ‘forever home’ concept is cynical marketing by professionals designed to exploit the sentimentality of buyers.

I think if the size of the mortgage is scaring you, you should listen to this sensible inner voice and resist the lure of the above.

The future is unpredictable (especially in the housing market right now!) ‘Forever’ could actually only be until the crash, or your life circumstances change.

TartanJumper · 24/08/2021 23:38

If you can afford it, then yes.
Set a red line, though. Don't enter into a bidding war.

ThePants999 · 25/08/2021 00:18

We paid well over the odds for our home, to make sure we secured it. At first I slightly resented that, but after five years here it's all forgotten. We're just enjoying living here, and what we paid is irrelevant as we'll be here another 20 years.

Hellotoallmyfans · 25/08/2021 00:24

Of course YANBU. We paid £25k over the asking price 20 years ago to see off the competition - the house is worth over double what we paid for it now. It's par for the course when house buying.

emilylily · 25/08/2021 00:28

You could spend £500k on a house and £500k on helping starving people instead- that might make you feel less guilty!

ViciousJackdaw · 25/08/2021 00:36

Oh God, you don't buy into all that 'forever home' crap do you? Saddling yourselves with a mortgage which you can ill afford on two salaries, let alone one doesn't seem like a great way to maintain a healthy marriage.

altiara · 25/08/2021 00:57

YANBU to pay more to secure the house you want.
YWBU to pay over the odds if you cannot afford it.

At the end of the day, you may plan to live there forever but plans change and then you might need to/be forced to look at the house as an investment.
So I’d say do that now- look at it as an investment (What would happen if one of you could not work? What would happen if you divorced? will you be able to sell it reasonably quickly? Will it go up in value at the same rate as others in the area?) and a forever home and make sure both boxes are ticked.

bananamushy · 25/08/2021 01:13

If you can afford it & don't care about not increasing value etc then go for it.

PurpleOkapi · 25/08/2021 01:35

I'd do this if I could comfortably afford it and it was worth it to me. When you're buying a home to live in, rather than to flip for a profit, it doesn't matter what "the market" thinks it's worth. It only matters what it's worth to you personally.

Guineapigbridge · 25/08/2021 01:46

Nothing matters to me more than the home I live in and the people that live in it. The quality and location of your home contribute massively to well-being. They're not something to be skimped on. Chances are you won't regret it.
A mortgage is just a contract. Banks have no interest in seeing you default. They'll always prioritise compromise solutions if things turn to shit like one of you losing a job or whatever.

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