I’m unhappy in my new house and regret buy it now.

[CountryGirl17]

I recently moved out of a rented house that I lived in for 6 years. It was a small house with lots of compromising features that made it difficult to live in sometimes, especially for entertaining but I was really happy there. When I moved to the area for work, it was that house which anchored me, it’s all know and I have great memories there of my life over the years. My neighbours were great too. I feel really sentimental about it. And, when I moved out it was in better condition than when I first moved in. My landlord was happy!

To get on the property ladder, I exchanged last month and after serving notice on the rental, I’ve now been in the new house for about three weeks. The only compromise was that it is in the next village from the town I left which I liked living in and has a small driveway.

Since moving in I must say I hate it. Firstly, I feel very unsettled and it doesn’t help that I’ve been in a new job too.

The new house is a quaint cottage but the unusual layout that I thought was attractive when I viewed it, is annoying me now and the bathroom is downstairs. The laminate floors are horrible and my TVs don’t fit anywhere. At the moment I’m eating off my lap like a student and not a professional adult, until the dining room is finished. It’s much colder than my last house, the street noice is loud and there are noises inside that I’m unfamiliar with too.

I’ve also discovered that I have rats living in my loft and had pest control have been out twice, which last night they pulled one dead rat out of the loft. There is another one they couldn’t find. It was disgusting. I feel despite my house being clean it feels feral to me now. I truly hate being in the house knowing these pests have been here. This pest issue is also costing me a lot of money.

I’m sat here now in my living room and feeling fed up. I’d love to be sat in my other living room in the old house where I feel safe, secure and to know that my lovely neighbours are there and without the rats.

Has anyone else been through this or can recommend ways to feel happier, as I’d really appreciate it. I hate this feeling of regretting such a big decision to buying this house. Everyone else who’s visited me loves it but me.
Thank you x

I felt the same about my house when we had a rat problem. They just kept coming back!

Rather than using a firm that just lays a couple traps, try one which finds and blocks the access points to keep them out for good. We had full exterior and interior rat proofing - it was expensive but it's been a year now with no trace of a rat and I feel so much more relaxed! We're London based and used Pestology but I imagine there will be something similar wherever you are.

The pest controller should be able to catch your rats. When caught they need to establish how they got in and ensure it’s blocked. This may take a couple of weeks, but once done, will be done forever.

Think back to what you liked when viewing the house - it’s also all yours, you’re not paying someone rent.

You’ve done one of the most traumatic things by moving house and to throw in a new job is very stressful. Can you do one thing a week for the next few months to give yourself something positive to look forward to? By the time they are done, the rats should be gone and you may start to enjoy the house.

Perhaps confide in some local friends and family how you are feeling. Maybe they'll offer to help you decorate and point out the good features. And start inviting people over, even if its for tea in the garden, start making memories. Draw up a wish list of changes you'd like to make when you have the cash.

The rats are a bummer, I think professional pest control is the way to go. We moved into our first house and it had fleas, and what's worse is we only had an air mattress on the floor to sleep on. I bought all these flea bombs but in the end paid a pest controller to come and spray the industrial stuff and they were gone.

Most houses have an unpleasant surprise when you move in. My current one has plumbing that leaks and its usually on bank Holidays when plumbers charge extra. But if you have a secure roof over your head, and you've been able to buy, then you are the envy of many.

I could have written your post OP, I cannot settle in new house and have also inherited a rat problem from the previous owners🤮 We had entry points blocked 6 weeks after moving in, but started hearing them again, we are now having a drain survey by the Rat Detectors, it’s all been very £££, and I have phobia of them so no surprise I haven’t settled.
Hopefully your rat problem will be easier to fix, do you think previous owners were aware?

my plan is to hang on for another 18 months and then sell, as I fear it might be difficult to sell so soon after buying.

You just need time to get used to it! Many of the little things that bother you can be sorted. The rats will be got rid of, you can change the flooring in time and if you really can’t get used to the bathroom being downstairs, that too can be eventually changed. It’s fun to have a project and something to work towards. A perfect house, with nothing to change can be very dull. Striving for better is what keeps us going!

I don't want to be mean, OP, but if this minor life experience has you this unsettled, you'd better go and live in a monastery. You've bought a house, for goodness sake, not suffered some kind of tragedy. Try to get it into perspective.

I’ve lived in my house for 20 years and we have rats. They’re endemic where I live and I live in a very expensive area. When I hear them I just roll my eyes and leave them to it. I never see them (my cats can’t get at them which drives my cats mad).

It takes time to get used to a new house. Mine was a total dump when I bought it and now it’s beautifu. 3 months is nothing. I think I took about a year to like mine!

Get yourself a cat for the pests, introduce yourself to the neighbours, get some big rugs for the floors, wall mount your TV

Oh my this feeling is so common! Rats - awful but resolvable as PPs said.

I always think properties look lovely at viewings but awful when you turn up after having completed. You can see all the scuff marks etc on the walls that were perhaps hidden with furniture before. Give yourself time to make it your home.

Personally I’ve bought twice and found theres always an element of buyers remorse for me. The new mortgage size alone is terrifying and it’s (I assume) the largest purchase we’ll ever make so normal to feel on edge after spending that much money!

I don’t love the home I’m in now (cried when I moved in) but I try and remind myself of the positives on why I bought it (ie close to the tube, easy commute, lovely garden) and not the negatives.

Buyers remorse, don't worry, it will pass

I felt the same when we moved into our current house. There was, and still is, a lot of work that needs doing, all of which became glaringly apparent after we moved in. I had a 5 month old baby and felt very alone. We also had rats which made me hate the house even more. It took a while for me to settle into the house but the thing that's really made me love the house, and the area, was making new friends nearby. You will get there but change can be difficult. Don't be so hard on yourself. Sometimes I think people expect to move into a house and it become a dream home overnight. That often doesn't happen until you've had time to make memories in it, or you've worked on it and put some of yourself into the house.

Just out of interest, how many times have you called out pest control? Surely they could have laid down traps and rat poison for the pests' they could not find the first time around

I completed 10 days ago after having rented for years. The house is relatively cheap for my area. The road it is is is really neighbourly and friendly. I found out I already know lots of people already.
Having said that it was absolutely FIlTHY when I moved in. No rats but the previous owner has three pug dogs that she allowed to urinate all over the carpets. I am still finding dog hairs everywhere and had to rip up the carpets. This wasn’t obvious when I viewed and it seemed clean.
I am feeling very unsettled. It is much smaller than my rental but it is mine and I am sure in time I will feel settled. I think it takes a good year.

@CountryGirl17 I sympathise. We've just moved (from bought house to another bought so not from rented), nice neighborhood before we were just wanting a change because we'd had a lot of family trauma where we lived & so moved a long way from our last house with dreams of starting a new life.
All started off ok, but it's turned sour very quickly now we've discovered how awful the neighbours are, just by asking someone to move 3 feet up the road so we could access our gate, this person called me "stupid" & talked to my DH like shit, now 4 households aren't talking to us because this person has just gone telling people some rubbish or another & they've all just jumped on the hate waggon. It's like being at school honestly. It's incredibly hostile & also scarily irrational.

It's absolutely horrific & we've only been there for 4 weeks.
I'm actually away at the moment because the atmosphere is thick with animosity.
I'm sure these people haven't considered the impact on us having just moved in, just over a fucking parking space.
I'm getting the vibe like these families who hate each other for generations because of something someone's grandchild did, except no-one remembers what it was but they all hate one another anyway.

Anyway what I wanted to say is hold your ground, this is a new situation & it'll get better. You need to "zoom out" - the things like the rats in 3 years or so won't matter, much like these neighbours of mine, because either they'll just get used to us being there or we'll have moved because we won't want to be there. And the little things that are bugging you now seem bigger than they are because you're "in it" right now. If you see what I mean.

I have moved to this l didn't see in the first place only were force to leave the rental and husband purposes a old 1930s property over looks close in the garden and hear everything so far from travelling to work and when feeling the. Vibe . You vather rather be at work then home that's not good my husband loves the country l don't feel happy rather be at work . What canl do

I have just sold my 'move to house' that I hated from week 2.. tried to give it time but just couldn't settle, noise neighbours, repairs and responsibilities of ownership made me miserable. Im off to a rented property that i could never afford to buy and i cant wait. I'll invest the very decent profit I made in the three years I was here. You know your heart. Give it time but not too long