Did we pay too much?

[DidWePayTooMuch]

NC to post this but mumsnet can confirm I’m a long time member.

please be kind I’m feeling very vulnerable and mentally stressed right now, there is no way I’m doing this for a “stealth boost” as I imagine some posters will say as I’ve seen in similar threads.

so my issue is I feel we paid too much for the house we own right now. We bought it end of 2022 just before the prices fell I believe. I can’t talk to DH about this as he also I think feels this way and all his savings etc. went into this house. He has never worried about money in his entire life but it feels since we got this house he stresses about everything. We have cancelled all our subscriptions and are very frugal with everything now. He was never this stressed in all the years I have known him. I feel stupid and annoyed I talked DH into buying this home and I feel all the neighbours are laughing at us. It’s a new build and a neighbour very bluntly told us he bought his house a year before us and paid £250, 000 LESS than what we paid, I do believe our home is slightly better than his but not by much but it is slightly bigger and has a bigger garden.

I have a sinking feeling that I can’t explain almost everyday I think how stupid we have been. Just for context there have been 3 houses out on sale after we bought and all 3 are still on the market and have reduced prices. I don’t know what I’m looking for in posting this but just wanted it off my chest as I cannot talk to my family or friends as they will just think I’m trying to show off etc. as some are really struggling right now.

I really think we paid £100,000 more than we should have.

You need to find a way to let go of this feeling. One way or another it's done now and there's no going back. It sounds like a lovely house in a lovely area. Let yourself enjoy it.

I felt the same when we bought our house. We did pay too much. The market crashed soon after. 18 years later we're very happily still in the same house and none of those worries seem important now. Life moves on.

It’s done now. You can’t do anything about it so look forwards, and try and enjoy living there. Life is too short to regret every decision. There’s a reason you wanted the house so focus on that.

(And every house I’ve bought I thought shortly afterwards I’d paid too much or made the wrong choice. I hadn’t. You need time and perspective on your decision. House owning is a long game. You’ll look back in a few years and wonder what you were worrying about).

Anyone who buys a home is paying too much. The question you should ask yourself is are you happy with your home.

It's very easy to feel like this. But what was your choice? You sold at the top of the market and bought at the top of the market. You could've sold, then rented and waited for the market to fall but it may not have done quickly and you would've lost money on rent. You can only make the best guess and decision at the time. It'll all work out but don't spoil it by being negative about the house. That would be a waste.

New builds will go down in value a bit, initially because you’re buying something brand new. However, that doesn’t mean the value won’t rise over time. Mortgage rates have decreased again slightly, so house prices may well recover. In the meantime you’re gaining equity in your house, by paying off the mortgage. You could have an estate agent in to value to property, if you want to be more certain of its value.

But I’d say congratulate yourselves on getting on the property ladder and enjoy having your own home!

I think house buying is so so difficult! You always wonder if you could have got it cheaper. In the long run your house will make money. Buying in 2022 was very hard. Houses were selling in days with so many people after them and having to pay thousands over the asking price. Try not to beat yourself up. Take care and enjoy your home.

You need to bear in mind:

• this is a really really long term investment. Forget about prices in 2022!!
• you would not have been offered a mortgage if it was insanely overpriced.

I would be thinking of ways you can boost your income as that will tick all the boxes.

Do you like the house & living there?? You could get an EA to give you a valuation - that could put your mind at rest and/or offer you a prospective on what you might sell for. You’re literally fretting about this now in the worst time to sell In many many years!!

We had this with our last house and paid a high price but then it was in great condition so we didn’t have to spend any money at all on it. We got our current house at a bargain price (and if sold will make lots) but then once we started adding up the amount we have to spend on fixing so many things including electrics, plumbing, new windows, doors etc etc we now regret not buying a nice new build with no renovation costs! You would have saved so much money buying a house ready to live in! (Also Big Mortgage Regret is real for us too as well as renovation costs!)

I would also go to the money saving expert mortgage calculator / your mortgage statement and have a look how much you are paying down your mortgage each year which is money gained, if you decide to move in a few years time you will get this money back from the house sale.

Also definitely don’t underestimate the value of a nice, safe area, this is one thing that can’t be improved by renovations or building work!

unless you are in it for the money or going to sell next week it doesn’t matter. I know on our estate someone brought the same house as ours for 100k more.

I don’t laugh at them or look down. It’s the market nothing I can do or them.

stop overthinking what others think you will be so much happier!

What's done is done although I understand your frustration. We were are on the opposite side. Bought ours for £87000 a good few years ago then a few doors up recently paid £145000.

If you're happy there then you should try and put it out of your mind. You can easily find out exactly what the neighbours paid for theirs on the Land Registry website.

We bought our house at the bottom of the price drop in around 2009. It had also been repossessed, and we paid about half the price the house had already been on for.

I cried the first few nights because it wasn't home. After that I kind of put up with it, but I was not happy for about 6 months.
About 9 months in I realised actually it now was home and felt like it.

I think you've just got cold feet, and you'll love it in a few months.

How much was the house? What percentage cheaper is that 250k?

You're comparing apples and pears. Even if you have the same shell/frame, you may have a different interior that's worth more and a year is a long time in the property market so they could have simply appreciated by that amount in that time.

Have you checked Rightmove sold prices to se what he actually purchased it for?

Also do you have a mortgage? Banks won't let you buy a house for loads more than it's worth.

DF was told during his house purchase that the house was valued at 5k less than the offered sale price so they needed to amend.

This is soooo true, OP.

If you have a mortgage, the surveyor would have done a mortgage valuation.

They are notoriously conservative these days, so you definitely paid in the right ball park, otherwise the surveyor would have red flagged and downvalued jt.

In 5 years time, someone will be looking at what you paid for your house and thinking you were a jammy boomer 💕

I'm surprised the mortgage company agreed the valuation if it was too high.

No they don't. It totally depends on the market.

The price of a house is a bit theoretical. It's only worth what a buyer wants to pay and a seller is prepared to settle for. Try of think of it in monthly terms: you pay x to live there for a month. Are you happy with that?

It's always difficult at the beginning. As the years go on you'll get pay rises and new jobs and such like, and it won't feel so bad. Either that or you will adapt to your new standard of living.

You could get a side gig or try to get a new job with pay rise if it's that bad. But don't worry about house prices.

Of course banks will lend money on overvalued property.

If you're buying a house at £750k and borrowing £400k they don't care that it's actually worth £650k.

My first house was a newbuild, it cost £11,150. The repayments were every penny of my salary and we eked out a living on my husbands very low training salary. I sold it for £24,000 3 years later. I've just looked and the same house is up for £250,000. As long as you can feed yourself and pay your bills, don't worry, they are just numbers that disappear in no time

@CagneyAndLazy

I didn't say they wouldn't lend.

I said they would have DOWNVALUED It.

In order to offer that they consider to be the correct LTV.

Read the post before you get your knickers in a twist.

There is a name for this it’s called post purchase dissonance - your brain is trying to rationalise your decision.
I had this too with a house purchase ie buying the peak of the market
presumably you have bought as a home - you have to see this as two things - people pay more for ‘homes’ than investments as you have emotional attachments to homes.
the person who sold you the home might not have sold you the house for less than what you paid.
over the life of the property things will catch up - we ended up making a profit for our house after owning it 5 years despite over paying

I agree with the posters saying you wouldn’t have been approved for a mortgage if the selling price was dramatically higher than its approximate value at the time.

I felt like this about our last house. I think I moaned for a few years.Then a good friend told me that her mother , after 45 years was still complaining that the house opposite hers would have been a better buy. Eaten up with bitterness. I never said it again, and slowly, began to see the positives. Didn’t want to move, in the end. Very grateful to my friend. And quiet and safe are top of my list for desirable qualities. It’s rude for people to say you overpaid. Just say dismissively that you are very fortunate to have been able to afford your dream home. Just ever so slightly, make them feel that they have been cheap.

Your post struck a chord with me because I also really worried that I had overpaid for my flat. I bought a few years ago when the local market was very overheated and I had lost out on sealed bids on several other properties. The estate agent told me they were getting lots of offers over asking price and I was so desperate that I offered waay over the asking price (30% I think!) and then when my offer was accepted I had a huge panic that there were no other offers and I'd been fooled by the estate agent.

And then I worried about the size of the mortgage and the repayments and the costs of maintenance of an old building and what if the value fell etc. etc. etc. and I was miserably stressed for months and thought I would never be happy there.

BUT several years later, it really doesn't matter whether I overpaid. Once the stress subsided, I realised that the flat had lots of good things about it, and though it has sometimes dipped in value, over time the value has gone up a little bit. And the feeling of having found somewhere to live and having that stability way outweighs the purchase price. I wish you luck feeling better about your house in the future!