To sell house after only 11mths?

[Opal888]

What it says on the tin, really!
YABU = stay put, woman
YANBU = if you wanna move, move

Context: We (DW, me, 2 teens, a golden retriever) outgrew our previous home (which I was extremely emotionally attached to) and a series of decisions and mishaps meant that we purchased a much larger house in the same area which was a "head" decision. We never loved it (layout, lack of garden) but were seduced by the opportunity to have so much space and were frankly emotionally exhausted from an extremely protracted sale of my adored first home.

It has been good in some ways, eg when the boys have friends over there is a lot of room. However that's about once a month, and the rest of the time we do not use the guest room or converted attic room at all and DW only uses her home office about twice a month (and this will decrease due to job change). That's 3 large rooms sitting empty and it's mentally driving me a bit mad.

I've never loved this house and neither has DW. Our financial position has suddenly but sustainably improved in 2025 and I'm really keen to move again - same area, but a slightly smaller house with a higher spec (eg detached, driveway, garden, quieter street). We'd be able to comfortably afford a house about 40% more than what ours is worth. We did the initial figures with the mortgage advisor yesterday.
What's putting me off is the financial inefficiency of moving again (paying again for all the admin rubbish), the emotional and physical upheaval, the pressure of choosing from existing housing stock, the decision fatigue.

Its worth noting that 90% of any house move admin falls to me as I am a control freak and experienced, whereas DW is a sweet and laidback lady who's too relaxed for her own good and whose maxim is happy wife happy life

If you're not happy and can afford it, why not?

Yes wasteful admin costs of current purchase and future purchase but you know this.

It could take a while to sell

The stamp duty! You will have lost so much money moving twice so quickly.

If you can take the financial hit, then do it. You will be so much happier in a house that you love! Just take your time and make sure you get the right one this time!

I knowwww it makes me cringe to think about.

This is my gut feeling - when I am happy and calm, everyone else in the house benefits, and I'm just not happy here despite trying my best. I've only got a few years left raising my kids and I had nothing when my eldest was born so I'm really motivated to give him the dream while I've still got him.

If I was a buyer I would be suspicious about why you hadn't even lasted there a year. I would be assuming there was something well hidden wrong with it.
I have a vague memory that mortgage companies might have some restrictions on lending on houses which appear to have been 'bounced'. It's been a while since I moved though, so that might not happen any more.

You’re at risk of sunk cost fallacy - the idea that because you’ve spent money on something you need to get its “worth”, even though it was a mistake.

You'll have to pay stamp duty and moving costs whenever you move, so unless you intend never to move again, there’s no good reason not to pay them now.

Alternatively, you could spend the money on your current house - layout can be changed. But you can’t create a driveway or garden if you currently don’t have one…so again, you might have to move eventually to gain these things.

Yes I have been wandering round my house imagining myself fielding questions from viewers. I think I'm going to have to be honest: this was what we could afford at the time, and now we have an increased budget we want something else.
Absolutely no idea about the bounced thing, I will look into this!

Im 6 years in to living in a house I didn’t really want to buy but ended up with for a variety of reasons. Unfortunately our finances changed in the other direction so we are stuck and it is okay, but I know I’ll never love it. What Im saying is, that if you don’t love it, that’s unlikely to change and you will have to pay the additional costs either now or later, so you may as well cut your losses and have more time in a house you really like.

Excellent first two points - I really don't want to succumb to sunk fallacy. We would be moving in 4 to 5 years anyway, this was meant to be a 5yr house until we'd achieved a certain financial milestone. So I guess it's just bringing everything forward.

Re layout, we've done what we can - but cannot create a garden out of a small courtyard.

I'm so sorry you're in that position, and thanks for sharing as reading that has hit me quite profoundly actually and suddenly made a move seem the obvious choice.

You’ve made a mistake, you know it, learn the lesson and move on. If you can afford it buy the house that will make you happy.

Yes I am in danger of thinking about this for the next year and then moving anyway - I might just save myself the mental agony and get it on the market this month.

If you’re not happy and want to and can afford to move then do it!

If it were me, I'd stick it on the market. We bought and sold three times on the same street over 10 years as our financial position improved because we loved the area so much. What's happened with prices in the area since you bought?

They've gone up. We've made 8-10k on this house. We live in a really desirable area which is great for selling but very stressful when you're the purchaser!!

I mean..
We haven't actually mae 8 to 10k, when you factor in all the wasted money on searches/stamp duty/fees, costs. But YKWIM

In that case, you will cover your costs or at least some of them anyway. I would do it. There is, I think, a restriction on registering the same property on the land registry twice within six months - something along those lines, could be related to lenders, but I don’t think it will apply to you anyway as you’ve already been there for 11 months and by the time you sell and complete it will be even longer.

If your house has went up so will the house you will be buying. However you only have one life and I think you need to make the most of it and enjoy it. You clearly can afford the move and if all the family is on board I say go for it. If things were ever to change the other way like a previous poster at least you would be in a home you are happy and connected to.

Honestly if you can make it work financially do it, the market is terrible though, that's the only (big) spanner.

Yes, IKWYM. Our area is desireable too. Whack it on the market and see what happens.

Move. But don't put it on the market until the spring. The market is very slow given the upcoming budget, then it's nearly Christmas. Wait and list at Easter if you can. You should get more interest, and selling again quickly you want to avoid it sitting unsold for any length of time or people will assume there's a big issue.

I find it strange that you’ve written all this without mentioning stamp duty which is arguably the single most relevant factor
You moved house less than a year sgo.
Why wasn’t this uppermost in hour mind as you state you’re experienced?

That post struck me too & is SO right. Unless you never move again (or can wait for the Conservatives get in & see if they do put an end to stamp duty 🙄🙄) you're going to have to pay it at some stage. Might as well be now if you can afford it.

might as well get more years out of living in a house you do live, with a garden.

Aldi, after having ggd stroke earlier this year I am even more certain that you shoukd fi what you can, when you can. I was trying to move, but couldn't find anything to buy & now due to the stroke I won't be able to get a big enough mortgage to buy what I need.

if you can do it now. Do it. (even though of it, going through it all again, is overwhelming g. Keep the motivational goals in mind A garden by next summer would get me through ggd process!! If I mos still had the salary to get the mortgage, which I don't & sing have)

In my post I've lumped it in with "admin fees" and it being financially inefficient to pay it once again