Dream house come on the market, but I'm 5 months pg - aargh

[Rhubarbgarden]

I've been watching the property market in Brighton for the last few years. The holy grail is a period house close to the station, with a decent sized garden. this is a combination that just doesn't come up, and dh is ultra picky about architecture so vetoes places for stupid reasons like bay windows.

Now that I'm five months pregnant with dc2 and moving would be rather insane, a house that ticks all the boxes has come up. Aaargh. And it's a total do-er upper. Double aaargh. We are booked to look at it next weekend. I know I will want it. Should I stop this madness right now and just accept that now is not the right time to leave London, where I have a great support network, live over the road from a great hospital where I had dd, where we already have sufficient space and a nice house and dh can be home in time for dd's bathtime, and plunge us all into house renovation hell with a long commute for dh, no support network, and a new baby?

Or should I grab this opportunity to make the Brighton dream happen and somehow muddle through the next year or so?

I would go and look. If it turns out it isn't as perfect as you thought, you'll have no regrets staying put. If it is as perfect as you think, then it is maybe worth all the drama.

FWIW I moved 200 miles when we had a 7 week old to somewhere I knew no-one, moved again (to buy rather than rent) two weeks before I was due with DC2. House needs lots of work to get it how we want it but was liveable in the meantime. Expecting to both give birth to DC3 and embark on significant building work this spring....

Oh my god. Really? Well that gives me courage! Thanks!

I moved from London to Manchester to a doer-upper when I was 30 weeks with DC2. Got the kitchen finished 3 weeks before my home birth. Absolutely possible. Mind you have basically done no work on the house since the baby was born...

My parents moved on the day i was born. Doer upper. And i was dc3.

Perhaps I'm not as bonkers as I thought then. Hmm.

We moved when DC3 was 5 weeks from one end of the country to the other, if you have grandparents to help and can buy in lots of trades and removals I would go for it.

"dh can be home in time for dd's bathtime, and plunge us all into house renovation hell with a long commute for dh, no support network, and a new baby?"

I would stay put for now - being miserable, lonely, under stress, under pressure, extra commute for DH with two young children no way

I'm 6 months pregnant with dc2 (dd is 18 months) and we're due to move in the next month or so!

I would stay put if I were you.
Doing up houses when you have small DCs is bloody awful (speaks the bitter voice of experience...).
We bought a doer upper nearly 4 years ago when our DSs were 3 and 11 months.
We are only now getting round to sorting out a new kitchen and that is because the doors are falling off their hinges, the tap leaks and the oven door is broken.
You will find somewhere else, later down the line when life is less stressful...

The bit that would swing it for me is "dh can be home in time for dd's bathtime" vs "a long commute for dh". My children would prefer to live in a shoebox with daddy around than a palace where they only get to see him at the weekend.

Don't get too hung up on it if you have to sell yours first - that could take a couple of months.....

i planned the completion date of my move to be 4 weeks after my due date (i.e. allowing myself to go to 42 weeks and then for baby to be a fortnight old)
as it happened he came roughly on time
It can be done
Is it REALLy your dream house or are you using the preg as an excuse??

Oh you can def do it. We moved when I was 6 month preg with my 3rd. It was hard but the perfect house doesn't come up often. My youngest was so used to noise and banging he would sleep happily when they were working and struggle in the silent night!

Some very different views, thanks. All useful.

Bertha the argument about bathtime is very persuasive, and nags at me. We have discussed this and reckon we could gradually push dd's bedtime back by an hour, so that she would still see him. Plus he's been working unusually long hours for the past few weeks as a result of starting a new project, and it looks like it could be this way for the foreseeable (he's a contractor so his hours can be unpredictable), so hasn't been home in time to see her much anyway lately, without the advantage of us at least living in a nice place!

Idunno it really is dream house in dream location. We have been looking for so long, and we have such tricky requirements, that we both know this chance could be unlikely to come up again for a very long time.

We will view it on Saturday. If isn't as perfect as it seems, I will be SO relieved in many ways because I am so torn about what to do for the best!

if it is the palce you ultimately want to live, then you will already have thought about commute, bedtimes, etc.

I am 4 months pregnant. a house we want has just come up - luckily we are chain free so can move fast (ish). it is a do-er upper, but nothing needs doing immediately.

our plan is that we move in May -ish (all being well), and baby due in July. work will get done as and when. there will be time when the older 2 are at school, and the baby is napping to get some paint on the walls etc (am not totally deluded here - is what I did when dd1 was about 2, and I was pregnant with dd2, and again after dd2 was born)

only you can judge how right the house is for you - we are taking our opportunity becuase houses in the road we want really do not come up very often at all - people move in and stay for life. we are grabbing it while we can.