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Original poster

Still dreaming of selling and moving AGAIN....

26 replies

Becaroooo · 20/03/2012 09:02

...please come and slap me! Please?

Been in this house since beginning of Dec. I am sure some of you know the rather stressful circs since we moved - have had to spend over £4k since Jan to put things right that the pv left us with...have to date had to replace;
boiler
oven
hob
sink, taps and worktop
fridge freezer (so basically a new kitchen!!)
and fix the leaking conservatory roof.

We have decorated a couple of rooms nicely but it hasnt really helped...all I can see is the money we have spent and see more of the same in the future.

Its a nice area, quiet, dh and dc like it.....

I am on rightmove everyday looking at what is coming on the market (not much to be fair) that we could afford/suit us.

Dh is digging up the back garden atm to put in another shed and I really dont want him to...I want to sort the hall, stairs and landing out (which is hideous), turn it back into a 4 bed (atm its a 3 double bed) and put it on the market and see what happens...

He would be livid if he knew I felt like this. What on earth can I do??

Am I the only person who feels like this after a house move? I certainly do not miss my old house btw! I waited 3 years to leave!!

I just think we could be ok in a smaller house (say a 3 bed semi) and would have a smaller mortgage and more disposable income....aarghhh...

OP posts:
LittleMissGoodEnough · 20/03/2012 09:14

But have you sat down and had a good hard look at the sums? It costs a bloody fortune to sell and buy. Is it really worth it? The money you've already spent is gone, it's not a consideration in your decision any more, it's a sunk cost.

(haven't read any of your previous threads btw)

laptopcomputer · 20/03/2012 09:19

I don't think £4k is an unreasonable ammount to spend on a newly purchased house, presumably you knew you would have to do some work t it when you bought it?

Sinkingfeeling · 20/03/2012 09:20

I think you need to give yourself more time to like the house - you haven't spent a spring or summer there yet, so why not wait until you have and review again in the autumn? It could well be a case of the grass being greener, and if the 'big' things are OK (decent area, good schools, reasonable commute to work) then you can work on the house in time to make it more how you want it.

Dillydollydaydream · 20/03/2012 09:22

I hated my second house the day I moved in. When we viewed it was empty and l

Dillydollydaydream · 20/03/2012 09:26

Oops.
Looked plenty big enough. Moving day came and we could only fit one of our sofa into the living room. I know we should have measured to make sure in the first place but I was gutted. It also turned out our neighbours were arseholes :(
6 months later we decided to move. Luckily we sold for 5k more than we purchased for so didn't really lose money. We've been in this house now for 6.5 years and I really love it. We did view 40+ houses before deciding on this one though as we didn't want to make the same mistake again.

Definitely sit down and work out your sums and broach the matter with DH.

odetothewestwing · 20/03/2012 09:34

Hmmm - the day we moved into our last house - a doer-upper - I knew it was a bad mistake. 1.5 years later and shed-loads of cash spent later - we moved. And it was the best thing we ever did, I don't think about the money now - just how happy we are! We moved to a preferred location and to a smaller house, reduced the mortgage etc.

soverylucky · 20/03/2012 09:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
Becaroooo · 20/03/2012 10:19

You are all right, of course Blush

We had a valuation/survey which didnt pick up any issues, we also had gas and electrical safety certs which as it turns out arent worth the paper they are written on!!! The wiring to the boiler was actually unsafe and the plumber refused to put the new boiler in til we got it sorted. Managed to get teh fire in the front room working but we had to condemn the heater in the conservatory and rip it out.

Am a bit fed up that the valuation/survey didnt pick up that all the windows and door on the back of the house need replacing - they are the originals.

The basic issue is that the pv did lots of the work themselves and bodged it Angry

I think giving it a year is a good idea....but what do I do then if I still feel same?? sigh......

OP posts:
Original poster
Becaroooo · 20/03/2012 10:21

...should also have said that I wanted to move to a smaller house (therefore smaller mortgage and utility bills etc) but dh had this thing that if we were moving it had to be to a bigger/det house...I think its a man thing?

Found a lovely large 3 bed semi that ticked all my boxes but dh didnt like the garden...sigh.

I really regret not buying that house Sad

OP posts:
allaboutthename · 20/03/2012 10:25

I in a similar position but 18 months further down the line. We bought a place that we knew needed work, it wasn't ideal but did have positive aspects. The work to fix has cost much more than we thought and we are no where near done and I think no matter what we spend, it won't be a house I love (may if it as demolished and rebuilt!!) And that's the issue - I won't love it but DH & kids are fine with it.

I keep looking at rightmove but it would really cost a fortune to sell (at a loss) and then the buying costs of new place.I think I have to stick it out - focus on the positives, like location and take a look term view. This will be a stepping stone house and when dc's are older we will move to the house I love.

laptopcomputer · 20/03/2012 10:29

Was it a valuation or a survey? A valuation isn't going to pick up anything like that - it is only ever going to tell the mortgagor if the house is a good risk for their money or not

COCKadoodledooo · 20/03/2012 10:38

MY wonderful Mum started scouring the property pages within weeks of moving into their new home, because it wasn't exactly what she wanted. They've been there 24 years this year Grin The location was perfect and she decided that was what mattered - she now has the house pretty much exactly as she wants it too, just took forever a while to get there,

minipie · 20/03/2012 11:39

Becaroo I know how you feel. We moved last spring and found so many things that needed fixing that we hadn't expected (as well as some we had).
And the house is bigger and more expensive than I had wanted.

However, a year down the line, now that we've got everything fixed, I am happy with the house. I am sure anywhere else would have needed just as much work - and in a smaller house it wouldn't have been worth it so much, because we'd be there for a shorter time.

Original poster
Becaroooo · 20/03/2012 13:22

I just feel completely "meh" about it Sad

I dont expect to "love" my house...its a house after all, bricks and mortar and cant love you back Smile but I do expect not to look towards the future and just see £££££££'s needing to be spent.

Its not an old house, built in the late 1980s. Kitchen and bathroom pretty new (both within the last 5 years) garage conversion and new windows/door at the front in 2007 and a conservatory in 1997.

Maybe thats why I have been so surprised that we have had to spend so much so quickly??

I hope I start to like it, dh and the dc love it here.

OP posts:
GrendelsMum · 20/03/2012 13:46

I have a theory that houses from the late 80s are precisely the ones that need unexpected amounts spending on them - because they look nice on the surface, but then they reach that point where everything gets shoddy all at once, lots of things suddenly fail, and you have to shell out to replace it.

My parents moved into a house of about the same date, and my mum said it didn't feel like home until they'd made a fair few changes to it.

Original poster
Becaroooo · 20/03/2012 13:53

gm I think thats a good point and correct.

Certainly the back windows will need replacing next year. Add to that the horrors that probably lurk in the bathroom......Sad

OP posts:
SpringHeeledJack · 20/03/2012 20:43

oh becarooo

I saw the thread title and guessed it was you

Sad Grin

is it in a nice place? I'm loving our house- now the weather's changed it means we can get out of it, and go to the park instead!

[dreading next winter emoticon]

Original poster
Becaroooo · 21/03/2012 07:59

shj hahahaha yes, did your heart sink? "oh no its her again!" Grin

Glad your are loving your house.

I need a massive kick up the bottom really...everyone who has visited says how lovely this house is (and it is really) but all I see is £££££££££ spent and we are nowhere near done.

Maybe spring/summer will help!

OP posts:
Rhubarbgarden · 21/03/2012 12:03

Give yourself time. Step away from Rightmove, for now [hypocrite emoticon]. It takes a while to get used to a new house and for it to feel like home, especially if you have initial problems such as unexpected costs, or a burglary - this happened to us a week after we moved in and I felt unsettled for about a year because of it.

If you still feel this way after you've been there a year and got all the major renovation issues sorted, then it might be time to sit down and re-evaluate.

SpringHeeledJack · 21/03/2012 12:12

ooh no I'm not loving the house

I'm loving the things that are outSIDE the house. It's v well connected round here, and, with m'Oyster card in m'pocket, means I can be in- oooh, Beckenham, f'rinstance Hmm- in a matter of minutes

Grin

I'm finding it hard to wean self off Rightmove, too- but mine is nosiness just force of habit, I reckon- I frantically searched it daily for about two years before we moved and now it's leaving a bit of a hole

badpoet · 21/03/2012 12:38

I agree with give it time.

We moved in October last year, into an early 90s house. I adore the location, which is absolutely perfect, and it's a great size. But our old (tiny) house was just so perfectly set up for us and it's taking a while and a fair bit of money to get this one the same (especially as our circumstances keep changing!)

See how spring/summer goes.

Original poster
Becaroooo · 21/03/2012 14:17

shj Beckenham ooohhhh, get you!!! Grin

Yes, i need to stop using RM and Zoopla. Its mad. There arent any houses I like anyway (well, theres one on at £750k which is ok Smile)

OP posts:
SpringHeeledJack · 21/03/2012 14:53

hahahahaha

let's do RM withdrawal. Allow ourselves to go mad on it today, then cold turkey tomorrow

actually let's say fri.

Or how's about monday...

Original poster
Becaroooo · 21/03/2012 17:36

....am definately NOT looking again!!! Thats it, cold turkey it is!

OP posts:
Rhubarbgarden · 21/03/2012 18:15

I'll join you in the cold turkey. I have to stop looking at the damn thing. We keep saying right that's it we're not going to think about moving for at least six months. Then a second later ooh look at this house...