Just had an offer accepted, but have found another house I prefer! What to do?

[hackneybird]

We had an offer accepted on a property on Monday (we are moving from Stoke Newington to Walthamstow). The house is the right size and in the right area, but it needs a lot of cosmetic updating so we would need to spend another 20k on it.

Another house in the next street has just come back onto the market (their chain collapsed yesterday as their buyer's buyer pulled out), and I quickly popped in to have a look at it. It would be 5-10k more expensive but it has had all the work done already - it's gorgeous and I love it. It's a bit smaller downstairs but it has a bigger garden - a big plus for me as we have a very energetic 2.5yo son. I am seriously considering making an offer on it.

Would it be really bad form to pull out of the first house if we are successful with an offer on the second?

I know that it is not a great thing to do for all concerned, but:

a. I want to buy a house I feel strongly about, this is a big move for us as we are leaving an area we love in order to move to a new part of town.
b. it's a busy and competitive market so the first house would probably sell again quickly.
c. If we are going to pull out I would rather do it now, before survey etc. is done, and waste more of anyone's time.

thoughts?

I have to say agree to do what's best for you! It's only one week since the first offer was accepted they would have barely returned all the clutter to their home in that time.

I wouldn't underestimate the importance of the orientation of a house and garden. I love a west facing garden, I think a east facing garden would be a bit grim in the afternoon and evening. I do love a good BBQ and relaxing in the sunshine. Today's weather reminded me of this.

If you are going to pull out do it quickly as I would be really annoyed if a buyer pulls out after a survey etc.

I would buy with the West facing garden too. The orientation is pretty much the only thing you can't change.

But you shouldn't feel guilty about pulling out although i would

If it was based just on the orientation, I would go for the west facing garden. Not only do you get more sun in the garden, you get much more natural daylight in the house too.

I much prefer a west facing garden too as I love the afternoon sun and its great to be able to sit out in the afternoon/evening for wine or supper, but an eat in kitchen is a must IMO, could you create this in house 1?

Perhaps time to look for house 3?

Well we decided not to go for house 2 in the end - it was a bit smaller than the first, and they needed to move very very quickly as their original chain had collapsed and they don't want to lose the house they are buying. This made me feel a bit under pressure, as if anything went wring with our buyers I would hate to be the one that made the chain collapse again.

All good points about a west facing garden! Hadn't thought about that.

I investigated chimney breast removal in house 1 and have been assured that all was done properly and according to building regs. Although no paperwork, as she says was 20 years ago. We shall see......

I'm sort of looking forward to a project - house 1 just needs updating cosmetically and we can afford it so will be nice to make our own mark.

That sounds like the right decision for you then - perhaps it was just a bit seductive seeing somewhere that was finished . Yours will be the same as house 2 but bigger once you've done the work, and you might always have wondered about the extra space if you'd gone for 2.

Yes, madbus, it feels right. Good luck with wherever you decide to move to - I saw your other thread about East London or SE London!

All the positive comments about Leytonstone have made me wonder whether we should have looked over there rather than in Walthamstow.....