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Original poster

Should you ever just say, "that's it, lets just buy the next house that is ok" after seeing 30 or more?

52 replies

LizziePizzie · 20/08/2012 15:45

We had an offer on our house about 2 months ago and can't find anything that we both like. Its either got too few bedrooms, garden is too small, no parking, not great neighbourhood, etc etc and we go back on rightmove and keep looking. I don't hink our buyers are going anywhere but I am getting very frustrated that there is NOTHING we both agree on that fits 100% of our criteria.

We saw the perfect house at the weekend and if it weren't for the fact it was right on a main road, we would have put in an offer.

How picky should we be? How unreasonable are we being? Will we regret buying something if it is only 90% our dream home? Should we hold out for the perfect house? What are your deal breakers for buying a house?

OP posts:
ivanapoo · 28/08/2012 10:20

We looked at well over 100 houses over the course of a year. Ended up moving into rented to keep our sale.

Our new house is a tiny bit further out of town than we'd have liked and we ended up spending about £30k more than we planned to but we LOVE it and it needs v little work which is just as well given I'm 25 weeks pregnant. We get the keys tomorrow!

Packing up we found the particulars of a few houses we'd tried to buy along the way but lost out due to chain, outbid etc and I honestly think ours was worth the wait. Time will tell ;)

Original poster
LizziePizzie · 28/08/2012 10:30

Bl**dy typical...

After about 3 months of looking - 2 houses come along at once, and to make matters worse, they are like chalk and cheese.
a) Large house in the village where we would have money in the bank, and i could get a horse again, or
b) House in the town/city centre with a lovely garden and close to all the shops, but we would be finically stretched for a VERY long time. This house we could extend in the future too.

Both are perfect in their own different way, I would be perfectly happy in either, but I can't choose. They would be completely different lifestyles!

OP posts:
UnrequitedSkink · 28/08/2012 12:06

I vote village, less worry, and a horse! Sounds blissful tbh! Oh go on, link em, you know you want to Wink

Original poster
LizziePizzie · 28/08/2012 13:25

ok! Grin

Town vs Village Confused

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shrinkingnora · 28/08/2012 13:35

Village. You get to have a horse and not worry so much about money. No brainer.

ivanapoo · 28/08/2012 13:36

Hmm tough one. Both are nice with potential but village one looks like it needs less work. The village house is lovely but do you want to do village living?

Original poster
LizziePizzie · 28/08/2012 13:49

Its a large village, so there is a community of young families, post office, co-op, pubs, village halls (with NN Sales!) and reasonable bus routes to Newmarket and Cambridge. It is good for my DH to get to work, less so for me.

Its a different type of life and one I would love!

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UnrequitedSkink · 28/08/2012 14:29

I'm smitten, that house is gorgeous...I like the town one too but the village one is loooooovely.

Village villlage village village village village (can you see where I'm going with this?) village village...

HomeSearcher · 28/08/2012 14:42

LizziePizzie - You're not the first person I've come across who feels frustrated by the hassles of finding a new home, lots of clients feel the same way when we first meet.

My advice is never, ever, ever, settle for second best. The right home for you is out there, you just haven't found it yet. Good luck with it all - feel free to send me a message if you need help.

Original poster
LizziePizzie · 28/08/2012 14:44

UnrequitedSkink - Was that village you say? :)

HomeSearcher - thanks for the offer of help! I love both of these houses!

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ivanapoo · 28/08/2012 14:53

Sounds good and you sound v keen. How different would your commute be?

CestTout · 28/08/2012 15:01

Lizzie you are very, very near me! I would go for the village personally. As the kids get older the amoutn of opportunities there are great! Schools good too.

However house prices in Chesterton could rise a lot once the new train station is there with commuters etc.

Village house is gorgeous!

Original poster
LizziePizzie · 28/08/2012 15:09

Cest - see my dilema! I am in the SW of Cambridge atm so I love being able to walk into town on a Saturday or Sunday for a mooch around and coffee in Waterstones. And yes, the Chesterton house would be an investment too. AND garden AND off street parking AND detached... rocking horse poo house!

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Original poster
LizziePizzie · 28/08/2012 15:10

Cest - am I near you now, Chesterton or Burwell?

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Wigeon · 28/08/2012 15:22

Surely you can only say "never ever settle for second best" and "location is absolutely key" if you have pots and pots of money? In the real world, you have to choose from what's on the market - almost all of which are going to have some compromise - and your ideal location may well be over budget.

In our case, we bought our first house (before children) in a v desirable, pretty market town, but when we wanted to buy a bigger house (children coming along), saw the prices in the next door, much less desirable town, and decided that rather than get a tiny 3-bed Victorian terrace with 2 small receptions (or a single knocked through reception), with no garden in v desirable Town 1, for the same budget we would get a 3-bed, detached 50s house in less-desirable Town 2, with a lovely garden, plenty of downstairs space, room to extend the kitchen, nice spacious porch, airy feeling inside (proper landing, nice open staircase) loads of outdoor storage etc.

I thought off-street parking was a deal-breaker, but the house we went for had no-off street parking, and it turns out we almost always get to park right in front of, or very close to, our house.

It was the right choice.

CestTout · 30/08/2012 13:04

I think you may be. I live in a village near the airport and work over near Milton! I have friends in Burwell and know someone who runs one of the youth groups there, always gets good reviews!

MyNeighbourIsStrange · 30/08/2012 21:29

I vote village.

Original poster
LizziePizzie · 31/08/2012 13:19

Well things are never simple! The Village cottage is made of Clunch and so my husband is backing off this property! D'oh!

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Original poster
LizziePizzie · 07/09/2012 10:14

OMG I am back to square 1 again! The town house was a tease, they already had an offer on the table but didn't want to sell to them. So they put it back on the market, we offered (not as much as their original offer) so they rejected and went with the original offer. So angry!

The village house is made of an old building material that will need high maintenance, so we decided against that one too. :(

So now we have another beautiful white cottage in a village with the hummmmmmmmmm of the local motorway... :(

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UnrequitedSkink · 07/09/2012 12:34

How near exactly is the motorway? I have to say, I don't think I'd enjoy that. There are some lovely houses with huge gardens near me that I often admire, but you can hear the A1 in the background and it's such a shame..

MadBusLady · 07/09/2012 17:23

I think it has to do with tens and fives and twos, as in marks out of ten. You start out thinking, well we definitely can't have this or that Two (eg no parking) but the trouble is we've done that and found houses that don't have any of our Twos, but they don't have any Tens either. They're all Fivey and meh. My hunch is we'll end up accepting a couple of Twos but also have a couple of Tens we'll be really excited about.

Gravenwithdiamonds · 07/09/2012 22:33

Really interesting thread. We are currently deciding whether to live close to London (where we are currently so close to friends and work) but in a smaller house or else move right out to the other side - large detached house but v small town living, cheaper house and easier for schools but with a long commute.

We're off to the small town tomorrow to see houses....

nikcname · 07/09/2012 23:14

We had the same problem 2 bathrooms, location, 3/4 bedrooms, 2 receptions, futility room, south facing garden. These were all ideals, we couldn't find anything!
So house we have chosen has 2 bathrooms, 4 bed, North facing garden but big enough to catch the sun in different places, luckily decking/patio ares in the right places.
Location is completely wrong! I will drive DC's for ever! No buses and a pita! Schools etc not a problem as out of area and already there.
House was more expensive than original budget, but it also doesn't need anything doing to it immediately. Kitchen will be first but can live with it. Commute is only 5 mins extra on usual route, found another that will make it 5 mins quicker!

tedglenn · 09/09/2012 07:11

Anyone else at the stage where they are thinking of revisiting houses they viewed previously but rejected?

There is nothing coming on to the market where we are, and all houses available have been on for 6 months+. Many of them we viewed and rejected when we were first looking at areas, before we had actually relocated (we are now in situ, renting). I'm now getting desperate and thinking 'oh we could live with the road/the garden/the layout' etc. Not a good sign!

minipie · 09/09/2012 14:24

Ted we bought a house we had previously rejected - it ticked our boxes but I think we had found it a bit disappointing/overpriced when we first viewed. A few months later, prices had risen (so it looked more reasonable) and we had realised just how rare properties ticking our boxes were, so were willing to be more forgiving. I didn't love the house for a while after we bought it but I do now having redecorated and made it our own.