Anyone sold a house less than a year after buying it?

[CityDweller]

We did a 'big move' 5 months ago - completely new area, completely different type of lifestyle (from small flat in a city to large house in a village). We regret it. We love the house, but we can't get used to having to get in the car to get anywhere and we're struggling to meet likeminded people locally, despite making lots of effort to get involved with local things and groups. We have small children, and while that's usually an easy way to meet other people and make new friends, we're not finding that the case where we live.

So, we're thinking of cutting our losses and putting it on the market. Has anyone bought and sold in such a short time frame? Did it work out? We're prepared to take a bit of a financial hit - figuring life is too short to live somewhere we don't feel at home. But I'm worried about a knee-jerk, rebound reaction and making another mistake in moving so soon.

Yes. We moved from the south east to the Midlands. From a standard 3 bed to a huge detached listed place. Tried really hard to fit in, but we were just massively miserable. After 11 months we put the house back on the market and moved back home into rented until the house sold, then bought another place here. Best thing we have ever done. So good to be home.

Not me, but the people we bought from did. They were getting divorced though so had a 'good' reason for moving.

This could potentially prey on people's minds, so have a good tit bit for the agent as to why you're moving.

Our sellers had also managed to practically wreck the place in the short time they'd lived here but wanted £80k more than they'd paid for it, so keep in mind that information is now freely available online (both as to prove and previous 'condition')

Yes, but many years ago and we did not sell at a loss.

No I haven't but agree life's too short - you tried it and didn't work out as planned - often new comers have to be somewhere for a long time to be accepted -

Have a good reason for selling -

Need to move closers to family - DH job has changed - it's doesn't have to be totally honest -

Thanks for the replies. I feel really disappointed that the move isn't working out - and exhausted at the prospect of figuring out where to move next and terrified at the thought of unsettling our oldest DC yet again (moving house and childcare again in less than a year). But in my gut I know this isn't the place for us and our oldest DC starts school in Sept '17, so we need to make up our minds and be living wherever it is we're going to live by school application deadlines.

Do you think 'we realised village life isn't for us' is a good enough reason for estate agents/ prospective buyers? Or should we come up with something else?

I had to move due to redundancy and getting a job elsewhere. Not liking the area may put potential buyers off though.

No. I would cut your loss and move.

Do it
Life is too short
You are willing to sell at a loss of you need
To which is a big plus
(Hopefully won't come to that though)

Oh good heavens definitely go if village life isn't for you. It will all be history soon. We said that family needed us back home.

I wouldn't say village life isn't for you as the reason to move.

I would say a relative needs more day to day help which forces a move or a job reason.

And move, life is too short to be miserable.

I tried to, but couldn't sell quickly. In the end we were there for 18mths. We knew from about 1 month in that it was a mistake and the feeling just got stronger in time. It was the right thing to do, although we lost money.

I'm still wondering if I've made a mistake with my place. The house itself is generally fine but I've moved from a town to a small village and it is eerily quiet, however my neighbours are really quite noisy and there's no soundproofing between us and I'm not sure I'll ever get used to it.

I'm going to give it a year and reassess - by then I will either be quite happy and settled in, or still feeling exactly the same. I'm doing it up as I go along so hopefully won't lose any money.

I would cite something like a job change/wanting a shorter commute/wanting to be closer to friends and family rather than anything else.

No, but have twice made long distance, lifestyle change moves, regretted it early on and (in the case of the first time) attempted to sell within the first 12 months.

In that case we ended up staying 3 years. It was a large south coast city to East Anglian semi rural move from a huge (3500 sq ft) property we'd spent 10 years restoring and the new house, whilst still characterful was half the size but still needed a ton of work to drag it out of the 80s. The house was lovely and we weren't fazed by the level of work needed, but the area turned out to be shit.

Initially we pitched it well below our purchase price (it was just after the crash so we knew we'd lose money) but had no interest so took the decision to do the work and try again when it was complete. In the interim my elderly parents living back in my home city became ill and needed us closer. Having finished the work to a high standard we found a buyer in 10 days (who fell in love with the hand painted wood kitchen and high end bathrooms we'd added) but still had to take a huge financial hit. Fortunately we were mortgage-free and could still buy our next house without borrowing - nonetheless it sucked.

Fast forward 5 years and we've again found ourselves living somewhere we're not happy. This time we moved (Dec 2014) from rural Wilts to a West Mids village. DH was soooo keen to make this move, but he realised within days it was a mistake. Realisation dawned on me within a couple of months. Think the stresses of coping with 3 parents with dementia/dying while DIYing a huge project house addled our brains

We've tried to settle and have made a couple of friends here. The house/area are lovely but we miss 'home' and have considered cutting our losses and auctioning the house. Our heads say this is is stupid though so we've decided that while life is too short, we really can't afford to lose even more money (plus each time we've moved our removals have cost £2500-4250!) and will finish the house before selling.....

I feel so sorry for others going through this and can only recommend doing what feels right for you

Thanks - it's really helpful to hear everyone's input and stories. If I knew exactly where we should move to I'd put the house on the market tomorrow. But I think we need to figure out exactly where's right for us before doing that - I don't want to make another massive mistake. I'm worried though because we were the only people who made an offer on this house, so I'm concerned it won't sell. We've made cosmetic improvements that make it more appealing, I think (painting, new carpets, etc), but I wonder whether that will be enough to drum up more interest in it less than a year after it was on the market before.

I haven't done this but I did make the move from big city to village, stuck it out for a few years because of dc's and was miserable. I wishe we'd cut our losses much sooner. We move to suburb of big city twenty minutes into town or ten minute in the opposite direction for the countryside and it was the best thing we did.

Also I'm an EA I'd say be honest about your reason for moving.

Can I just say, as someone who has moved more time than I care to remember, to totally new areas miles apart that; moving in the winter is utterly shit for starting over.

Every single move we have done between September and Feb/March has had a really tough start. All my favourite places I have lived (the ones with a new good social circle) are mostly those where we moved in the summer.
We moved here - new area 4 months ago. I still have only nodded at my neighbours bar next door - and only really had 1 chat with them. I'm feeling cap and having doubts right now but ganging onto the thought that with the longer days and warmer weather on its way, more people will be out and about and easier to get to know.
5 months is sod all on relocating terms. Despite the fact we have moved sometimes within 18 months a few times - I have to say that it is around that time I start to feel settled. Personally I think you need to give it a full 12 months before you know how things will pan out.
We've just moved twice in 10 months -200 miles each time. I really don't recommend it. It's hard going.

Good point Daft. It has been especially tough because of the weather. Even if we do venture to the (crap) village playground there's never anyone else there. All a bit depressing. I'm hoping there will be more people about in spring/summer - but according to one neighbour everyone still stays in their own houses/gardens even then!

I also agree we should give it more time. Problem is we have to be living where wherever we're going to live, iyswim, by the end of the year for school applications for DC1. So time isn't on our side...

We were similar - moved to a new area, didn't love house or area but didn't really want to admit it was a mistake. It was a perfectly lovely house and area but just gut feel not for us. We made lots of sensible plans about waiting a few years, doing work to the house, trying to embrace the area. But similar to you our dc1 starts school in 2017 and that's what made us make the move. I'd rather disrupt childcare (again) than school.
So we moved and are soooo pleased we did. It's a much less 'sensible' house and area (further from work and friends) but we love it and I feel much more settled knowing this is where we will live and send our children to school. I found the doubts and possibility we might move really unsettling and that also made it more difficult to embrace the area and meet more people - that's totally gone away now.
If your gut says move, just do it.

theknitting you're situation sounds so similar to ours. The place we want to move to is far less 'sensible' (further from work for me, more expensive housing stock so we'd get less house for our money) but we feel really drawn to it...

Did you lose money in your move?

What had you hoped life would be like in the area you moved to, what sort of things did you want to be doing (hobbies/sport etc) -? was it about change of lifestyle or were you seduced by a great big house?

What are the characteristics if the new area you are drawn to?

If it is the like minded people in your area can you look beyond neighbours playgroups - eg have you joined a sports or interest group.

Could you consider renting in that area before you commit - it would put you in a better chain free position to buy and if you are set on a school you could ensure you rented in the catchment.

But agree life is tooooo short .... and winter in the countryside wet, cold, muddy, lonely with everyone indoors...

I wanted to move back to my old area in less than a year for various reasons. After going in into great effort to market my house and find a buyer, finally decided to stay for the primary reason why I moved here i.e. secondary school catchment. Actually marketing process and viewing other houses does help to clear the brain and remember the reasoning why you actually chose this particular house. I will move once the school issue is settled in 3 years time.

I agree with others, no reason to stay if you want to move on.

Yes, we did after 10 months and actually came out financially square thanks to movement in the housing market. Life is too short to be unhappy, cut your losses and find your happy home.

I moved to a different town to be near work. It was a nice place and I was ok there but when I left work I wanted to be back near friends and family. I was scared of making the wrong choice so became a lodger when I sold my house, so I'd have time to look around. Being a lodger (2 different places) has been great. I've made friends and tried out living in different places. I've also looked at over 120 houses! It's given me time to think about what I'm looking for and what I really need.

Yup, bought a TINY flat in a good area of London but had shit upstairs neighbours and a sequence of irritating events in the flat (drains blocked but not easy to unblock given the house was split into 3 flats, mice seemingly choosing only our flat in which to die and stink after our tool of a neighbour put poison down) meant that we just didn't want to live there anymore. We, very luckily, made a tiny profit in moving but that was mostly because we had renovated it upon purchase so were selling a better property. I don't regret moving as the house we moved to was our dream house (out of London - and we've since moved again for school reasons ) but it is quite galling that if we'd stayed put for another year or so we would have sold for a huge amount more - we sold towards the end of the recession and London went boom a short while afterwards. I think it's mostly though that we sold to a pair of psychopaths - honestly - and they will sell for a fortune!

We did lie about our reasons for moving because to be honest our true reasons didn't paint the flat in the best light. We said we were moving for a job. I don't like lying, ever, but the house was seriously affecting my happiness and we needed out.