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.

Hi another. When we move on it won't be back to the city, but to a small town nearish to us that we love and feel at home in.
What didn't work out for us: we have struggled to find 'like minded people' locally. I'm a total anomaly as a FT working mother. Our village lacks any sense of community (or at least, that we've managed to find) and I still hate getting in the car to go everywhere. I particularly hate that our kids have to be driven to school/ nursery. DH and I have no social life to speak of because there's no where to go locally that's worth getting a babysitter for, plus the driving thing.
What did work out for us: I still love the house! The few friends we have made locally are properly really good friends and I think will be for life. I love living in this part of the world, if not this actual village. Schools are decent and there was none of that bonkers having to live 0.01m from the playground to get in nonsense - we had our choice of local schools.

So, despite it all (and in particular, that bleak first year, which was one of the hardest times of my life, for lots of reasons but the main one being the move) I'm glad we did it. The house was enough to lure us from our much-loved (tiny) city pad. It's made us realise what we do want, where we want to be, what's important to us. And wherever we move next will be for good (or at least until the DC leave home).

But also, if for some reason we ended up having to stay here for good, that wouldn't be the end of the world at all. Sometimes I question the wisdom of moving again - our life is now in a decent routine, the kids like school/ nursery. Life is good if quite dull and I like lots about living here, but I think that life could be better/ suit us better elsewhere and it's worth fighting for that one more time.

We moved in here in June 2018 and we had our house back up for sale in February. It sold in 1 day.

We did have questions as to why we were moving already and we were quite honest in the fact that we needed more space and a bigger garden.

You could always just say you're relocating due to work commitments if you don't want to go into detail.

We actually made 15k on ours which covered the driveway we had put in and our moving costs, so we technically didn't lose anything.

Sorry just realised old thread! Good luck in wherever you decide to go OP

I realise this is a zombie thread, but I am in this position and hoping to revive the discussion!
Moved last summer across the country . Huge move, very stressful. Moved for a number of reasons but realised on day one that I hate the house and have made a mistake. Literally every day I think about how soon we can get out. The problem is the stamp duty was crucifying and we offered more than we should have done in desperation. Therefore we are bound to make a loss.
I have been telling myself we need to give it at least two years. I just don’t feel happy. We moved to the outskirts of a city. I hate the pollution and the traffic. I like all there is to do, particularly in the winter, but I don’t like the house and find city life stressful.
I want to live somewhere with a community, great countryside on the doorstep and good transport links. Also access to a city or town where there are things to do.
I don’t want to make another massive mistake. I dread the whole moving thing all over again. It’s son stressful.

We bought in June 2018 and sold in Feb 2019

Made a bit of money which covered the cost of moving thankfully

We are actually in the same situation. Got our house june 2019. We have spent about 30k renovating. We still miss our old house because it was a new build. We have rented that out at the moment. But we want to sell and move to another new build closer. We feel there will be young couples around we can start making friends. Our current neighbours are all old, either grand parents or have kids in Uni. our kids are just 6 and 4 yrs. So a little tough for us.
The new build we have seen ticks all the boxes. obviously we get a small garden but not a deal breaker.
We are just deciding whether to agree for developer to start marketing our property. We do not want to spend any more money, so if we can sell and buy the new one without any of our money it is a win for us.
Comforting to know we are not crazy as others are also in the same situation.
It has just been 8 months since we got our house so wondering if the price would go up after the renovation we have put in, plus we got it slightly below market value.

@CityDweller I'm glad I'm not the only one who's moved & then regretted it! I moved from a small but nicely finished 1-bedroom flat in Cambridge to a 2-bedroom house in Yorkshire. I had just lost my job, and as I needed more space anyway, I thought this was a good move. I was able to afford the new house due to the price difference in the two areas. But the problem is, my new house needs quite a bit of work doing, as it seems the previous people did no home improvements at all. Also, there are not as many shops & facilities around, so I have to go everywhere by car. I've already started on the improvements, and I think I'll do as much as I can while I'm here to hopefully bump up the value a bit, then sell and move down South again. But it may be difficult financially, so I may have to rent for a while when I do move again...

Life is short. If you are unhappy, move. We moved from a small city to what I would describe as Backwater, although most people would view it as a very desirable place to live, and it is tif, it is perfect for a young family or retired people but nothing at all for my DS’s age groups. We are moving again, further away, this time and much closer to a major city.

Many people want to move from city flats to village houses so you might find your house is in demand. Get on with it now while the market is still booming perhaps.

I think the OP may have moved by now

@FreshFreesias Things have gone a bit quiet in the housing market just now, mainly due to the time of year. But in the new year it should recover a bit. There's also the problem that many lenders won't lend on a property which has changed hands less than 6 months previously. This starts from the time the property is registered to the new owner by the Land Registry. I've already made some improvements to the house, so hopefully this will have added some value- although there's still a lot which needs doing. So, I'm stuck with it for at least a few months. The other option for anyone who wants to sell quickly is one of these companies which buy houses for cash. Although this is quick, the downside is that you only get around 80% of market value. As I'm stuck here for now, perhaps the best thing would be to spruce the house up a bit, so I should get more for it when I come to sell...

@Mutunus As of March 2019, no, still there! Anyway, there are plenty of other people in the same boat...

Curious to know how this one turned out??

I’d also like to know.. currently in a similar situation of regretting the house we bought and want to sell it after a few months.

I was on this thread back in 2016 and sold in 2019 to move into rented while I decided where I wanted to be. I'd been in a village where I had to drive everywhere but rented in a town where everything was in walking distance and I felt so much better.

Now moved to another town where I already know a few people. Bought a house at the top of the market last year but it's a short walk into the centre, there's loads going on, decent public transport and my neighbours are great. The only things I'd change are proximity to the sea - would love to live next to the sea - and parking. Next time I will buy somewhere with a private drive. I really like my house and felt settled almost immediately here, which is the opposite of the last place. Compromises were it's much more expensive for much less space, but Kirsty and Phil are right with it being all about location.

Hello! OP here...

How it turned out is that after sticking it out for 4 years we moved. Made enough on the sale to cover our costs. Bought in a different location - another village, but one that's better connected and from which you can cycle to a station. Also a lot more going on in this village and many more like-minded people. We've been here just over 4 years now. I still yearn for the city at times. It's where I grew up and I still have a lot of friends there, who I really don't get to see very often anymore. The visitors dwindle over time, especially as friends' kids get older and have their own busier social lives on weekends.

I often think about what life would have been like if we'd moved to the city suburbs. But, if we could do it all again I'd probably still move out (but to this village straight away, not via the other one). The quality of life here is pretty good and my kids are having a nice childhood. I do regret sticking it out for so long in the first village - feels a bit like precious early years of my kids' lives wasted living somewhere I was mostly miserable.

I did exactl the same thing, I moved to East Yorkshire & didn't like it! I wanted to sell within a year, but the estate agent told me it wasn't a good idea, because there are only limited mortgage companies who will lend on a house which had been bought & sold within a year.

It will sell if priced correctly - but that probably won't be for what you paid. The market is changing and likley to get worse next year.
You need to take into consideration though that your onward purchase will also get cheaper.
I would think hard about trying to see the positive points of where you are whilst saving as much as possible to add to your move once things stabilise.

@Tzimi I have been told that there’s difficulties within the first 6 month period for prospective buyers getting a mortgage, not 1 year? Cash buyers wouldn’t have this issue.

What do you plan to do?

You're right, it is 6 months!

That's a good point and one I hadn't thought of. This place we got in the summer, though we didn't finally mover everything in until December partly due to rewiring etc. By then we had had a nice summer, sometimes sitting out in the garden, and chatting to passing neighbours, albeit camping out on a futon in a tip most of the time, but it was still depressing when we got to the first winter. If we'd moved here completely in the winter, I think it would have been tough, I'd never thought of it that way though.

I realise this is an old post but i’m really curious as i’m in a similar position … how did people manage to move in so much a short time frame with rules in place around porting mortgages and erc payments? Everyone’s circumstances are different of course but we maxed out on lending available 6 months ago - meeting payments fine, but to port means reapplying for the same deal - and now due to 1 x extra lease agreement in place lender can say that we’re no
longer affirdabke for the deal we already have!? Do people take the hit and pay an erc or just manage to port okay?

OP here! We ported. But this was 4 and a half years ago, so mortgage/interest rate situ very different now