Uggghh 6 months into house hunt and still no luck...is it just a waiting game?

[miggles33]

I have been looking for our first home for 6 months and have seen around 35 houses. I wish we had offered on the first one we saw that hung around on the market for ages :( I got too complacent, thought we could get a bigger garden and...yes it sold. I am looking in quite a small area where small gardens (say 5m) are the norm. But I have a one year old and am waiting for a bigger garden south or west facing with 3 beds. We live in a nice rental so no rush to move. But I am utterly frustrated with hunting and getting nowhere. I have leafleted too. I'm not even viewing houses anymore as we are waiting for one that has garden and 3 beds and nothing is coming up. Our plan is to wait it out. Shall we be patient or more flexible? What are your experiences?

Are there actually any houses in your area that you are looking that would satisfy your requirements and be in your price range? If there are why don't you put letters through their doors. Sometimes people don't think about moving till they are directly approached.

It depends what the market in your area is doing. If prices are going up (they are where I am) then the longer you wait, the more expensive the house will be. I don't advocate jumping in for something you don't like or doesn't suit your needs, but you may have to think about a compromise if house prices are increasing and you're throwing money away renting.

I think if you've been looking for a while then there comes a point when you've been looking for that long, and viewed that many houses, and still not proceeded on any of them, when you have to have a realisation that there is nothing that meets your criteria that is within your budget and so you need to compromise.

My parents have been house hunting for 2 years now in my town. They would have got something almost perfect 2 years ago but ummed and ahhed and wouldn't compromise on a number of things.

Now two years later they are still looking, I think they need to up their budget by about 30k and quite frankly I'm bored of the whole thing and I'm pretty sure that all the local estate agents have them down as total time wasters - they don't even bother contacting them with new properties on the market any more.

as someone who just bought a place after also looking for 6 months and deciding i just needed to be realistic and go for it, my advice would be to hang on in there!

i made so many compromises on my place as the market has been dead but the week after i exchanged 2 much better properties in my price range popped up.

it was a very expensive lesson that something better ALWAYS comes up. i know it's quiet now but just be patient. it's your first home - don't compromise too much otherwise you'll end resenting it like i am!

also to people saying you're throwing away money renting. when you first buy a new home you are hemorrhaging money, your expenses and bills increase a lot more. renting gives you freedom to choose at your own pace.

Sheldons my parents are exactly the same, except they've been looking for closer to 5 years now. My DSis and I joke that the estate agents must have voodoo dolls of them pinned up! They've put their house on the market three times and taken it off because 'there's no houses to move to that they like' but the second they see something they do like, they won't offer because 'no point as we're not on the market'. It's unbelievably frustrating, not least because they need to downsize for both financial reasons and the fact that they need a home on one floor due to my dad's disabilities. I suspect that it's the downsizing/needing a bungalow aspect which is making them delay because of the emotional aspect, but it's getting ridiculous now...

Anyway - sorry OP, that was a mega rant! What area are you looking in? Agree that sometimes you have to compromise - I think you need to make a list of your 'essentials' and your 'nice to haves' and be prepared to view anything which matches your essentials, even if it doesn't have any of your 'nice to haves'. Ordinarily I'd say wait it out, but as first time buyers you won't benefit from any resultant price rises and could risk being priced out of the market if things change.

Thanks for the advice. I'm looking in West Cardiff. I'de feel okay about waiting if it wasn't mid October so it seems unlikely much will come up now until the New year. I think we are looking for something hard to find/ rare in our price range. The three beds is no problem but adding a decent garden is hard to get. It's good being in this area as we are so close to my partners work n with a young baby he can see him at the end of the day before bed. I think I will write an essential list and start compromising on desirables I.e. period property. So hard to do in practice! I defo don't want to still be looking in a year and we will get priced out as this is a very popular area.