House house hunting..

[MummyNessi]

Do you just know when you find the right property to buy or are you logical and buy the " best suited on paper" I'm really struggling in our house hunting... I must have viewed over 30 properties and only 3 of those felt right. Property 1 is just to expensive, 2 had a substation next door and 3 went to quickly for us to react. I think I'm definitely an emotional buyer and just can't bring myself to offer on a house that doesn't " feel" right🙄 I also keep thinking " Maybe something better will come on the market soon...I'm getting a bit tired of myself... and now there's nothing on the market and I guess it will stay quiet until spring...
we can wait until spring but I'd rather get out of our temporary rental as soon as possible.
Will the market get busier in the spring?

Yes , it probably will. But if you’ve viewed 30 odd properties I’m not sure of the difference it will make.

Sounds like you’re nervous to make a decision, or wanting more than your budget can allow. You also have a chance the longer you leave it, prices will escalate leaving you with less and less for your money. They may drop but that’s a big gamble.. 💐

Yes I think I am very worried to choose the wrong house and ideally definitely would like a bigger budget but that's not possible so trying to find something with potential for the future. It doesn't help that I'm looking in a area I don't know super well as we just moved here from abroad.
I just want to walk in to a house and know it's right..
it might not happen I guess... I might need to buy a house that will grow on me..

I’ve lived in five houses. In the first four I settled, only in this one I did not as I had a bigger budget. The rest were the best we could afford. Yes we could have kept looking, but really it would have been pointless.

Did I love them, nope, but I made them home and that’s what mattered. It’s alwats a comprimise.

You kind of have to accept that these are the sort of properties within your budget and this is your area then pick what’s the best. If you’re always looking for something better the odds are you will slowly but surely get less As house prices increase and in addition you just keep throwing money on rent.

Odds are in a few years Your property will have some equity in it and you will be able to move up the ladder.

The other point to think about is often people rent much more than they could ever afford, which makes buying a disappointment as you need to downgrade, it’s hard, but worth it.

I've always bought with my head rather than my heart.

So I have a list of stuff I won't compromise on, stuff like location, how quiet the road is, how many bedrooms, price, utility room.

Then it's been a case of finding the best one on the market at that time which meets those criteria.

An excellent post by Bluntness. I think if you’ve seen 30 properties then you’ve seen enough to know when you’ve found a good one. That’s how I settled on our current place - I might not have offered on it straightaway if it had been the first place we viewed, but after viewing quite a few other places ands seeing what our money could buy, I knew when I saw this one that it ticked a lot of boxes and it was a very good price. Remember, nowhere is completely perfect and whatever your budget, you always think you could find something perfect if you were shopping in the next price bracket.

I definitely think that unless you have a huge budget (and even sometimes then) you have to accept that all houses come with compromises, and there's rarely such thing as the 'prefect house'. Just try to work out what your main priorities are. The biggest decider here is often would you rather have a bigger house in an area where prices are cheaper, or be in a more popular location but accept the house will be smaller for your budget. Then prioritise on what you need the house to have and what works for your lifestyle (for example if you would like a big garden, be realistic about whether you have the time to maintain it, or try to work out in advance if having a house that is 'pretty' is more important to you than say extra space). Don't look at things massively over-budget as it's just setting yourself up for disappointment. If you've seen 30 houses then you should have a fairly good idea by now about what is realistic in your price bracket. But ultimately I think that you buy a house, and you often have to add your own personality to it to make it a home.

Agree with others. Realistically, you can get the best thing for your budget. Perfect houses just don’t exist.

We’re in our ‘forever home’ (next move will be to a retirement property). In the perfect world, we would have liked a period property oozing charm and character. But in the real world, those didn’t exist with the right amount of sq footage and in the right location. We decided to go for size and location but compromise on the period character. We’ve been in our 20’s house for over two years now and we’re finally falling in love with it. We’ve done it up to our liking, put in some character and quirky decorations and it’s become really charming.
However, had we gone for a smaller attached period house, there would have been no escaping from hearing the neighbours and the lack of space.
So it’s really about the best compromise on your budget.

I think I have realised that a decent size garden is on of the most important things for me and not being on a main road. Every thing els is negotiable. I don't think we should spend every penny we have on the house either anymore I think it may be better to save a bit for refurbishment especially getting a nice kitchen to make the new house feel more wow...
so that shouldn't be completely non achievable should it!?

I'm quite a buy with my head person

so like pp I had a list of things that I couldn't compromise on, then a list of things I wanted - then bought the house that ticked the most boxes in the location I liked at the price I had.

I find once you've put a bit of paint around and put your own things in, you can give it a new feel.

A quiet road and a decent garden sound like realistic must-haves. I think it’s a good idea to leave some money for a refurb - you can make the space your own + often generate extra equity by doing the work.

You make a house your home over time. By filling it with your stuff, by decorating it to your taste. It’s seldom your home in initial viewings. It takes time.

But you kinda need to buy it in thr first place,,,

I think there is element of both.
There are things that are not negotiable, but I suspect everyone has to compromise on something. It is extremely unlikely for there to be a house that ticks absolutely every box on your wishlist that happens to become available at the time you are ready to buy, at the right price for you.
I've bought 3 properties and looked at a lot (including others on the same day when I bought property 2 and property 3) before buying, but with all of them, I did "just know" when I walked in to the ones I'd bought.
That said, I'd also had that feeling with a couple of others previously that we then weren't able to get all ducks in a row in time, so it isn't the only 'match', it is 'the match' that happens at the time you can buy. You just have to decide what is most important to you, and what is on your "it would also be nice if...." list.