Have I watched too much Location, Location, Location?

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So, we didn't get the house that we looked at 2 weeks ago. It was a fixer-upper and would have meant compromises on several things, but I could see us living there the second we walked in.

Looked at another today, great for our current situation, roomy, close to family etc. Garden was a little smaller than I'd like but the massive hedges could come out which would make quite a bit more.

Trouble is, I just felt a bit meh about it. There isn't very much in this area in our price range and it would fit with what we need, but I didn't fall in love with it like the last. I just thought it was ok, although I can see we could make improvements.

We're renting and not needing to move, it's just we feel we should buy before we get too old to get a mortgage. We love our rented property which doesn't help!

Did you love your house straight away? Or have I been Kirsty and Phil-ed?

OP, I feel for you, we are looking, too, and every house I have seen so far I felt the same! except for one, but we had to walk because of structural problems I just don't now if I will ever feel excited about the houses we can afford in the area we need (for schools!).

I dislike our house, we've been here over ten years now and no matter what I do to it it's just a place to sleep. It ticks all the boxes in terms of location but it's not the right house for me. Go with your heart if you can.

When we moved, we sold ours and the new struggled to find another place for about four months, nothing was coming up and prices were rising fast. Our current home came up for sale and I was so underwhelmed. It was just so soulless, the person who owned it lived away most of the time and it was just so uninspiring. No warmth at all. I remember walking up the stairs thinking ‘no’.

But we ended up buying it for the asking price and now we have made it our own I love it. Mainly because it had the right basics, detached, good size rooms, little work needed beyond the cosmetic basics. Good location which was important to us. I think the ‘feeling’ isn’t necessary sometimes if it ticks many of your needs. I wouldn’t ignore any concerns that you won’t be able to alter though, like position or room size.

Didn't love any of mine. Liked them. Felt that for my budget in the location I needed they were nice and I could live there.

Made the first my own, special home and I still miss it. It was perfect.

The family home I had I made mine and was happy there but always felt that there were things I needed to do to make it work better for us. I finally extended and remodelled and it was better but never perfect. And it was never pretty.

The lcoation was the thing though. Ten minutes walk from the station and lots of buses, ten minutes walk from best primary schools in the city, twenty minutes walk to shops, across the road from a lovely park. Life was easy. My kids adored it. So safe, so light, so convenient.

Now I'm in a house Iove - but I know I can't stay. Everything is difficult. I need to drive to the shops, it's not so safe to walk back from the station - and much further - which is shit on a winters evening. But the house is beautiful........This was heart over head. Head worked better!!!

We bought in zone 5 last year and paid 675k. We did feel like we had to move quite quickly due to both the speed of the market here and also we just wanted the whole process over and done with. I loved it when I saw it advertised, and I loved it at the first viewing. However... come second viewing and up until the move in day, and probably until Christmas to be honest, I just felt so exhausted and jaded by the entire mortgage/buying process that the excitement just died for me. It’s only now that we’ve had Christmas here, and we’ve started making the garden lovely for summer that I’ve started to love my house again. I remember my friend coming to see it and being so happy for me. She stood in my bay window and exclaimed ‘it’s such a happy house! I’m SO pleased for you!’ And I remember just looking at her and going ‘yeah thanks, I’m really happy with it’. I just felt SO exhausted by the entire process. I think the modern house buying process can take the magic, happy feeling out of it.