How do you know if you're making a mistake?

[igglypiggly]

I'm buying a property off plan and feeling very nervous about it. On the plus side I love the area, right down to the street the house is on. There's no where else I'd like to be more. Secondly I'm happy about being in a new build. I know a lot of people have had bad experiences but I haven't and I like them. I've seen the house in its very early state and I think it will be ok from what I can tell.

But I feel constantly worried- is this normal? How do you know if you're making the right decision when buying? How do you cope with such high stakes?

If you’re happy and you want to live in it long term then go for it!

Just make sure you’re not overpaying. Never pay the asking price on a new build. The market is lots of places has slumped and new builds are overpriced and are being reduced even in typically bouyant housing markets.

Thanks Blue, we got a good deal on it. But I think that's the question- how do I know what I want long term!!

You can't live your life like that or you'd end up paralysed by inaction. Presumably you've weighed up the pros and cons and it's right for reasons xyz, you can afford it, you can still afford it if interest rates increase? Then there are the advantages of home ownership over renting.

I completely get where you're coming from. We're close to exchanging on a new build, perfect location (although I love the street we are on and always imagined we'd upsize on this street so am sad about leaving) but I can't help be very nervous! Due to this I've picked holes in everything (garden is slightly sloped, we didn't pick kitchen even though it looks good etc) but in all honesty it's going to be so lovely and suit us much better than our wee house now, no niggles we can't fix along the way.

I think it's just the unknown, the biggest purchase we'll make with the most impact to our lives, and we can't even see it for months! Who wouldn't be nervous?

You don't know. you will never know. And being nervous is normal, but you've done it now - so just go with it!

Also, whilst it has no bearing on what you've bought, we moved into our new build in July. I love it. There have been issues, but really nothing big. We're still living on a building site whilst other homes go up around us, but I don't miss our old house one bit (we only really moved around the corner)

The one irritation I have is that they never told us that the same model has completely different exteriors, so whilst our home is the same on the inside as the show home, it doesn't look the same on the outside. I'm used to it now (and happy with it), but it was a bit of a shock when we went to see it going up and it was a different colour brick.

The other irritation is that changing your address is a major pain in the backside, because your new address wont officially exist for months, therefore 'computer says no'. It involves a lot of phone calls (I'm still making them, although our address is now gradually appearing in company databases)

We totally made the right decision. I bet you have as well!

Well you don't know if you'd be happy there long term OP. But if not, you'd just move, like anyone else.

Hmm, having read these replies I realise that it's not really the house. I think I'm just a bit freaked out about the commitment. I grew up somewhere v rural and I am now living in the city and I think that's what I'm worrying about. Buying the house makes my city move more permanent (although of course I do realise I can move!)