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Original poster

Did you know it was “the one” when you viewed your house?

55 replies

Ofitck · 04/10/2018 18:13

I think I’ve phrased the title badly. We are FTB with an ok deposit so can afford a decent size fixer upper or small ready done.

Everyone keeps saying “you’ll know when you see it/you’ll walk in and fall in love” etc.

Did you have a feeling like this when you saw your house for the first time?

Each house I’m viewing is good for the budget/market but nothing takes my breath away, but it couldn’t really without a massive budget, could it?!

Maybe part of the problem is that my parents are very wealthy and so my childhood home where they still live is my idea of a perfect home.

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Original poster
Ofitck · 04/10/2018 21:12

Women user, it sounds like the exact same situation! It will wipe us out and although it’s liveable, i would want to be able to knock certain walls down/do the kitchen etc before the kids move out and we can actually enjoy it!

This door, for example, annoys me a lot that it’s off centre, and it’s the first thing you see when you go in!

Did you know it was “the one” when you viewed your house?
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Original poster
Ofitck · 04/10/2018 21:13

I don’t know where the “women” came from in my post there!

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Notyetthere · 04/10/2018 21:22

Lilliangish put it perfectly for us. Our current house was I think the 11th or 12th we had viewed so we knew what we were looking for. I knew it was the one within seconds when I saw it in my inbox after a rightmove alert. I saw it at about midnight having just checked my emails before going to bed and I didn't sleep for rest of that night. Dh saw the change in me that he actually went and knocked at the door the next day to tell them that his gf really wanted a viewing. I had stayed in the car hiding but I caught a glimpse of the vendor's wife playing with toys at the dining table towards the back of the house with the dc and I knew I wanted exactly the same. We made an offer later on that day.

5yrs later and I still get thst feeling of being home. I feel settled.

user1484830599 · 04/10/2018 21:31

I see what you mean! However, playing devils advocate, I bet after six months or so, you wouldnt even notice!

Echobelly · 04/10/2018 21:34

I think overall what I take from my experiences is you can get a strong feeling for a place, but also 'Hmmm, has potential' is seldom wrong

lastqueenofscotland · 05/10/2018 07:44

No but houses never came up in that location in my budget so I’d made my mind up before I went to see it really

LillianGish · 05/10/2018 08:10

I just felt terrified! Is that normal?! It’s SO much money, and to spend so much and not be in love seems mad, but obviously there needs to be compromise.. I would say that feeling is absolutely normal - it’s the most money you’ll ever spend and what make me laugh with property purchases is that viewings are so short and scarce for such a massive purchase. You’d probably spend more time researching a new washing machine where you’d be able to find lots of online reviews. When we moved into our place it felt like a voyage of discovery. In fact I’d spent so much time choosing with my head not my heart I was very pleasantly surprised. I agree with the previous poster who said you’ll love it more when you put your own stamp on it. As for that door - I hadn’t even noticed until you pointed it out.

user1484830599 · 05/10/2018 08:33

Agree completely, I've spent longer choosing a pair of trainers than I did when we bought our last house!

Notyetthere · 05/10/2018 08:35

To put it another way, of all the 12 houses we viewed, we offered on one because it had potential. Our offer was 20% off the asking price. It was a head purchase with absolutely no heart in it. I was prepared not to pay over the odds for any house, I had even thought of a strategy to ensure we got a great deal. Our offer was declined so we continued searching for another one.

But when we saw the house we are in now, all my little plans of not showing EA or vendor that we were too keen, overpaying, etc went out the window. Full asking price on 1st viewing! DH says at the viewing I skipped throughout the house from room to room. I am happy in this house.

So yes, you can get the feeling.

sadkoala · 05/10/2018 08:54

I have never had a "this is my home" feeling but I knew what things I was looking for practicality wise (utility size, bedrooms etc as we needed an office space). Location was a big one for us as we wanted to stay in our little rural village.
It sounds silly but the main thing I've always paid attention to when we went to view houses was if I could instantly picture what we could do to it i.e. where we could put X furniture pieces we have and love or always wanted/ what can we do to the kitchen/how we can arrange it all and if I didn't get that picture in my head it wasnt the right house.

n0ne · 05/10/2018 09:17

Not really, no. It had all the things we wanted and we loved the area and neighbourhood but otherwise it was just a nice house. Maybe we're just unsentimental people?

beeefcake · 05/10/2018 09:38

Yes. It was a total shit heap (still partly is) but the location was perfect and we wanted something to do up.

AnnabelleLecter · 05/10/2018 09:45

First house wasn't the one. It was within budget, decent location and had some potential for a bit of improvement.
The house we're in now, a few moves up the ladder, is pretty much perfect for us but I still have a nosey at proper dream places just in case I win the euro millions and can afford something Amazing.

serbska · 05/10/2018 09:46

When buying a house in a cheap part of the country - yes I knew straight away. It was lovely. Perfect for me. Just perfect. Loved that house and loved living there.

When buying in London. No. Budgetary constraints mean I was never going to get my dream house in my dream location. Or even one of those!

Its a house of compromise. Don't get me wrong, it ticks the boxes it needs to tick and and I enjoy it, house has a nice 'feel'. But is it my dream house? No.

I didn't know I was going to buy it on first viewing, but nothing else was suitable and this was the best available to me.

MovingThisYearHopefully · 05/10/2018 10:55

I have bought & sold a number of times & have only had the "love it" feeling once. That was my last place. I bought it out of my divorce settlement to escape from an abusive marriage. It was my freedom house, but also it offered everything me & the kids needed, location, layout, size of rooms etc. Compromise was a tiny garden & no room for a dishwasher. I still love that house & am gutted we had to move.

Current house I HATED it when we saw it & ruled it out, but we were moving to a much more expensive area so options were limited. We kept looking & saw another house, literally backing onto what is now our house. This house was presented better & gave us more of an idea of what changes could be made to this house. We ended up offering on our current house. First thing I said when I walked in the door was "what have I done?" because it is sooo small in comparison to my old places. Almost 7 years on & we are finally moving to a much larger place & I can get my furniture out of the garage at last & back into use. Not a moment too soon! Grin

DisrespectfulAdultFemale · 05/10/2018 11:03

Oh, yes. I saw it on online and knew it was The One. Visiting it confirmed my belief. It's a Victorian moneypit but it's mine and I love it.

Redglitter · 05/10/2018 11:06

Literally the moment I walked into my house I knew I wanted it. Absolutely loved it. My viewing was at 330pm & I put an offer in at 425pm.

It ticked pretty much none of my boxes but it's perfect for me. 18 months later it still makes me smile

sugarbum · 05/10/2018 11:07

I have to say no.

We've just moved into our 'forever' home and I don't 'love' it in the sense that its a 'dream home'. I love it because practically, it ticked all our boxes. Its a new build, and has no 'character' but I don't care. I've been quite happy picking new blinds/furniture/bedding/flooring etc and making it 'ours'.

Our first home was bought in somewhat of a rush ( I was 5 months pg and we were living in a friends spare room and needed somewhere to live pronto) and I didn't love that either. I have no emotional attachment. Its just a house and I don't miss it one bit in spite of having lived there 12 years and raising 2 kids in it. The kids don't miss it either :)

Lucisky · 05/10/2018 11:10

I would look at it from the other way. I have viewed many properties and straight away disliked them. If I have no instant feelings of horror, that's a good start!

FluffyPersian · 05/10/2018 11:46

My Husband and I really don't usually argue, but we did when buying our house. I had 'all the feelinz' and he was very practical. I'd view a house with him and know instantly it wasn't the right one - he'd ask what I thought, I'd say it wasn't the one and he'd ask why... I'd say 'Don't like the size of the living room' and he'd say 'But we could knock through?' or the size of the garden was too small and he'd say 'But we don't need that much land at the moment?' .... And after he'd done all the 'objection handling', I'd say 'Just not right' - which drove him INSANE, as that wasn't logical, but it genuinely just didn't feel right and I couldn't imagine us living there.

Whereas with the house we now live in, as soon as we both walked in, I nicknamed it 'dream house' and 2.5 later, it still is.... was totally right, felt right, right size, right area, just....well, 'right'

CMOTDibbler · 05/10/2018 11:52

I've owned three houses and never felt that - its always been a practical choice of features and budget for us

BayTrees · 05/10/2018 11:53

I've bought 3 properties over the years and I've loved all 3 at first site. All needed work, my last house (premobile era) had no phone or heating and was in a really poor state. Only moved because I got married and it wasn't large enough. When we came here, I walked round this house planning how all our furniture would fit and what colours I wanted. DH thinks I'm insane as it still has expensive and time-consuming work which he is worrying about, but I can't imagine wanting to live anywhere else. This is my forever home. It will be his when more of the work is finished and he sees the positives not the negatives.

FunRequirement · 05/10/2018 12:27

I think buying a house is more like an arranged marriage rather than a steamy love affair (usually, unless you've won the lottery or something all of a sudden).

Anyways, as with an arranged marriage, the best candidate based on requirements is chosen and there may be flaws, but the longer you're there the more you look past it and fall in to gradual love with it. It becomes home.

Original poster
Ofitck · 05/10/2018 14:18

Haha luci, good tip!!

Well our offer was accepted so it looks like it’s on the cards!!

Pros:
Size (double what we have!)
Loads of storage
Location
Lovely wooden flooring and beams and nice plaster light fitting things

Cons:
Needs new kitchen, bathrooms and at least two walls knocking through
Weird off centre door 😂
You can’t get planning permission for bathroom or kitchen in attic, which is a pain as my original plan was to
Convert it to two bedrooms and another bathroom up there... having said that it already has a bathroom upstairs so the current owner didn’t care about the law!

Hell, I’ll just show you the floor plan. I’m abroad so hopefully not entirely outing Blush

Did you know it was “the one” when you viewed your house?
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Original poster
Ofitck · 05/10/2018 14:22

When I’m in it (have been three times now) I feel positive about it but when I leave the doubts start to creep in.

We saw another one today that didn’t come close.

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