Should we do it

[Unsure19]

NC for this.

DH, DS and I moved last summer. It was an extremely stressful time and any time I would say to DH 'well in our next house...' he would say 'we're never moving again!' and seemed to mean it.

A few weeks ago, however, DH saw a smallholding with a large acerage advertised for low key sale at a very reasonable price. DH grew up on a farm and has always hankered to end up somewhere similar. I too love the idea of having land for DS and anyone else to run around in. We wouldn't be working it ourselves but there would be opportunities to rent out some of the ground for grazing etc.

We went to see the property. The land is amazing. The house is...well...now we understand why the price is so reasonable. Every room would need gutted. It hasn't been touched for what looks like about 50 years and probably in an ideal world needs completely redesigned and extended. It would definitely be a massive step down from what we have now.

When we moved into our current home I thought we had made a mistake based purely on it needed some decorating work and carpets cleaned. If we were to offer on this new place, which would already be hugely pushing us financially, we would have to wait ages to have the money to be able to do anything to it and would have to make do with it as it is as best as we could. I'm not sure that I could.

WWYD?

The place has the potential to be amazing and the chances of us finding this amount of land again at this kind of price are practically nil. It doesn't change anything for us regarding schools as it's in the same catchment as where we currently live, which is not the best nor the worst, so that isn't a deciding factor. It's rural but has a close neighbour which would be comforting for me as DH works away a lot.

BUT can I live in a poky time warp for God knows how long??

Lthe inky person who could answer that is you. I’ve lived in houses while gutting and rebuilding was taking place and it didn’t bother me, however, partner hated it and despite moving 3 more times never got one that needed that much work again.

That said, we’ve agreed the next move will be when the kids are 18+ and to a property similar to the one your looking at. Once done we’re staying put!

Good luck with it if you do decide to take the plunge.

If I was in this position, I would be deciding that now is not our time. This would only be a bargain for me if we had the time and the money to plough into it - not to have to wait a few years.
Having just lived through building works (and nothing on your scale) I can tell you that it could break you or DH if you thought decorating and cleaning carpets were hard. You will regret this purchase and then never love it like the home you and your DH are dreaming of.

Thank you both!

@PazRaz10 I think you're right. I've been thinking about the house a lot and although DH keeps saying 'think of the potential' it would be me that would have to live in while he works away and I genuinely don't think I could. I was so disappointed when I saw it after seeing the land, though I kind of knew what to expect for the price.

I think we need to let this one go and hope something else comes up in the future 👍🏻

Don't underestimate the time (and cost) that the land would take up. If you plan to rent hedges and fences will need maintenance as will water supplies and lanes. If you don't rent it will need mowing and trees will need pruning (for example if you have an orchard or large garden). I grew up on a small holding which was run as a farm and then land rented out - my parents were delighted to sell a few years ago to free up time and money.

Nah- if you had a big wad of cash behind you I would say go for it. But you haven’t and you’ve just moved. You need to ground yourself a bit.

We did just this 3.5 years back.
As soon as we moved in, we rewired, put in central heating and damp proofed it.
When we turned the heating on, it took 3 weeks of being on constantly to reach 18°c. It was a very hard winter.
We built a business on our land, which was always the plan and had to be done to generate an income.
Only now are we starting on the house, we have remodelled the upstairs and are having a new bathroom fitted.

It really doesn't bother me living like we do. We made sure we had a nice(ish) sitting room and that all bedrooms had rugs sonwe weren't stepping onto floorboards.
We have absolutely no regrets, it cheers my heart to see the swallows come back, we have a barn owl that lives in our barn. It is such a tranquil setting, to step out the door and see the penines in all their glory makes it all worth it.
We don't have a plan as to when the house will be finished, we will do it as and when we can afford it.
We don't see ourselves moving from here. We built the business in such a position that it can be rented out and not impact on us at all.

I would say go for it.