Buyers remorse...tell me it's normal

[DavetheCat2001]

I've been reading back on old threads about this, it does seem to be 'a thing', but I am slightly freaking out about us moving into our new house this coming Friday.

Canned version of events: it has taken over 4 months to get here, lost a set of buyers on our place, lost a solicitor along the way, had financial issues etc..won't go into detail as not really relevant, but we REALLY wanted this house and finally exchanged last week.

Went in there yesterday morning with the kids to measure the windows for blinds, and as soon as I walked in it felt cold, dark and gloomy. It's Edwardian, and it's been empty for over a year and not loved, it's a project house and in my head could be beautiful but the truth is we are stretching ourselves to our absolute limit financially, and will have nothing left over after completion.

OH is going to do a lot of work himself (when he can fit it in working FT), and we save for things as we go.

It was such a beautiful sunny day yesterday, but walking in there was like going into a musty cave. Both DC's were bickering and youngest had a meltdown when she saw the room we were thinking of for her..stomped around the house on raw floorboards making a racket and saying she hated it etc..

OH and I have been bickering too..think the stress has got to us, and best of all it appears that the vendor has for some reason since the last time we saw the house (mid April) ripped down the fusebox in the hallway, leaving us with no working plug sockets in the house???!!?

We couldn't test the grotty oven that is being left and so as it stands we move in on Friday into a house we cannot plug in our fridge/cook anything/heat etc...fucking nightmare.

Obviously we raised this with the EA on Saturday, but in his typical fashion he never came back to us despite saying he was going to contact the vendor immediately to find out what he is doing.

So tomorrow morning we get onto our solicitor to let them know...vendor has to make good and I have said there is no way I am moving into that house on Friday with my kids if no electricity, FFS.

That would put us in breach of contract with our buyers I'm guessing, so the whole thing is a nightmare.

Came back to our light, bright flat yesterday and just wanted to cry. Been here 14 years, had my kids here and made this place lovely.

I don't want to go..what were we thinking??? We need more space for sure with 2 growing DC's (5 and 8), and I thought I loved the house but I don't think I do anymore. Rang my mum for advice and wise words and she said I was the same when I bought our current flat as it was a state too, and I apparently spent many weekends back at her house as didn't want to be here either!

Can anyone please just bring me down and reassure me that this will pass and it will all be ok?

Packers come in on Thursday to pack us up, and we have a cleaning co booked to go into the house on Thursday too to deep clean it as it is minging....obviously they cannot do this if no bloody power in the house!!

Auuugh..just want to crawl under my duvet and it all to go away.

Yeah it's going well! Just can't wait to move in now.

At first I found it hard to love the house but I definitely do now. I think having a home account on Instagram helped, can look back and see how far we have come IYKWIM. Weve had the keys since 29th May but thought we could live in it and spruce it up, it was horrendous so it all had to come out and be redone including the lead pipes under the driveway for water and gas. We are never moving again though so it's fine 😂😂 too stressful moving

I'm still reading!Well done with the anaglypta, my new house to be is full of it but I'm far too scared to try and remove it!

It's actually relatively easy to remove @ravenshope .. I shouldn't say that really as probably half the wall will come down with the next lot! 😂

I have just started reading!

You house looks and sounds very familiar to one I had a few years ago, I know exactly how you feel. I would lie awake at night thinking what a huge mistake we had made.

Every spare moment was spent either stripping paper and paint sanding floorboards, filling in hole in the walls and so on. Like you we could only afford bits at a time. and it took in our case a very long time. Having a bathroom suite to be put in and having lost one plumber waiting for months for another, with the suite in what would be the dining room, and having no shower and only a basic bathroom with no heating .....I could go on and on...

Only 3 weeks after the final leg of the journey, which was getting the stair carpet fitted (all 80sqf) after almost 4 years, we were offered a job in another country, the house never even made it past the first estate agent coming it sold the same day.

I sometimes go past, and cannot believe they still have my curtains up!

It will get better, once you see it all coming together in your style with your things just where you want them, it will be worth it.

@DavetheCat2001 yours must be newer than mine... had been painted over multiple times in some rooms and the lining paper underneath was particularly difficult to get off. Gave up on using the steamer on the advice of two plasterers, ended up scraping for days on end ... nightmare .
And what am I about to do? Re-line it of course!

I don't know that I'll be brave enough to try to remove mine- imagine it's been there since the council built it in the 70s. Have heard removing it can move great lumps of plaster..

My partner stripped off anaglypta paper in our council flat, he started scraping it off, then bought a steamer and it was so much easier, but the walls had to be skimmed afterwards. He got the bedroom and sitting room done, but this anaglypta is in the hallway, kitchen and small room too, just everywhere. He said he’s not going to bother with the rest, it’s not worth the effort.

If you don't mind the textured wallpaper it's soooo much easier to leave it. Ours is covered in it. We had the house rewired and then a plasterer tidied up afterwards. This means we ended up with patches of new plaster, patches of textured wallpaper, etc. So only option open to us was to remove it all. But it's a horrid job !!

thanks Nothingmuch and Tiddletaddletat. I can't afford skimming atm so expect will leave it for now and just paint over it.
It's five weeks since offer was accepted and still havent got a date for exchange...sigh.

I realise this is an old thread but reading it, the OP could have been me and the position I’m on now!
@DavetheCat2001how is your house now?

@Iploughthefieldsandscatter - hello..I was the OP of this thread

I just came across it again so if you are still reading, here is an update!

So we will have been in the house for 2 years come early June, and have to say that although there is still a ton of work to do, we have had a fair amount done, including re-wiring, new boiler fitted and re-located, new radiators, ceiling and walls down in certain rooms and new wood flooring fitted in the hallway and 2 new sash windows fitted so far by a carpenter friend with another 2 due in the next month.

We had the front reception room and second one knocked through, so the main room is now the living room and the kids have the smaller room as their playroom/tv/games room etc. The wooden floors stripped and varnished and new alcove cupboard built by same carpenter friend.

We have had the hallway painted, and I stripped back the bannisters and wooden struts but we haven't gone any further than that there as several of the struts are broken and need replacing.

OH has spent the last 2 weekends pulling down a ceiling and a wall in the smallest upstairs room, which was a makeshift kitchen at some point with horrible tiles on the floor and old pipework sticking out that all needed stripping out. He has also been treating patches of woodworm throughout the house as we go..this house has been really neglected!

The small room upstairs is the latest project as once that is plastered/new sash window put in/new sockets fitted etc, can be decorated and OH and I can move into it temporarily whilst the main bedroom is sorted - another ceiling to come down in there which is going to be horrible and messy, but better that than it falls down at some point as is covered in stress cracks!

Also the kids rooms are next on the list too, going to make a start on DD's bedroom at the back of the house shortly, then move both kids in there and make a start on the bedroom they are currently sharing which will become DS's room.

Hoping to remortgage in the summer and borrow some more money so we can get thereat extension started and the kitchen/bathroom done + knocking out to the side return to add in a downstairs loo.

The garden needs re-turfing at some point, but we did manage to get some beds dug in last year and I planted a load of stuff so that was nice for last summer and the months of lockdown.

OH and I have undertaken a lot of the work ourselves, but with the way things are at the moment there isn't a lot else to do at the weekends!

It's slow progress and there is tons still to do, but we are getting there and I can also categorically state that I love this house, and I am so glad we bought it. If anyone happens upon this thread and is feeling buyers remorse like I was, my advice was to hang in there (like so many pp's told me).

I may post some updated pics up if anyone is interested.

Ah thanks so much for taking the time to update! I would love to see some pictures!
I’ve been in our house for nearly a month now, slowly unpacking and visualising what it can become. Oddly since crying and regretting the purchase when I posted I’ve felt completely at home and not missed my old house at all!

@Iploughthefieldsandscatter here are a few pics. Will get them removed in a bit, but you can see the front room and kids playroom (there was a wall in between), and the hallway.. still git the bannisters and stair runner to do.

Hallway

wow! Your house looks fabulous - so inspiring!