Cold feet about buying a house

[MuthaFluffa]

Going through the process of buying a house. We should be exchanging in a couple of weeks.
It's all gone through relatively quick as there's no chain and the vendors need to sell ASAP.

I'm currently renting. The house I'm in now is a lot bigger than the one we're buying.

I'm getting nervous that we're making a big mistake.
Property around my area is out of our price range. The one we're buying is doable. Which is why we went for it.

Does everyone get cold feet about buying a house or is it something I should reconsider?

Cold feet Is relatively common I think - it's a big purchase! Is there something specific you're worried about?

Honestly, I think it's the size of the house. We are definitely downsizing. But I guess it's better to own a small house than rent a bigger one? 🤷‍♀️

It's just such a big change. I've lived in my house for 8 years... never bought a property before. I'm worried we'll move in there and realise we've made a mistake... but I can't quite put my finger on why.

So many people do this, they rent a property they could never afford to buy then struggle with the downsize.

Just do it op. It's much better than continuing to rent. In a couple of weeks you will be fine in a home uou own.

Emotionally, buying a house can be very difficult. Apparently it's up there with bereavement and divorce as a very stressful thing to do.

weve just done this gone from a big 3 bed semi rental to our own 2 bed semi, the only thing we are struggling with is where to put all the stuff that is currently filling up the smaller bedroom, we have decluttered but due to OHs career there are loads of text books that we cant find a home for at the moment, so if you are going smaller be ruthless about decluttering, dont keep anything you wont need and you should be ok

It’s hard for us on the internet to know whether it’s just cold feet or not - are you thinking you’d prefer to carry on renting a bigger place rather than own somewhere smaller?

Are you buying with a partner? What do they say?

You’ll be fine OP as long as it is actually big enough for you. We bought our current house after renting a much larger house, think 5 bed detached house, big kitchen diner, conservatory, big garden, 2 bathrooms etc to a 3 bed detached bungalow, small kitchen, one bathroom and much smaller garden. It’s what we could afford in the area we wanted.

But do you know what.....it’s ours, it’s big enough and that’s what matters. No crazy high rent, less than great landlords, stuff not getting fixed etc. We massively decluttered (filled a walk in skip ) and I couldn’t be happier.

We will tweak things a bit over time to make it work better for us, but it’s our house and I’m just delighted. Cold feet in your situation is understandable, but will be worth it in the end.

Thanks all. It's not like the downsize will be a massive difference... but our rented house definitely has more floor space (and a huge unmanageable garden!)
It's still the same number of bedrooms, just smaller.
I guess I'll just have to be ruthless and have a major declutter!
Pretty sure my lovely sideboard and sofas won't fit though... 🤔 but we'll just have to make do for now.

@Spanglybanglesyou are so right about it being all ours. I hate having a lazy landlord. It's like getting blood out of a stone when things go wrong in this house. And no more inspections!
I guess the pros outweigh the cons. I just don't do well with change!

You'll have security.. No landlord to suddenly decide he wants to sell up - 2months notice and off you pop! Just buy your house and make it yours.

Thanks @Singlenotsingle you're right.. it's quite exciting really! Having always rented, I've always been super conscious that I'm living in somebody else's house, it's going to be so weird knowing I can do what I like without asking permission.

Thanks all, guess I'm just being a bit silly!

I get nervous when buying a house, I think it’s really normal. It’s a big deal!
We’ve moved this week into a really exciting but daunting project house. Yesterday I was feeling sick and doubting what we’ve done, today I’m almost squealing with excitement.
So long as the house you’re buying is actually big enough for you now, I do think buying is massively preferable to renting.

When I bought my first property I downsized from a house to a flat. It was smaller but it was mine and DH. We then built up enough equity to buy a bigger place which was roughly the same size as we were renting.

I don't know your plans or if this is a "forever home" but personally I coped with the smaller place knowing it was temporary.

It's definitely not our forever home. We're looking at it as a place to see the kids through school and then reassess how we feel a few years down the line.

So I guess I am being rather dramatic.