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Original poster

Would you buy your house again!?

38 replies

frost8bite · 04/01/2020 20:38

DS was 4 months old when we bought. We were thinking get-on-the-property-ladder quick and then buy a proper house later.....
Its not the perfect house (zone 4 south east London) but we weren't fussed at the time

Long story short we are still here 4 years later with DD 1yr old as well, and filling out school choices and we're nicely positioned for the worst ones in the area :(
Broker says it will be 3 years before we can afford to move to a good catchment. What were we thinking!? Sigh

OP posts:

flirtygirl · 05/01/2020 23:25

Yes great house and garden. But knew I would probably move again the day I completed as so far away from what I know. I'm pleased when I drive up to it though as a great house. I'm lucky to live here.

Honeyroar · 05/01/2020 23:29

Yes but I’d like £50k spare so we wouldn’t be living in an unfinished house 8 years on!

Sammy867 · 05/01/2020 23:37

Yes this is our first house but is a forever home. Bought 3 years ago now. It’s a 3 bedroom dormer conversion in a really nice village surrounded by forests but only 15 minutes from our major city. It’s going to change over time (converting a garage, putting in Juliette balconies and extending the kitchen) but for now it suits us fine and technically those are just things we want to do not need to do.

We are in the catchment of 4 outstanding primary schools (I wouldn’t mind any one she got in to) and 1 outstanding grammar with 2 outstanding comprehensives. All the kids are really nice and neighbours are lovely.

BackforGood · 05/01/2020 23:38

Yes . 100%
It's an unusual house. Will be difficult to sell, I expect, but we've been fortunate enough to have our family grow up in a lovely big house, which was affordable as some people wouldn't choose the location. Personally I love the location and think it is a real asset in terms of schools, trains, near the High Street, near a park. Just so convenient for everything.

CactusAndCacti · 05/01/2020 23:40

This one? Absolutely. It ticked none of our boxes but I get such a warm fuzzy feeling whenever I get home. On paper it is all wrong, but it is just so right. The secondary school is just round the corner and we managed to change school for the youngest.

My last house, no. I was never happy there, lived there 16 years and do not miss it (emotionally) at all. I am so pleased I wore DH down DH finally agreed to move.

DulciUke · 05/01/2020 23:49

There are things that I hate about my house, including the fact that none of the earlier owners did much upkeep. However, I ended up loving my neighborhood and this is the only house that I could realistically afford. And,to be fair, the house could be nicer if I made more of an effort. So I'm not sure if I would buy it if I had to do all over again.

pinkdelight · 06/01/2020 09:35

Similar thing happened to us, OP, also in SE London, found ourselves in a school black hole with a baby. Spent most of the next three years trying to move and finally got out just in time for primary. Took a hit on the house, lost money on it and the house we loved to was smaller (though we've since extended), but it's been worth it for the schools and the area in general. I don't understand why you're basing your life plan on this broker? Do you mean a mortgage broker? How do they know how things will change in three years? If it means a lot to you, couldn't you switch to a smaller place (even a flat?) in an area you prefer? There's lots of movement in schools so missing the deadline doesn't mean you'd never get a place. Although it may be that your 'worst' schools turn out to be fine so it's worth giving them a try if you're not keen to move.

MinnieMountain · 06/01/2020 12:49

Yes. We used to say we would love to buy one of a particular row of houses and one came up as we were looking for a bigger house.

It's a mid terrace but the walls are nice and thick. It has high ceilings. We have plenty of room. We know the area as we only moved up the road. It's affordable as we live in a cheap city. The schools are fine.

Ultimately we would like to move to Pembrokeshire. That's one for once DS has left home though. We expect to be in our current house until then.

TheLovleyChebbyMcGee · 06/01/2020 12:56

Yes, but I'd do it up in a different way. It was a big fixer upper, so I learned a lot of things on the job so to speak, i wouldnt have learned the things I'd do differently without doing them iyswim?

I also didn't consider schools at the time and now we have a one year old, so will see how that goes!!!

DavetheCat2001 · 06/01/2020 13:07

Yes a million times over!

Still feel so lucky to have got our house as it is big and has tons of potential.

Not to say that it isn't overwhelming , and a massive financiall pushl, but glad we took the risk.

managedmis · 06/01/2020 13:09

With regards to schools, I'm happy with the school and nursery situation. The actual house, not so much. Too big, bad layout. Love the area tho

Ineedanamechange79 · 06/01/2020 13:19

Dp owns the house we are in now. I loved it when he bought it but given hindsight I would not but it again. I would swap it for my house which I sold which was smaller but much better insulated, had a massive garden, driveway and was much lower maintenance than our current home.

Notyetthere · 06/01/2020 13:22

This is our first house and if our finances carry on in the same way as they are now could be our forever house. It was over the figure in our DIP but the bank just about managed to increase the amount they would lend us so it was top of our budget. We didn't think we would be able to afford a 3 bed house in the area but this one being ex-council, just about fell within reach of our budget.

It has larger rooms, on a corner plot so lots of space around it and a large garden compared to equivalent non-ex council equivalents that we couldn't afford at the time. Obviously with the changes to stamp duty means that local prices have become evened out so no 250k blocker anymore meaning that with the square footage of our home, it makes it the same price as the albeit smaller other three beds that aren't ex-council. I think I would buy it again but it would have a lot more competition for comparison as there isn't a massive jump in fees.

Primary school catchment is great but secondary its grammar or the local comps aren't great but our DD is too young for us to worry about this for now. We are only 10 mins from DH parents and the same for DH's sister so family support network is great.

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