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Original poster

House - made the wrong choice

63 replies

tripletee · 05/07/2020 08:07

Three years ago DH and I decided to sell our tiny flat in a trendy part of zone two East London to buy something bigger and start a family.

We didn’t have a lot of choice on our budget, but it came down to two properties. The first was a flat in a very good area. It had one double bedroom and one very small second bedroom big enough for a cot or one of those (what look like smaller size?) single beds. It also had a nice garden.

The second was a house in a very untrendy part of zone 3 with two good sized bedrooms, two extra rooms downstairs, a large garden and potential to extend into the loft.

We went for option 2 as we loved the idea of having a whole house, and wanted somewhere that could potentially be a forever home rather than having to move again once baby outgrew the tiny second bedroom in the flat. We have largely been very happy with our choice, although I do sometimes miss our old area with all the great places to go out.

However, the other day I randomly started googling properties for sale and typed in our old area. What should come up but this flat we rejected - which is now on the market for £150k more than when we viewed it three years ago!

Meanwhile looking at sold prices on our street, our house price has probably gone up a couple of thousand, if that.

I’m now kicking myself that we didn’t buy the flat in the better area, live there for a few years with baby then use the extra money made to buy a bigger house elsewhere - especially as we’re no longer sure we want to spend the next 20 years in London.

I want to tell DH so I have someone to commiserate with but also don’t want to upset him - ignorance is bliss and all that.

Any thoughts?

OP posts:
Lightscribe · 05/07/2020 08:31

I could have been a multimillionaire if I had kept my all my Bitcoin I had in 2012 and not sold them all when it hit $20.

Never mind OP, after COVID and the following recession we’re facing, flats in cities will be particularly hit hard. That flat you missed out on will shed a lot of the paper value and you won’t feel as disappointed.

Themostwonderfultimeoftheyear · 05/07/2020 08:35

You are happy where you are and don't have the hassle of moving :) If you do want to leave London then your current house should sell for enough to buy something decent outside of London where prices are cheaper.

intheningnangnong · 05/07/2020 08:35

Hindsight is the best investment, always will be. I’d be typing in my castle if it always worked like that.

Jumblebumblemess · 05/07/2020 08:36

You cannot live by "what ifs" we all have them.

What if I hadn't stayed with my abusive ex and divorced him I would have spent lockdown in a lovely big property with a huge garden and probably being abused instead of a flat with no garden and my loving partner now.

What ifs are the thief of joy. Just enjoy where you are now and the garden that you have. Move further out if you want more house for your money.

therealkittyfane · 05/07/2020 08:38

Do you like living in your house?
If you intended to play London monopoly and build more and more equity then go ahead and feel p’ed off.
If you invested in a ‘home’ and are generally happy - live your life and forget about it.

Bells3032 · 05/07/2020 08:40

Just because it's on for that price doesn't mean it will sell for that price. I am finding atm everyone is putting properties on for like 150k more than they are worth compared to prior to covid. They are just trying to strike whilst all that pent up frustration is being released.

Very little has gone up in price in the last couple of years

Flamingolingo · 05/07/2020 08:42

Honestly I don’t see how flats like that can keep their value post lockdown - now the whole country has had to work from home and been locked away with limited access to outdoor space. If you’re not wanting to sell your current house right now, then it’s largely irrelevant.

And like a pp, DH had some shares from a company formed from some work he did many years ago. His old boss said $20/share would be good so he sold a bunch to get the deposit for our old house. Those shares rose a couple of years later to >$200/share and we missed the peak massively. Assets can be like that I’m afraid.

intheningnangnong · 05/07/2020 08:42

Also reading the FT the arse is falling out of London flats as more are left unsold than ever before. It could easily be you trapped in a flat.

Furthermore the property ladder isn’t a given anymore.

Headandheart · 05/07/2020 08:43

Yes but you have a house instead of a flat and that is what you wanted.

TheTurnOfTheScrew · 05/07/2020 08:55

your house is your home, and you say you have been happy with your choice.

If it helps, you're not alone in narrowly missing out on making a fortune. We had a small flat in zone 2 in what was then an unfashionable area. We knew we'd never be able to make the jump up to a house in that area, so sold it for the same price we paid, plus just enough extra to cover the cost of moving when we were offered the chance to relocate elsewhere in the country. Got a mortgage for a small 3 bed terrace in our new area.

Obviously, the zone 2 area has become very desirable, and the value of the flat has more than doubled. If we sold it today we'd have been able to afford a huge place in our new area.

But we've had a brilliant 10 years here, we like our house, and we love the area. And there's no guarantee that the relocation opportunity would have been available at another time, as DH's work only offers transfers once in a blue moon. Allow yourself an hour's mourning and then let it go.

PrimalLass · 05/07/2020 08:57

I bet lockdown was far easier in your house than a small flat. That's probably why the flat is on the market now.

crimsonlake · 05/07/2020 10:27

There is no point in looking back and the ' what ifs '
I sold a lovely terrace many years ago for the same price I bought it for, when in hindsight I possibly could have rented it out. It is now selling for 6 times more than what I paid, such is life. I am sure most of us have similar stories.
The important thing is you are happy with your new home.

Original poster
tripletee · 05/07/2020 10:27

If you intended to play London monopoly and build more and more equity then go ahead and feel p’ed off. If you invested in a ‘home’ and are generally happy - live your life and forget about it.

We wanted to buy a forever home and that’s what we did. But looking back, the smart move would have been to play London Monopoly, buy one more interim home to make some more cash and then buy a better forever home a few years later.

I know it’s London and property prices are crazy here, but I’d never have expected that flat to rise in price by £50k per year, especially since this was post Brexit and everyone was saying London prices had plateaued and were even falling. The flat we didn’t buy is proof that is not the case!

OP posts:
GreenTulips · 05/07/2020 10:30

I think houses with space will increase
There’s been a lot of interest as people want gardens and desk space

Hold in there you’ll see the change

GreekOddess · 05/07/2020 10:34

Your area may not have peaked yet and may still have potential to become an up and coming area. What area did you reject and move to?

therealkittyfane · 05/07/2020 10:37

We wanted to buy a forever home and that’s what we did. But looking back, the smart move would have been to play London Monopoly, buy one more interim home to make some more cash and then buy a better forever home a few years later.

A family we know has played the game. They moved every one/ two years - 11 times in the last 18 years.
Several school changes for the DC but the houses got bigger and better each time. They currently live in a big house in a very nice area and the DC’s are starting to go away to Uni.
It’s been a lifestyle for them - almost like a business.
They are some of the most antsy, highly strung people I know but it’s their choice and financially (at least - not sure about anything else) they have reaped the rewards.

HandsOffMyRights · 05/07/2020 10:40

We can all look back on the 'smart' move.

We bought and sold at the wrong time and were impacted by the 2008 crash.

We also took some dodgy mortgage advice and lost thousands too.

This is what you learn to accept with property over the years. You win some, you lose some.

suggestionsplease1 · 05/07/2020 10:42

Don't tell your DH, I don't think that's fair on him, and what will it achieve?

You can't really describe the flat as 'the smart move' because nobody can forecast with precision what will happen. Financial advisers a year ago would probably have said the 'smart move' for wealthy people sitting on cash would be to invest it, and those that did maybe have lost 20% of the value now compared to people who did nothing with their cash- which most of the time would be inadvisable.

Finances can be a matter of luck and timing as much as anything else.

Try not to get hung up on this, it won't do you any favours. You've got the house that you wanted and was presumably much more comfortable for lockdown.

ChewChewIsMySpiritAnimal · 05/07/2020 10:45

Sod moving 11 times in 18 years and moving your kids schools several times. That's really selfish imo. Children do better with stability.

The flat you didn't buy sounds like it would have been shit to live in. And advertised price doesn't equal value.

Original poster
tripletee · 05/07/2020 10:46

I know - it’s just that it could so easily have been a win! As I say, I listened to the reports that the London market had peaked and that prices were falling due to Brexit. Which I now know is a load of rubbish!

Would you tell your DH or keep it from him? He was very keen on getting more space at the time, but I’m sure he will be as gutted as I am so perhaps I should keep it to myself. I’m annoyed I ever googled now.

OP posts:
Original poster
tripletee · 05/07/2020 10:49

The flat was very small - there was no space for a table in the teensy kitchen and no dining room, so we’d have had to eat in the lounge. But I’d be prepared to live with that for three years to make £150k!

OP posts:
Itwasntme1 · 05/07/2020 10:58

You don’t know that you would have even got the flat, you might have been bid out.

I know it’s irritating. My house was worth double what is today about ten years ago. I could have sold it, moved back with the parents for a couple of years and made a killing.

But I didn’t. And that’s life😊. Everyone has a story of how they could have made a killing on the housing market if they had known the future. Your story is no different.

Original poster
tripletee · 05/07/2020 11:05

The only consolation now will be if it sells for a lot less than the price it’s been advertised for. I will keep an eye on it!

I think I was caught up in the idea of a forever home when I should have listened to my head.

OP posts:
madcatladyforever · 05/07/2020 11:06

Id go for the house everytime, cost is irrelevant.

Echobelly · 05/07/2020 11:16

Remember, moving costs money - having space and moving less often is waaaay better. And having a home's more important than an investment at the end of the day.

Hindsight's a bugger.... it took me years to get over my frustration that DH wouldn't live in my home which I owned outright. We first moved in together somewhere rented, and I started letting my house, as he was working outside the opposite end of London at the time, so it made sense. But when he got a job in London he still wouldn't move to my house because he didn't like the area and if he could have just sucked it up for a few years, we could have started our family in a house rather than a flat where we live now. OTOH there were benefits to me letting that house and us buying a flat here when we got married because the rent saw me through 2 mat leaves and a redundancy.

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