House - made the wrong choice

[tripletee]

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?

Honestly, I think you are being a bit ridiculous. You’ve not lost that money as it was never yours to begin with.

You need some perspective - you have a whole house and importantly, a home that is yours. For many people, they would give their right arm just to own that tint flat you initially sold, and the security that that brings. We’ve all bought into this idea that home ownership brings profitability as a right but that way leads to unhappiness, as evidenced by your post. Focus on e fact that you have a WHOLE house that can grow as your family grows, and that you have security that is unattainable to many.

I can think if about 5 or 6 times when I made a mistake about property, and I could have changed my life compared to where I am now. I'm in a tiny 2 bed with a massive mortgage. If I'd got myself together you buy my first place in my 20s (like many of my friends did) I'd be a nice 3 bed in lovely area! Once I reached my 30s, dp I looked at buying a flat. We looked at flats in a run down area, but decided not to move there. A decade later, those flats have tripled in value! We bought our first flat in 2007...right before the 2008 crash. The house we are in now, we have lived here 2 years. It was sold 6 years before we bought it, for nearly £200k less than we paid for it 6 years later. Our flat didn't go up the same amount in that time.

I kick myself a lot, but I can't change the past.

However, I don't believe that the flat you saw has gone up 150k in 3 years, without it being renovated. London house prices have been quite static during that time.

However, I don't believe that the flat you saw has gone up 150k in 3 years, without it being renovated. London house prices have been quite static during that time.

I know, this is what’s baffling to me. It was in good condition when I looked at it, so there wouldn’t have been any renovations to do!

Back in 2006 or so we were on fairly decent salaries in London and had a bit of savings. We had a mortgage appointment and could have gotten a 100% mortgage as FTB.
We decided to focus on our careers, work abroad for a bit, even thought about doing another degree. Then we got married, had our first baby. Only in 2012 we felt ready to buy our first place.

Had we bought in 2006 we would probably now be in a big detached forever house. But we did what was right for us at the time.

My mum and dad had the chance to buy the house they were living in before it was sold in 1972 for about £900.
It’s in Brockley in south east London
Houses in the same street now are well over a million pounds.
I know that’s the best part of fifty years but blimey. !

It wasn't a stupid decision at the time. You went for the better accommodation for your family. If you put off enjoying your time together just so you can make a bigger profit, you could end up a very sad person. Possibly, you haven't maximised your profit. On the other hand, you have generally made good choices, have a property and a family living happily in it.

FWIW the flag I bought for £22k in what is now trendy bit of east London but at the time (1985) wasn't, is sold a few years ago for £800k. Sadly not by me! You have to let the what ifs go. You are either a property magnet or you live in your home

I still can’t get over this - it’s eating me up a bit inside. I could have paid for private education for my child with that money... or moved to the countryside and been practically mortgage free. I’ve messed up my life over one stupid decision!

My DH is like you. I call him the 'could have, would have, should have' man.
His list of these things is lengthy and as the years go by his regrets rear up and he drags them around like a ball and chain.
He has a hugely successful career, financially secure, he's healthy etc etc.....all the good things we wished for in life. But, jeez, the regrets.........
Shake yourself off, you did what you wanted to do, be happy.
Positivity breeds positivity. Negativity breeds negativity. Choose wisely which path you want to be on.

Thanks @whiteblue

You can put property up for sale at any price you want, doesn’t mean someone will pay it, so I wouldn’t be so sure that you have “missed out” as it may well go for a lot less or not sell.

Thanks to COVID-19 most people have just spent 4 months at home, would you really have rather done that in the small flat?!

@Lightscribe

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.

I did the same thing, 😥😥. Even tried to scan my old hard drive in 2017 in the hope I had some more, which I didn't sell, couldn't find them 😂.

Just because it's on Rightmove for that much, doesn't mean it will sell for that much. People are overpricing properties so that buyers asking for a 15% post-Covid discount will feel like they got a "bargain" if the seller accepts the discount. And I've heard posters on here saying they're trying to sell their Zone 2 London flat and have had 0 viewings, no-one is interested.

Incidentally we had an offer accepted on a flat just before lockdown, by the time the mortgage offer came through 3 months later, we decided that actually we wanted a house and pulled out (also I'm furloughed & at risk of redundancy, we wanted to wait to see what would happen with that and the economy in winter). The estate agents were fuming but now the flat has been back on the market for a month and still no offers/Sold STC!