The 'It will do for now' house or hold out for the 'forever' home?

[CornerOfTheSky]

We are house hunting at the moment but have the time constraint of needing to move before secondary school applications next October, and also would be a bonus to move before the stamp duty holiday ends at the end of March.

We've been looking for a few months and in that time only one house has come up that fit most of our tick list (and we lost out on that house, boo). Our requirements are 5 bedrooms (or scope to eventually extend to create 5 beds), a decent sized garden, and within the school catchment.

We've just viewed a house that has the exact internal space that we need. One of the biggest we've viewed so far. I'm doubtful that as big a house will come up again before we need to move, as we've been keeping an eye on the market for a while. It's also very reasonably priced, not right at the top of our budget as a lot of the other houses have been (the reason for this is because it's location is less central to the high street, and it needs a lot of cosmetic work, but neither of those things bother us). We wouldn't get outbid on this house.

BUT....the garden isn't huge. It is average for the area, but there are some roads within school catchment with larger gardens. And it's north east facing, which we'd be OK with if it was a long garden, but it is 60 feet, which I'm not sure is long enough to get any afternoon / evening sun, which is one thing both me and my husband really wanted in our next house. We have four kids who love sports and a decent garden is really something we would value a lot, moving from our postage stamp London garden. I think we've had it in our heads that if we move a bit further out of London, one huge bonus would be a bigger, sunnier garden, so it's slightly disappointing to think about moving to a house that doesn't fulfil our garden size wishlist.

If the house was on the other side of the road (before you ask, there are no houses on the other side so that will never be an option), it would be completely perfect. It is a great 'It will do for now, and possibly forever' house, but part of me doesn't feel excited about it, because although the inside space is perfect for us, the outside space is not what we would have picked. Perhaps once living there we would find we actually love it, But perhaps we would always be wondering if we could have found something that ticked every single box.

In an ideal world, we would hold out for the exact right house that we could get really excited about, but obviously we have the time constraint of school applications, which is the more important priority at this stage, and the house fits what we need in every other way, which most of the houses haven't: only 2 so far, and we've seen around 15. Either the gardens were tiny, or we wouldn't have been able to create the number of bedrooms that we need. I've stalked the listings of previously sold houses in many of the roads within school catchment, so feel I have a pretty good idea of the housing stock, larger gardens do exist but are not super common, and the footprint of the house is one of the largest you can get in the area.

Would you hold out longer in case the forever home happens to crop up in the next few months? Or would you make a good offer on the reasonably priced house that ticks most of the boxes and means we can stop worrying about the imminent school application deadline?

The other option is to move to a smaller, much more affordable house with less bedrooms, then move again in a few years once my eldest is at secondary school and we no longer are under any time constraints to find the perfect house. My worry with this is that 2 or 3 children will have to share a bedroom for longer (between 11 and 5 yrs old), and what if circumstances change and we can't move again?

My view is that if you don’t feel excited about the house, don’t buy it. I had doubts about our current house when we moved in (the main one being that the garden was so overlooked at the back) but looked past these issues as it ticked so many boxes. We’ve now lived here 4 years and the overlooked garden still bothers me a lot. Had planned to stay here 10 years but we’re moving again now. If I was you I’d hold out for something else I think.

I would buy it as it ticks most boxes and you have the time constraints of stamp duty and schools. The ideal house may never come on the market and you could still be stuck where you are. Buying this does not mean you have to stay forever if it doesn't suit. You can always move again.

Can you go and view the house again in the afternoon? Check out where the sun is. And remember that it will be higher in the summer. You also need to go with the mindset of what can you change to make the garden work for you better? Eg a raised patio in the sunniest part of the garden to hold onto the sun for longer? Cleaver partitioning of the garden to make it look bigger?

You will never tick all your boxes in a house. And if the garden size is average for the area, chances are that this will be a compromise you have to make to be in the area. If it's too big a compromise, then perhaps the area or the price will have to give.

Also, I'd much rather compromise on garden space than internal space, as you seem to be considering. You say you could move somewhere smaller for a while and move on later, but what's stopping you moving for a bigger garden in a few years instead?

Oh and there are websites where you can map the position of the sun relative to a landmark (or house!). Have a Google and see where the sun will be at different time of the year.

It's so difficult isn't it? I'm not sure I have an answer, but we have been in a similar situation. We needed to choose quickly for schools too and chose the best of 7 houses that we viewed. We went for the house that suited us now, rather than a forever home and like you the garden is smaller than I would have liked. The thing is that you can't see the future and ine might or might not come up, but for us, the risk of not buying, and missing the school's deadline would have been worse. We are up against it as it is and I think we made the right choice. A bigger house did come up a few weeks later but we have made peace with our decision and will move in a few years once schools are sorted out. I've been making plans for the new house, which I'm beginning to get excited about, but it was still a compromise. We have a much smaller garden too than we would have liked, but it will do. Good luck whatever you decide. X

We're doing this at the moment - a big move to a new area, to a for-now house. Forever-style houses in the area we want to live in are rare, and apparently some will only be advertised to locals initially, so we decided it was better to get a foothold in the area first (and like you, school application dates are an issue).

I do really like the new house though - it's not perfect, but it's pretty good.

@LooseMooseHoose What’s stopping us moving again from this potential house is the stamp duty we’d have to pay. Right now, we could move to a smaller house and pay £0 stamp duty, then move to the perfect house in a few years and pay around £25k stamp duty.

Moving to this house we will pay £10k, and moving again after that once the stamp duty ends we would be paying another £25k. It might work out that we’d break even either way with equity etc but feels like a gamble maybe.

I know exactly where the sun would hit in this garden. The part nearest the house would be shaded, and the top section would lose the sun last. There is scope to make a patio area at the back, as opposed to our current house where we watch the last of the sun disappear onto our outbuildings. I actually quite like shade immediately outside the back door, but my husband feels differently. We wouldn’t really have the budget to make many changes to the garden right away though, especially if we weren’t convinced about how long we might want to stay in the house, I’d be reluctant to spend on any home improvements until we’d been there a year or two. We did that in our current house, and although it’s appealing to buyers, it doesn’t add any value unless you are increasing the square footage.

I think it’s the combination of slightly smaller garden PLUS north facing aspect that is making us feel a bit meh about it. If it were just one of those things it would feel
a better compromise. But I am worried that we will spend too much time fannying around and miss the school deadline, or end up with an even bigger compromise if we hold out for a house that is unlikely to come
up (and then the pressure of offering and potentially being outbid on the perfect house - not sure I could take it again!)

I think get a smaller compromise house : you will be motivated to move, not waste money on the house (renovation, expensive decor) & it may be quicker to sell as bigger pool of potential buyers for it

As you are relocating it gives you time to really know your new area

I’d have reservations about N facing garden too

@DespairingHomeowner I agree with you on almost all points there except maybe about being quicker to sell a smaller property. The smaller properties we've looked at are all still on the market / reducing their prices, whereas the bigger ones have all sold within a couple of weeks. Think it might be an area where people like bigger houses (either that or the current stamp duty reduction makes a bigger house a better deal than it usually would be).

Good info: try to find something ‘typical’ for area - a 4bed?

Are the smaller properties ones with smaller gardens/bigger ones rare?

My thinking was there’s more market for FTB properties/2nd step 3 beds than a 5 bed which some people never ‘get up the ladder’ to... I get your side though, as a 5 bed hard to find property has that value too

As long as your compromise house would be appealing to a broad range/typical buyer in your area it should be fine

Eg: my target area seems to appeal to families with primary age kids, so I’m making sure what I buy suits that type of family even though i could compromise- eg I wanted a 3rd bed for an office, but one that could fit a single bed would be much more sellable, likewise balance in size of garden vs house

It’s horrible to be in a rush!

We are in almost this exact situation. Had an offer accepted on a house last week. The size inside is great. The garden makes me feel a bit sad as it is so different to what I hoped for. Schools are also an issue for us. We have tried for over 15 months to find our forever house and it just isn't happening. We have made offers on 7 houses and only one really felt like the dream forever house. They just don't come up often. I'm finding at the moment that most houses coming up are probate houses or houses where the relationship had broken down. I just don't think many people who don't need to move right now are doing it, especially those older retired couples whose children have grown up whose houses we would like! I'm very worried that we will go ahead with this one and the house we have been waiting for may come on in three weeks or six weeks. But I feel like we can't wait forever. Schools are an issue. I don't want to be on right move constantly any more. It has caused some tension though as I would be quite happy to go for a middling house for 5ish years but my husband really doesn't want to do that.

Pressed post too soon. So basically, I think we have come to the conclusion that inside space is more important to us. There are nice walks near by. And nothing has to be forever. I know exactly how you feel though...I so wanted a house where the thought of not getting it made me want to cry. But I need to be realistic about what we can afford in our area and what is on the market now.

We had this challenge last year as we were moving to the countryside and had 'big garden' expectations. The house we are now in is big for us inside (although we've filled it!) and a perfect layout. The garden was a real compromise BUT we have spent some money making the garden feel ours and although not huge, it does feel like mine and a nice space now. The house is also overlooked but I'm used to that already. We love the village the house is in which helps. For us, it was the right decision and I'm pleased we went ahead. At the time though, I was distraught. I even cried about it the day before we moved!

@ForeverInADay we definitely have big garden expectations that we probably need to reign in. It’s reassuring to hear from others who’ve made moves that they weren’t completely excited about.

I’m trying to focus on the things that will be exciting, like knowing we don’t have to worry about schools anymore, being in a quieter new area, having enough bedrooms for all of us, and only having to move again if we WANT to, not out of necessity. We’ve wanted to make this move for so long that it’s as much about the area as it is about whichever house we end up moving to.

Garden was a compromise I was happy to make (well I wanted one but was willing to compromise on a smaller one), if everything else works I'd make that compromise but it's personal of course.

If a house with a large SW facing garden and nicely done up came onto the market, would you still be able to afford it? If the answer is yes, then I’d wait.

I know that with 4 young children it’d be v difficult, but I’d consider renting in the catchment. You wouldn’t worry about school applications and if sth suitable came up, you’d be in the perfect position being chain free. It would also give you the option to consider fixer uppers and you wouldn’t need to live on site. I think I’d prefer that to moving to a smaller property and then up the ladder as that would be even more upheaval. You’d have buying and selling expenses so you could as well spend the money on rent for less stress.

Oh, and it is just the one area and one school you’re interested in? Perhaps there’s a good alternative?

@JoJoSM2 we are looking for a fixer upper really, or at least a house we could add value to by extending. It doesn’t put us off, but also doesn’t seem to put many people off because those project houses are going really quickly! Definitely seems to be an area where the most popular house sizes are the big ones or the ones with scope to extend.

It is one secondary school in the area. We have spent the last three years carefully deliberating areas to move to. This was the only area that my husband was happy to move to out of all the options we had. It was a compromise on do-able commute, still close-ish to family, a decent secondary school, and achievable within our budget. Considering different areas right now will just not happen.

If a house with a large SW facing garden and nicely done up came onto the market, would you still be able to afford it? - to answer this question, if it was all done up and extended etc it would be absolutely top of our budget and very possible that we would be outbid. If it were a little bit far from the train station / hadn’t been extended yet / needed a fair bit of work, then yes we could afford it with budget leftover to do some work. We’d actually rather this second option than one that has already had all the improvements made to it.

@CornerOfTheSky: do you want to have a house to improve to get it your way, or create equity? I find it hard to work out what changes actually gain more than it costs to do ...

A 60ft garden is surely long enough to get some Sun at the end of it? Surely the house wouldn’t cast a 60ft shadow!

Tbh, I think I’d just go for the house. If the footprint is pretty much as big as you’re going to get then it’s probably well worth it for a large family.
You’ll also have very sunny rooms at the front of the house and your children will be less likely to get burnt playing in the garden. And you’ll be able to see where balls or shuttlecocks etc are going. Our sun trap of a garden wasn’t that fun in the summer.

What does an overlooked garden mean? Genuine question. Aren’t the majority the of houses in the UK stuck to each other? Aren’t most gardens overlooked from the back and the sides?

@DespairingHomeowner improve to get it our way and also not to create equity immediately but to hopefully break even after renovation / building costs.

@JoJoSM2 True about ball games. I actually really hate the glare from the sun and prefer the shade when it's really hot, but also would like to have SOME sunny parts to the garden, and my husband would definitely prefer a sunnier garden.

Our current house is south facing and our kitchen diner extension with all it's glazing is almost too hot to sit in on heatwave days. That being said, I think a gloomy house would affect my mood more than a garden mostly in shade. I think this house we are looking at would be OK because the front would be sunny, and we can create better light in the back by adding rooflights in the extension, bifold doors etc.