How did you know?

[Werk]

That a house was right for you?

We have been umming and ahhing about a house for a few weeks now. We have been for two viewings but have held back making an offer for some reason. I have been walking past at different times of day and trying to work out when the garden will have sun etc. so I haven't completely ruled it out.

We are in the process of selling (probably complete before Christmas) and will then rent so we are not in any hurry.

The house ticks most of our boxes on paper but there is just something that doesn't make my heart sing.

We heard from the agent today that someone else has made an offer. I feel conflicted - I want it to stay on the market just in case nothing better comes up but I don't necessarily want to jump in and make an offer too. DH says he will do whatever I want but he obviously feels the same as me - ambivalent.

I feel we will regret not making an offer but then I also think we will regret buying it as a more perfect house could come up.

I worry we will never find the perfect place and this could be the next best thing.

@Officebox yes, it would! One reason why we are breaking the chain to give us the best chance of doing so.
Although I think it will either be extended or prices will drop a little which will have the same effect - I think we are in a mini bubble at the moment caused by the stamp duty holiday - sellers just put their prices up- paying tax seems worse to many people than paying more for the house iyswim?

Had a long chat with DH about it last night. I do worry this will be the best house we find in the area in our budget.

@Officebox budget is actually £1.4m but I am factoring in that we might (will) miss out on the stamp duty holiday.

It is surprising how little you get for that in London.

@Werk

Would you consider a little outside of the area a bit to get more bang for your buck?

London will always be London, but everyone keeps saying the London housing market is due a correction. I don’t know because they’ve been saying that for years.

I’m not convinced the stamp duty holiday will be extended. Recent reports have been looking into how the government will pay for furlough etc. Tax is the most obvious place for the government and they will need it.

When we saw our house I walked round going it's perfect, it's perfect. The estate agent clearly thought I was insane it had awful 80s decor, an overgrown garden and stank of cats piss! It is also not a pretty house. But the light, the big rooms, the south facing garden, big driveway and excellent location made it a very good house. And we got it at a very good price as other people were put off by the cat smell. As soon as the carpets came up it was gone.

We had a very similar experience to yours, OP. I was constantly wondering about how light impacted on the garden too. We put in an offer but it was rejected. It was an ill wind. A few weeks later viewed the house and I knew straightaway it was the right one - we're now living in it and never been happier. I think your gut is telling you to walk away.

We viewed our house just before we had a second viewing of a house that would have done for us, but we had some reservations about. We were literally jumping up and down seeing this place and the second viewing of the other place just confirmed our doubts when we'd previously been enthusiastic about it. Had we not seen this, we would probably have bought the other house.

@Officebox it is a bit of a long story - I grew up nearby and have a lot of family and friends here. My job is quite local too (and very convenient for childcare). A couple of miles in London is a long way and could easily take 30/40 minutes to drive.

DH is a workaholic. 16hrs a day type. Before we had DC we discussed moving out of London but he wouldn't have it because he liked being within half an hour of the office.

He never worked at home before lockdown.
Now, of course, he is at home all the time and so wants to move out of London but my issues with this are:

1. He hasn't researched anywhere or anything. He just thinks we will be able to find the perfect village with a train line to London for those occasions when he needs to go into the office. Plus, of course the perfect school for DC which will have places for them to start exactly when we move there.
2. He thinks we will be able to buy a 5 bed house with half an acre garden for less than £1mil in said perfect village.
3. I would have to leave my job (I can't work from home all the time and I work PT so by the time I have dropped off DC to Unicorn School and commuted in from Mythical Village it will be time to go back again) DH does and will not assist with childcare Mon- Fri. He says he will but I can never rely on him not having something important and urgent - he is supposed to collect the DC from school on Friday afternoons, he has done it once since September.
4. I have researched some places and we have even looked at houses in some areas (Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells, Redhill, Reigate) I have not dismissed his proposals out of hand but rather he has dismissed these places as being too "townie", lacking personality, too white, too UKIP.... and we still can't find the house he wants for under £1.25mil. Prices have become insane in these commuter towns. Plus we would need to factor in the loss of my income until I find another job, the cost of train fares for DH should he have to go into London, we would have to get a better car as it would be used every day for school run (we walk now) and maybe even get another car if needed for the station too. I have driven all the research but he just rejects places and offers no alternatives but then accuses me of trying to keep him in London.
5. I do resent him wanting to move when he refused before. It suits him now. However I would be uprooted from everything (as would DC) just so he can sit in his home office for 16hrs a day with a better view. Plus there is the risk that he goes back into the office full time and he would then have a long commute on top of long days, at least now he can just hop in an uber at 1am if needed.

So, yeah, it's not as simple as "move out of London".

I dont think you'll find many multicultural commuter villages op. Everything else on your (dh) list is totally doable in the home counties.

Although it might be a four bed, and 1/4acre for your money. Push the budget to £1.5mill and you're living the dream, sort of.

Why don’t you just buy in outer London? I’m sure you could get 1/4 acre for your budget (1/2 acre probably closer to 2M), Ubers at 1am and you could still be not too far from family even if they’re more central. You could carry on with your job and there are plenty of childcare options and excellent schools.

I knew this house was for us without even going inside tbh. On paper it didn't tick any boxes really bar location, it was too small, dated etc...and under offer and over priced! 😂

But I kept an eye on it, sale fell through, went to see it. Again, too small on paper and still over priced. Eventually price came down, viewed it again, then brought dh along to look. He liked it, but not quite with quite the same fervour I did but he went with it. We got it for a good price in the end and have loved it ever since. Currently mid extending.