Can we change our minds?

[Noshowlomo]

God I feel so bad but don’t know if we’re doing the right thing.
We have seen a house which is beautiful, it’s 200 years old but we’ve always said we want a newer home but it has character. We’d have to spend around £20k on it to get it to the way we want to start with.
We have seen it twice and loved it, so made an offer and it’s been accepted. Our house is going on market tomorrow.
Anyway, I now have this AWFUL feeling in my stomach that we’ve done the wrong thing and we need to hold out for the new build we want but it won’t be ready until sep.
it’s not even showing as STC anywhere yet. Is it best to say no now? How do you KNOW it’s the right house. Again, it could be stunning but I’ve never been someone who is good at doing up a house !
I don’t want to mess anyone around.

Nobody knows anything. That’s part of the rich excitement of life. At least here you know that you’re going to have to invest some money, it won’t come as s complete surprise.

But if you’re getting cold feet then pull out now, before the seller makes an offer on or begins planning their own next property or spends money on legal fees.

A 200 year old property will require some kind of ongoing maintenance regime. It won’t necessarily be hugely costly, but it will certainly be more time consuming and costly than a new build.

Can you pinpoint your feelings about it- is it the work? What do you need to do?

Get a full survey and go from there. It's the most expensive thing your ever likely to buy so anxiety is normal! It just depends what's behind it.

With a house that age, £20k could easily turn into £30k+ and always, always, takes far longer than you expect. If it needs a full rewire then you can’t really live there while it’s going on.
If you’re having doubts now, a survey could well send you running away screaming and you’ll have paid £600+ for it.
If you aren’t experienced in renovations or don’t know plumbers/electricians/plasterers etc. then I’d withdraw your offer.
It’s aways more work and more expense than you plan for, especially with a property that age.

If you want a new build then I truly doubt that a 200 year old cottage will hit the spot. Older properties require ongoing spending and tend to be labours of love.

If you don't like it, better to pull out earlier than later.

Go and have another look

Thanks all. It’s truly a beautiful home and I’d want to respect that and make it even more beautiful but I don’t think we’d have the money, not right away, so the process could take years. Our son is nearly 2 and we both work full time, so at the moment doing loads ourselves is out of the question, until he’s a bit older at least.
My gut is saying no. Just so confused as it was screaming yes at me yesterday

Trust your gut. I bought a complete reno and we didn't have all the money to do it all in one go. It took quite a few years and was hard work to live with with little children. Older properties are expensive, maintenance is a big issue and they are more expensive to heat etc. If your hearts not in it then wait for the new build.

I mean, if you're not 100% don't go ahead, but please think carefully in future before putting offers in on a house and wasting peoples time.

@mountains76 I totally agree with you. I feel like a knob ! Lesson learnt

One of the reasons we're moving from our current home is because it's nearly broken us renovating it. We had no idea what we were getting into when we bought it, it's cost ×3 what we had thought to do the work, taken up every waking moment of our lives and with two small children I honestly regret wasting so much of our time on DIY as any childfree time was spent decorating, or sorting building work, or hard physical labour shifting huge piles of earth etc. We've barely broken even financially and because we had to get into debt to pay for half the work we have done, it's been a massive financial strain. We ended up resenting our house so while it's very sad to be leaving behind our dreams we're moving to a more expensive, boring, but finished home

Thanks @Livinghereisok I think we’d be the same. I’ll call the agent first thing in the morning. It’s not STC and I know they’re looking for somewhere but not found anywhere yet so we’re not stopping their chain but I feel awful. It’s so beautiful and needs probably £30-40k realistically.!

Oh I’d buy the old beautiful house over a new build any day of rhe week.

We’ve been in ours nearly seven years and we’ve just done rhe last big job. It’s unique, I love it here.

Unless there is stuff you can’t live with, go for the old house, and not the characterless new build. They simply don’t compare.

I’ve rants the EA and said we’re a no : ( I feel like a knob but also relieved so that has told me something. We’ve made a list of what it needed and we’d forgot to add all new windows and front and back doors so that’s more. BUT entirely our fault, we should have worked this out before we made an offer.
Just gotta wait for this new build now, so we have time to save for a few more months.

*rang

Sounds like you made the right choice. I wouldn’t want a new build myself but I can see the appeal.
My DD is currently house hunting, like you they have a young family and full on careers, she wants something that needs very little doing to it. They’ve lived in a new build rental of a very high standard for over 3 years but they’ve now outgrown it and need a 4 bed with a utility room or garage.