We overpaid

[Pandapawson]

By 10%

We completed on our house sale and purchase last month.

It was a big step up for us financially and I think it was a knee jerk reaction to spending too much time in our old house over lockdown and wanting a change.

Our new house is lovely, don't get me wrong, but I think we panic bought and could have waited a little longer. Nothing was coming on the market and so we stretched our budget.... we are in London and houses rarely come on the market on this particular street (not at this size, most have been split into two flats) and so when our house came on the market we snapped it up. Nothing else had sold down there since 2013 according to Zoopla (there are about 40 houses).

Our house is lovely. Apart from a couple of minor things (some lights that were taken by the sellers had to be replaced and one set of curtains) we have not had to do a thing (although we will need some new bedroom furniture) and so no additional expense/ hassle.

Since we moved in just before Easter two further houses have come on the market. One is a lot smaller and on the other side of the street, has a north facing garden and so not a direct comparable (it sold in a day though!) but the other is a few doors down and almost identical - it needs updating but the bones are almost there, ours is slightly bigger because it has had a side return extension and our garden is about 20ft longer. The kitchen is old and the bathroom is avocado, it will definitely need some money spent on it, but probably not as much as the difference between what it is up for and what we paid.

It is on for 10% less than we paid for ours as "offers over".

I feel a pang of regret. Although our house is lovely and with two young DC it has been great not having to do anything major, it isn't all to my exact taste/ specification. Having lived here for a few weeks some things just plain annoy me 😂

We bought our old house more than 10 years ago and gradually renovated and replaced everything so when we sold we had chosen everything and knew that everything was decent quality and done properly - there is a bit of style over substance in this house, some things look great on the surface...

I know I shouldn't have looked on Rightmove but when I saw the for sale sign this morning, I couldn't help myself.

We have fucked up, haven't we?

Or is it actually better that we haven't taken on a project?

Is this a perfectly normal reaction?

Aargh. I feel like we are idiots. Everyone in our new street is going to think so when Rightmove sold prices updates in a couple of months.

Did you save on stamp duty? Did you make some equity on your previous homes? You didn't lose months to chaotic building work.
Comparison really is the thief of joy.

OMG, I think it makes his look better value! I'd rather pay 10% more for a bigger garden, side return extension done and a nice kitchen and bathroom.
Enjoy your home and thank your lucky stars you haven't got to live through building work.

Doesn’t sound like you’ve overpaid at all!

10% of what though?
There’s a huge difference between 10% of a £million, and 10% of £500k.

Offers over around here means that houses are going for 10% over. It’s absolutely crazy.

It really depends what that 10% is, but I don’t think you could do the modernisation work for much less than £100k if you’re talking things like full rewire and replumb, and new everything, and that’s without the side return.

It's just over £100k difference but, London.
We saved £15k on stamp duty but we would have had to pay £5k less stamp duty on the house now for sale after the holiday ends... oh dear, that doesn't make me feel better

At the time though we just could not get what we wanted at that price point. Our new house came on the market during a quiet period in November, 8 weeks after we had accepted an offer on our sale and our buyer was getting impatient.

We were sold by the feeling we were getting something rare - no house has sold along the road for over 7yrs... it was quite hard to gauge the right price to offer (and then DH went slightly over what we agreed, talked into it by the silver tongued estate agent 🙄).

You're also right that we bought it mainly because of the garden and the fact that it isn't overlooked.

The other house also looks better value because they have shoe horned in another bedroom, by dividing a larger room, which we could do too, but we don't need another bedroom and the two rooms it creates are small, so WHY am I feeling like this?!? It's irrational.

Comparison really is the thief of joy.

But YES the misery of living through building work - we had a new kitchen put in when my eldest was a tiny baby, it was supposed to be done before but, builders, and it was awful. The dirt. Not having a kitchen for what felt like a year. Having people there constantly. The decision making.

I needed reminding of that particular kind of hell. Thank you.

Your house sounds great . London, large garden, not overlooked! If you don't want it, can we swap?

Honestly, you're going to get so much happiness just being settled and not having anything to do. How old are your DC, if you don't mind me asking? If you want a project, could you focus on making the garden really nice for them (and you) in summer?

Building costs are extortionate at the moment, about 10% more than pre lockdown. I'd avoid any property that needs significant building work at the moment.

Break it down cost wise and I’m pretty sure you’ve paid a good price. I’m not in London but we have done the following and it’s not been cheap.

Damproofing
Electrics
Radiators, plumbing and boiler
Replastering throughout
Small extension
New bathroom
New kitchen
New windows
New doors throughout
Replacing 6 roof tiles
Pointing in some areas
Loft insulation
New carpets and flooring throughout
Lift extension
Decorating

@Jellybabiesforbreakfast my DC are 6&4.

I hadn't realised building costs have rocketed so much, we did a lot to our old house but not in one go, over 5/6 years - we probably spent about £50k in total on that but with a new roof, new central heating system, rewiring, kitchen and bathroom, we rejigged the layout which needed a steel put in, redecorated throughout, floors and carpet. We are pretty rubbish at DIY so paid for trades for everything. The last thing we did to the old house was 5 years ago, so we are probably out of touch.

Your house sounds like a better house than the one up for sale. Longer garden & not overlooked is definitely worth a premium, as is not having to redo the kitchen. And shoehorned tiny bedrooms are just crap. Plus, you might have lost the buyer for your previous house if you’d not exchanged and completed when you did.

As to what others will think about the price you paid, people won’t be able to see that online for several months, and anybody who would judge you for that is a waste of space anyway.

Congratulations on having completed your transactions and moved into a larger home. I hope you can stop worrying and enjoy it!

You’d likely struggle with 200k for what you describe

Jesus.
Buy a house, live in it, enjoy it.
You would have kicked yourself if you hadn't done it.

You have a house you love and didn't overpay.
The houses on the market for less right now are because of the stamp duty window closing, and/or they need more work, and/ or they are smaller.
You did well at just the right time. Any bits you want to change for aesthetic preference are a few weeks and a tin of paint away.
It's so human to downgrade the good stuff and concentrate on the potential problems and downsides. In this case your decision was excellent so you need to relax and roll with any minor issues which appear.
In the interim, breathe, enjoy time with DC. And.....relax.

OP, I say this with compassion, you're being ridiculous

You have not overpaid, but you are overthinking.

Settle in, enjoy your house, stop worrying.

You’ve clearly not over paid. Ten percent is a small differential here irrelevant of the absolute number. It’s smaller and dated. It indicates you either paid correctly or got a good deal.

We did too OP! First couple of places we bought we were very savvy and got good deals (IMO). For various reasons, on our current and third house we threw caution to the wind and I think paid more than we really needed to.

In some ways I'm still annoyed about it but in the grand scheme I don't think it's a big deal if you can afford it.

Also, remember (depending on the real values involved) the buyers of the other place might need to stump up almost as much cash up front as you did, because the cost of renovations is unlikely to be covered by their mortgage. We've had an offer accepted on a place that's quite a bit under our budget but the cost of renovations required means we will still be using all the money we had set aside for a potential deposit in the short term, with the added bonus of taking on a project when we have a baby! Worth it for us as the property and location are otherwise perfect but if the same place was available in a ready to go condition we would happily have paid more to save what I'm sure will be considerable hassle

@EmotionalEllie I think that is part of it - both DH and I got lucky and have rode the house price wave to our advantage.

I just cannot see that we will make any money on this house (there is nowhere left to add value, we have always improved properties) and we will probably lose if we end up moving sooner than planned (we intend to stay for 15 years but who knows what life will throw at us).

But yes, getting up this morning and having a coffee in my nice kitchen is a good feeling!

Buyer remorse is totally a thing.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buyer's_remorse

Divided over the many years you enjoy living there, the costs will be negligible.

Stop thinking about it and get on with the enjoying part. No where left to add value also means that you already own the value

I think it’s normal to have the wobbles after a short time in a new house, it’s a massive change and you’re adjusting to it. You’ll be trying to question and reaffirm your decision to buy all at the same time. My advice, take off the Rightmove app off your phone, concentrate on settling in and any remaining jobs from the move. In time you’ll see that whoever buys avocado bathroom house has all that hassle and stress of renovating and can feel smug that it’s not you.

Also, if the other people spend money on doing up the avocado bathroom and then live there for 15 years they won't have added value either, because their expensive new bathroom will be the equivalent of avocado by the time they sell up

Yes...this is buyer’s remorse.

Most people have it before exchange (panic they are paying over the odds or don’t like property) or after moving in when other local properties come on the market.

It’s very normal.

It’s not worth worrying about now. It’s done. Enjoy the property.

Next time, know ‘offers over’means nothing....you can still offer whatever you like including under that price. Depending on the market, lower offers can be accepted. You just have to judge value.

You need to stop looking at rightmove. You have a nice house, try enjoying it