I managed to save around £15K stamp duty. But, I pay £50K extra because of my mistake.

[JaniceEnglish]

I just brought a house in South East England, after we sell our apartment in London. I managed to save around £15K stamp duty. But, We pay £50K extra because of our mistake. We view the property online. After moved-in we found the roof leak. The boiler is not working well. The plumbers ask us to replace pipes in the wall as well. The pictures look lovely on the Zoopla. We don't have this issue with our apartment in London.

I feel regret now. And now, my company needs me to back to the office at least three days a week. And my husband needs to be back five days a week from September onward. The train fare is expensive.

We have a big garden. My husband asks me to do the gardening once a month because I can work from home two days a week, this makes me mad.

We might plan to move back to London and get a flat.

Does anyone fell into the same trap? Should I stay or move back to London.

Yup. Big house and £15K Free Stamp Duty sound like a good deal. But, ... :'(

@fabulousathome

You have been unlucky.

You should be able to sell your house to someone else though.

Ask an estate agent round to value it.

Not sure it's unlucky.

They bought a house they hadn't seen and moved far away from work without written confirmation they were staying home.

They also bought a house with a garden, when neither of them really want to do it.

@Chunkymenrock

Bought not brought, surely?

Yup, we bought it. Big house and £15K Free Stamp Duty sound like a good deal. But, ... :'(

You bought a house that you'd only seen online, is that right?

Did you not think that might be a risky thing to do?

Do you have children? Have you uprooted their schooling and now want to move them again?

I call

@Chunkymenrock

Bought not brought, surely?

Ooh , look at big man here

To the OP.
It is unlucky you feel this way. Perhaps taking the time to think and sit down with your DH to work out costs of commuting, chores like gardening etc and the future.
You don’t want to make another quick decision to move back to London and regret that move.

Once you have taken the time to breath and live in the house, if relocating back to London is the future goal then go through the steps.
Get house valued, cost up the move and fees, then look for a place in London.

Houses overall have gone up, so hopefully you won’t lose much to any money. Just make sure your next move is the right one.

You bought a house without actually seeing it?

Also survey is only a report of the condition of a house on day of inspection damage which could of caused the leak could of happened after this day.
Also buying a house often does mean you spend money on maintenance.
Did you think a large garden sorts itself out?
Sorry but think you made a bad decision without fully considering all the pros/cons and for that you are to blame.

This doesn't sound right. And what's with the weird tense?

Did you get a big house for your money? Has it grown in value since buying? Is your outgoings more or less than when you lived in London? Maybe it's still worth it to have a house with outside space?

Trying to find a silver lining for you

@Chunkymenrock

Bought not brought, surely?

There’s always one. I guess you’ve got to feel superior somehow.

Yup, we bought it. Big house and £15K Free Stamp Duty sound like a good deal. But, ... :'(
Did paying £50k over asking price seem like a good deal also?

@JaniceEnglish

I just brought a house in South East England, after we sell our apartment in London. I managed to save around £15K stamp duty. But, We pay £50K extra because of our mistake. We view the property online. After moved-in we found the roof leak. The boiler is not working well. The plumbers ask us to replace pipes in the wall as well. The pictures look lovely on the Zoopla. We don't have this issue with our apartment in London.

I feel regret now. And now, my company needs me to back to the office at least three days a week. And my husband needs to be back five days a week from September onward. The train fare is expensive.

We have a big garden. My husband asks me to do the gardening once a month because I can work from home two days a week, this makes me mad.

We might plan to move back to London and get a flat.

Does anyone fell into the same trap? Should I stay or move back to London.

You spent hundreds of thousands of pounds without a survey?

And you didn't think to confirm that you could WFH?

And you probably paid over the odds because you were sucked into the recent buying frenzy as well.

I've not got much sympathy because these were all obvious, avoidable mistakes. You need to learn from this for next time. I can't believe there are adults who put this little thought into the biggest purchases of their lives.

Do you actually want to move back to London? Or are you just feeling a bit deflated about the repairs bill and the commute? Houses are always costly to maintain and usually more so than flats.

I’d do the sums on the cost of moving back – including that your house might be worth less now it’s all leaky, but London flat prices may have stagnated so you might not lose too much, though you will pay stamp duty this time – vs the cost of commuting.

On the other hand if you like your house and want to stay, do the sums on the repairs and on getting a gardener in (and aim for a low maintenance “lawn and fence” garden if you’re not into doing it), and maintaining a house, plus commuting costs. And look into local jobs, or jobs in your industry that are fully remote or one office day a week only.

I actually cannot believe so many people made rash decisions and planned their lives around working from home in such an uncertain situation.

I'd agree with this. The acute covid crisis is about to start receding. There are very many reasons why working from home is going to start unraveling and commuting is going to return. Invest in city-centre flats now before the tide turns

STOP FUCKING TROLL HUNTING

REPORT THE THREAD IF YOU HAVE CONCERNS

@PatricksRum

STOP FUCKING TROLL HUNTING

REPORT THE THREAD IF YOU HAVE CONCERNS

Stop shouting...

@PatricksRum

STOP FUCKING TROLL HUNTING

REPORT THE THREAD IF YOU HAVE CONCERNS

Can you repeat that, please?

I couldn't quite hear you