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Original poster

How many homes did you view before finding your current home

72 replies

CambsAlways · 29/08/2021 11:55

We viewed 7 , different area, older house, built 1964, big corner property 4 beds, study, love the position of it, bought several years ago, but hoping to move and downsize in 2023, if everything goes as planned,

OP posts:
Timeandtune · 29/08/2021 13:39

Dozens over a 5 year period. Countless offers over bids ( and paying for surveys ). Spent less than 5 minutes in our current home. Put in an offer at closing and we got it . DH still hadn’t seen it. Been here 22 years now.

thisplaceisapigsty · 29/08/2021 13:52

Viewed 3 in two days, instantly said we would have this one when we had spent 10 minutes in it, full asking price. Viewed about 100,000 on Rightmove though!

TableNiner · 29/08/2021 14:02

About 35. Surprised the average is so low so far. London flat market so a lot of different options/compromises.

MrsToadlike · 29/08/2021 14:07

10 houses over the course of 9 months, we weren't in a rush, but we did have quite a list of requirements and back in 2017/18 the stock of properties on the market weren't fantastic.

House 1 - more work required than advertised on rightmove (and the EA didn't give us the full pic over the phone either, surprise surprise)
House 2 - loved it, we viewed at the weekend but the owners changed their mind and took it off the market on the Monday before we could even offer. EA was not impressed at losing a potential commission
House 3 - not what it looked like in the pictures. Also filthy in real life so that was an immediate turn off
House 4 - we liked it but we weren't proceedable and the owners had an offer from people who were proceedable
House 5 - driveway was so narrow and had a really odd corner that it was hard to turn out of (smallish estate car) and we just couldn't get past it
House 6 - we liked the house and the owners showed us around and they were very nice and sold it well, but when we did some searches afterwards online there were plans for houses to be built in field behind, removing the peaceful rural views talked about on the rightmove listing
House 7 - great house, we liked it but it needed some things doing to it and we thought it was overpriced. It had had 3 previous sales fall through. So we agreed with EA we didn't want to put in a low offer and insult the owners, but told them to keep us on the radar in case it didn't shift
House 8 - we liked it, we offered 2% below asking price which was a reasonable reflection on what needed doing to it (this was 2018, so post-brexit vote and pre-Covid insane property market) and had it rejected with no suggested counter offer made. We were literally told 'no' by EA. So we left it at that.
House 9 - just not right, it looked great on pics but unfortunately in person it just didn't feel right, sometimes it's just gut feeling isn't it
House 7 (again) - house hadn't budged, EA suggested we try a low offer, which owners did accept. After 6 weeks of going through the process there were issues uncovered by our solicitor which made it unmortgageable (hence why the previous 3 sales fell through)
House 10 - we offered and got it and live here now. There were various issues we had to resolve when we moved in (some we knew, some we came across) and it did take a long time to feel at home but I'd say it's been a very good home to our family for the last 2 or so years and I'm glad we got it - great size, lovely garden, in a semi-rural setting and it was unintentionally the perfect choice of house a year before Covid lockdowns started.

Hebeee · 29/08/2021 16:45

This was the fifth one we actually viewed back in 2018, although we did drive-bys of a few more. We were downsizing and moving from England to Wales, wanting a smaller - but not too small - period house with some land. It also had to be a project - we've never bought anywhere that wasn't as we prefer adding our own stamp. We had a realistic cash budget to buy mortgage free (actually our fourth mortgage free purchase) and renovate too.

We ruled out the others for various reasons (mostly because they were too small/neighbours too close/not near a good village/market town) and had chosen not to view this one because it did have a close-ish neighbour and was only two beds.

Having sold a very characterful, four bed Arts & Crafts dream house - in the wrong location (that in itself was a huge downsize from our previous homes) - we weren't certain this one would work. It didn't help that there was no floor plan or proper dimensions online. DH convinced me to view because he believed I'd be won over when I saw it.

Tbh, I still wasn't - it was a repo that had previously been tenanted, literally no water supply to the property (which was hilarious considering it used to be a mill!!) and the weather was hideous when we viewed. It was very damp and extremely unloved.

But....it was much larger IRL and the outside space did indeed make me think twice. What convinced me that we should offer, though, was the location which was perfect 😉

A month later and we were in.....three and a half years later our renovation budget has been blown but the house - and garden - is almost finished. No plans to move again for a few years!

Hebeee · 29/08/2021 16:46

Sorry, dream wasn't meant to be in bold, lol!

GinIronic · 29/08/2021 16:51

None - I had my eye on the house for years. When it came up for for sale, I viewed and offered the same day.

loopylindi · 29/08/2021 17:17

over 30! We had to drive over 150miles to do viewings too, so we'd try to cram in as many as possible on a weekend visit. The EA took us to one viewing which was quite nice but had a steeply sloping garden which we weren't keen on. Then she said 'well I've only got one more but it's outside your price range' but we thought what the hell, we'll see it before we go home' So, long story short - it was my dream house. We'd only had a five minute visit but we knew - as you do. We told the EA to put in a cheeky offer, which we were told wouldn't be accepted - but it was - with the proviso that we had to be moved in a month later! We were! It's still my dream house.

AchillesLastStand · 29/08/2021 17:41

We viewed 7 including the one we’re moving into next month, and looked at 100s on Rightmove. I was very picky about the houses we viewed as I don’t drive so needed to be in walking distance of schools and bus services. The houses had to tick certain boxes before I’d view.

The house we’re buying I rejected after the first viewing for various reasons but after being outbid on another house the same week and making a pros and cons list I realised it could be the perfect house for us. We made on offer for the full asking price conditional on us viewing it again. The second viewing was a much better experience and I could imagine myself living in the house. I’m now counting down the days until we get the keys. I’m not planning on moving again for a very long time!

BarkingUpTheWrongRoseBush · 29/08/2021 17:48

Dozens…husband didn’t want to move,,,

FakeFruitShoot · 29/08/2021 17:49

We weren't considerijg moving for another few years but then one which I'd walked past and considered our "dream home" came on the market. We viewed that one then this one. We only came to this one to check the location vs house vs price checked out as it was the only seni-comparable one within the area. Fell in love with this one that we had dismissed months before from Rightmove listing . We put our old home on the market to pursue this one within days. Sold within the fortnight thank goodness, so were able to secure it.

AnnieSnap · 29/08/2021 17:51
  1. We made compromises on the house we bought. Also, bought it for it’s potential (sizes of the rooms and the garden). Gutted it!
Sgtmajormummy · 29/08/2021 18:14

I think nowadays with online estate agents, Rightmove etc. you can really cut down on in-person viewing. The last two places (7 years ago and 5 years ago) we bought were the only ones we’d seen in real life.

But I’d spent MONTHS viewing houses on websites, Google maps etc.

The house before that (14 years ago) was done the old way and it was the 5th or 6th place we viewed. We’d already spent 18 months in rented accommodation so we knew the area and the general price range.

SummerSazz · 29/08/2021 18:25

First flat (2001) was the first one I saw but checked out a few others just to be sure on pricing etc

Currently house exactly the same (2004) so I'm not sure the Rightmove thing actually holds true as it wasn't so commonplace/widespread then

Dreadinggoingbacktothoffice · 29/08/2021 18:34

Current house - just it.
Looking just now and we’ve viewed 7 that I can think of but there might be a couple I’ve forgotten about!

Ladyrattles · 29/08/2021 18:43

Spent months looking at listings whilst we got finances in order. Then we viewed 2 houses online in January. One was lovely and in a nice area. It was just above our budget but we were seriously considering it. In the end the sloped ceiling en-suite bath put us off. The second house we looked at was in an even better location but was truly awful. There were chunks out of the walls in some rooms but they hadn't bothered repairing them, the kitchen cupboards were broken, and the garden was a jungle. The estate agent tried her best to find good bits but the house needed a lot of work. As it was the top of our budget we decided not worth it. Next we viewed a Linden new build in person in February. It was really nice but quite pricey due to the area. Then we started looking further afield. We viewed a gorgeous independent new build in Durham. House was outstanding but it turned out it was in an industrial area with no broadband infrastructure. In March we viewed a Story Homes new build. It was in a nice area, well within budget and had gorgeous extras like bifold doors. We were a bit scared about picking a new build as you hear all the horror stories but It ticked all the boxes. We are moving into our new home in the next 3 weeks.

Porridgeislife · 29/08/2021 18:48

We looked at 12, plus one that was laughably overpriced & I think we were basically asked to view it to prove to the seller that the agent could get people through. We are going from a flat to a much bigger house in an area we’re not particularly familiar with so it took us a few viewings to calibrate our wants. We discovered quite a few otherwise lovely houses had really bad traffic noise (deal breaker) and had to refine quickly how much distance we needed from the local A roads.

We did second viewings on two houses back to back - one we’d seen a few weeks earlier and liked but didn’t love & one within 24 hours of the first viewing. We have the second house under offer.

OUB1974 · 29/08/2021 18:55

We viewed around 12 in total. The rest we mainly rejected because the gardens weren't big enough. We offered on no. 7, but it ended up falling through, which I'm glad about now.

I was very excited when I spotted ours, then almost didn't view it as there was no parking. We decided to look anyway and you got so much more space and garden for the money we decided to compromise! We're very happy here and parking isnt an issue (although we drove past it twice a day for a couple of weeks to make sure before we got too far in).

There was also a number 13, which came up when we had offered on this one but waiting for a response. It was the 2nd nicest but we were in love with this one!

Ones we were looking at a year ago are now up for beyond our budget, so I'm sure we've got the best we could and it's very lovely, we may never move!

Dreadinggoingbacktothoffice · 29/08/2021 18:59

@Porridgeislife the good old days when houses were still available a few weeks later!!

tiredanddangerous · 29/08/2021 19:03
  1. Wanted to be in the (very small) catchment for secondary school so choices were limited. Luckily we still managed to her exactly what we wanted.
Porridgeislife · 29/08/2021 19:17

@Dreadinggoingbacktothoffice this was only a few weeks ago.

Ghislainedefeligonde · 29/08/2021 19:18

House 1 too expensive and a money pit - ruled it out
House 2 - knotweed in the garden! Also too far away. Ruled out
House 3 - loved it. Put in offer. Outbid
Returned to view house 1 again which had been reduced in price. Needing loads done so we offered even less than reduced price and we got it. With retrospect it’s easily the best house of them all, location is perfect, privacy, character….albeit a lot of work

Ikeameatballs · 29/08/2021 19:25

Current house was a new build. I looked at a couple of other developments nearby to compare but didn’t view in real life any properties that were already occupied though I looked online at eg Rightmove. I had a very clear idea of the area, having lived around here for years, and I knew what I wanted.

Previous house ex-dp and I viewed around 15 but as soon as we saw the house we bought we knew we wanted it.

Prior to that I’d bought a flat. I viewed another in the same development and one along the road.

And first house I bought I think I viewed a few but not many, less than 5 and one was in the same street.

WhyMeLord · 29/08/2021 19:43

40 -50, offered on 8 had 4 offers accepted, sellers pulled out on 2 when they couldn't find an onward chain, we pulled out in 1 and the other one we are desperately hoping to get over the line in the next few weeks. We sold ours and moved into temp accommodation 9 months ago (was supposed to be for a couple of weeks). Never moving house again!

HerRoyalNotness · 29/08/2021 19:49

About 6, in different areas, sizes and price ranges. We went back to one for a second viewing and offered on it, only for the selling agent to say it had been sold! No idea why they let us view it twice, our agent was so mad.