Anyone not being picky - and STILL can't find anything?

[PessimisticOptimist]

We've been on the hunt for 18 months. In that time, we've expanded our search area and budget. We've offered on four houses - three times we were outbid by developers and one time they decided not to sell. But nothing has come on for us to view in the last couple of months.

I guess I'm looking for a support group on here to commiserate with me 😂

Everyone we talk to says:

• The market is crazy right now
• It will settle down
• More will become available eventually
• Just be patient

But I worry about getting priced out of the market if we wait too long. How long do we wait for the "right" house?

Just an update that the property has finally been taken off the market! Valuation booked before the viewings on Saturday could take place. Such a relief, hopefully no hiccups along the way. Fingers crossed for you all 🤞🏼

That's great news @BerryTiredMama . Must be a weight off the mind.

I've not heard back re the price reduction so still keeping fingers crossed. Our mortgage has been accepted which is great- will chase on Monday ahead of organising any building survey.

So what are the reasons for the shortage of homes for sale? Is it because a lot of people brought their sales forward to take advantage of the SD cut?

@FanGirlX currently it's also partially seasonal. Fewer people typically sell and buy between September and the end of the year.

[quote Momniscient]@FanGirlX currently it's also partially seasonal. Fewer people typically sell and buy between September and the end of the year.[/quote]
So a perfect storm. Hopefully supply will pick up from Feb - June.

@FanGirlX all the EAs say in Jan to spring it picks up . Jan because new year/ new start plus divorces. Spring because then you have a chance to complete ahead of the next school year.

Here in Aus as one example: a house was bought for $3.5 million in sept 2020, sold exactly a year later for double $7m - and zero work has been done it it.

This is a global problem and is worse in some countries.

We live in Jersey in the Channel Islands - always some supply and demand issues as it’s a small island but we’re now in genuine crisis. House prices to buy have gone up 20-40% in the last year, and rental costs have rocketed too. The average house price is now over £1m and you won’t find a family house to rent for under 2k a month. People are leaving the island in droves as there’s nothing affordable available. It’s very hard to know how this will be resolved.

At what point did you register with EA? I've got all the alerts set up for

@Constantcrayfish

We live in Jersey in the Channel Islands - always some supply and demand issues as it’s a small island but we’re now in genuine crisis. House prices to buy have gone up 20-40% in the last year, and rental costs have rocketed too. The average house price is now over £1m and you won’t find a family house to rent for under 2k a month. People are leaving the island in droves as there’s nothing affordable available. It’s very hard to know how this will be resolved.

Wow, I suppose there isn't much space to build more on a small island.

[quote RidingMyBike]At what point did you register with EA? I've got all the alerts set up for

Anyway getting crosseyed looking at RM? I am thinking of taking a break from it all for a bit. I have completed my sale, staying with family so not paying for rent or storage. Just need a break from it all.

@FanGirlX

Wow, I suppose there isn't much space to build more on a small island.

It is small, but like the UK, the political will to build affordable housing is not there, and the government is full of landlords and landowners making an absolute mint from the current situation.

Yep, I'm hoping the sale will have gone thru by Christmas (buyers are VERY keen to get on with it as they were so delayed by trying to buy next door and then not getting planning permission) and it's very straightforward sale - no chain either side. Which means we'll be poised ready in case more houses do come on the market from Jan onwards.

Although we have a tenancy agreement until Sept we'd like to buy a house that needs work (if nec. major work) as it's better value for money and means we can make it how we want it, so we need to get on with the purchase to allow time for that.

Does anyone else find themselves put off by newly done up bathrooms/kitchens etc? We like things quite basic and prefer eg bathrooms with Lino rather than tiles on the floor, as well as being very fussy about good lighting and storage. We'd rather not have en suite bathroom and more storage instead. Don't feel we could justify ripping out a brand new kitchen/bathroom but I've seen some very hideous newish ones on RM!

2 viewings today.

House 1: absolutely lovely. Pinged my heart strings. Interesting and well laid out. Move in condition, lovely location, perfect garden. But. Right next to a busy rail line. We stood in the master bedroom as a train went past. Very, very noisy ( we live in london so used to noise). Gutted.

House 2: good and solid, potential but quite a bit of work. East facing garden and just a little bit far from the shops and civilisation. Not for us.

Spooky house I talked about upthread is back on and still hasnt sold - vendors want more money than people will pay (it needs a ton of work !).

Our search continues. But 3 new houses on in 1 week ! Anyone else seeing more stock coming on ?

@RidingMyBike yes I get put off by new bathrooms etc as they are often so badly designed and laid out, or with tiles not to my taste. If feel so guilty ripping it all out.

We saw a house last year with a huge (cavernous) extension , with a tiny (very expensive and horrible) kitchen squeezed into a dark corner at the back. It would be like cooking in a cupboard.
Mind you , you could have played cricket in the rest of the room

Looking at (seemingly millions of) floor plans I think there are a lot of really shit architects and designers out there who have no spacial awareness .

Online I see a lot of house that have big ‘kitchen diners’ that only have very tiny actual kitchen areas - pretty much what you get in a galley kitchen. I need storage, and work surfaces.

Glad people are making progress

Nothing has come up for us bit that's not bad for the time of year

I know this might seem neurotic but today the neighbours were saying they're having trouble with the same group of local teens smoking weed in the car park. They seem to be sitting on people's cars and if you drive in when they are there, it's intimidating. We don't have a car, just found out about it.

I still think it's another sign of the area getting rough. It worries me that we'll be trying to sell when it's getting rough and when places outside london are increasing in price.

*rougher would be a better description!

Oh what a shame about House 1 @ablutiions , although typical, isn't it. The perfect house apart from one major thing! We rented for ten months very close to a railway line and it was noisy, even though the trains were slowing for the station at that point. We did get used to it to a certain extent but I wouldn't have wanted to live there for longer!

@DaisyNGO fingers crossed. This kind of thing worries me as a potential buyer because it's so easy to miss if you just happen to visit at the wrong time of day etc, which might be good from your POV?!

Glad it's not just me re kitchens/bathrooms etc. I've seen a few weird layouts where the kitchen has little practical space or storage, which makes me wonder if the person that put it in actually cooks meals?!

We got our sellers' pack yesterday so I have a fun afternoon ahead of filling in forms.

Yesterday's viewings...

House 1: Beautiful views out the front onto neighbours' sheds and compost heaps. Low ceilings. Awkward step between kitchen and dining room. Lovely village but not lovely enough. Too small for us.

House 2: Brilliant house and garden. Great space throughout. Again, lovely village. Shame about the quite obvious subsidence and a few "hmmm" moments which suggest poor build quality and/or loss effort on maintenance on the owner. Conservatory had damp walls outside and cracks to the tiled floor inside! Worrying. Walking away from this suspected money pit.

Back to the drawing board! Not too heartbroken, just disappointed. Here's hoping y'all have more luck.

Definitely agree with the new bathrooms or kitchens being off-putting. It's potluck whether it's actually to your taste, and if it's not it's just wasted money and possibly guilt replacing it! We decided to not replace our bathroom this year, and instead to let people put their own new bathroom in.

Riding "@DaisyNGO fingers crossed. This kind of thing worries me as a potential buyer because it's so easy to miss if you just happen to visit at the wrong time of day etc, which might be good from your POV?! "

It's happening on Fridays and Saturdays about 2, 3 am. It's going to be people leaving nightclubs and wanting a joint and somewhere to hang before they go home. It just bugs me.

Then again, the building opposite is air B b B a lot of the time.

It's just me whining, this was thought to be a good location when I bought it, for Tube, bus, High Street, but with such lower numbers commuting we will be affected by the London exodus.

The talk of houses on here has been really thought provoking. I might return to work earlier than planned. The thought of a house or a bigger flat is quite something. Obviously childcare costs have to be a factor though as well as quality of life.

We've been looking for a house for a couple of months now.. seems all the 'nice' houses in our price range came on during the stamp duty holiday. We do have a few 'must haves' such as downstairs loo as mininum, 2 separate receps and a decent size garden and in our area, with our small budget, unfortunately the houses we can 'afford' are in not such desirable areas.

We had put offers on a couple of properties but knew we'd be outbid - last one was £20k over asking price - we couldn't match that. Viewings have been manic - one EA said he had to do block viewings these days as he was just too busy to be out of office every couple of hours so one house we viewed was with at least 8 other couples at the same time - horrendous!

Now we feel the price online is just not real or in so much that it's purely the starting price.. and the ceiling is the amount someone is prepared to pay regardless of whether the house is actually worth it. It's a buyer-eat-buyer world atm and I'm feeling very depressed that we're either not going to find anything suitable or we'll just be priced out of the housing market. We simply can't afford either to rent in our retirement as we won't have the income. (My husband and I both had life changes that affected our income, unfortunately.)

A kitchen big enough to fit a table is my main non-negotiable. If there's scope to knock through, that's fine, happy to do that. But offshot kitchen and separate diner and no means of making it one room? Nah.