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?

Congrats @wannabeamummysobad and keeping fingers crossed for you!! Buckhurst Hill is lovely.

Totally understand not feeling settled and I am exactly the same. The drama I’ve been through in the last few months is worthy of a soap opera and I am 50/50 as to whether or we will actually complete on our house purchase as the uncertainty is still ongoing and our vendor is quite volatile. The EA’s Sales Progresser communicates with me via WhatsApp(!) and every time a message arrives I just assume it will be to notify me the sale is off.

Really depressed today... I mean, what the hell. Saw a property in our price range, the best we've seen in terms of our requirements, and were told by the vendor that she's already had 5 offers, the highest from one who hasn't even seen the house! £25k more than asking price.

That blew the budget away for us. If that person hasn't seen the house but placed an offer, that's just her 'deposit' to secure the property and in that case, even if we matched her bid, by squeezing ourselves, she no doubt could outbid us by probaby £5-10k extra.

Absolutely gutted because other houses we've seen have been ok but nothing to get excited about, but we just decided, even if we could raise an extra £10k, we just don't want to put ourselves in such a tight financial position because anything could go wrong. At our age, we need a mortgage but over a very short term which makes it expensive monthly. And in life we all know, anything can happen - ill health, loss of earnings etc.

So.. it's back to the drawing board.

@GoinSouth, that person is stupid for offering on a property that they haven't seen. And the vendor is stupid for accepting it, it may be a fickle buyer who could easily pull out. You have had a lucky escape and there are better things coming your way x

[quote areyouhavingagiraffe]@GoinSouth, that person is stupid for offering on a property that they haven't seen. And the vendor is stupid for accepting it, it may be a fickle buyer who could easily pull out. You have had a lucky escape and there are better things coming your way x[/quote]
Thanks @areyouhavingagiraffe - I must say, for the price, it is a lovely property with a huge private garden. Even if the highest bidder drops out, the house will still go £20k over asking price. This keeps happening to us.. not sure how we'll ever get a property at this rate.

Looking at one tomorrow, again in our budget, but it's open house and 36 viewers booked to view so far already with, again, 5 bids (fortunately none offering stupid money... yet).

When I last sold a house, admittedly 20 years ago, you were lucky to get 3 buyers viewing - so what's with the 36?!

@GoinSouth, honestly I feel your pain. I have completed my Sale, and had to pull out of our purchase (lack of building regs on the house). Anyway, I am now staying with my folks. Has been three months and honestly there just isn't much coming on to market and the stuff that is for sale is totally dire. I've also been down in dumps about it and so upset, but we have to keep positive. Our houses are out there and we will find them. I am also hoping to find a husband, and a dog

@areyouhavingagiraffe - sorry to hear about this.. buying a house is a bloody nightmare these days. I imagine you've got youth on your side which is a definite advantage but I'm a FTB now at 55 so we just want a mortgage that we can pay off over 5 years which is what's so expensive. But we need a house as we won't be able to rent when we retire! Gah! If only I'd known so much more back then. I lost my capital when I got divorced over 10 years ago and didn't find a new husband who had his own property ;-) Think with head.. think with head!! ;-)

I guess we'll find something eventually.. well if nothing by the end of next year latest, we'll have to take stock again. But I do hope for you your patience will pay off and you'll find exactly what you want - house, husband and dog - though not necessarily the later two in that order, hehe...

@DaisyNGO I will! I am taking my trusty spirit level after all

(yes, to every viewing now. And a tape measure, and a clipboard with my notes and queries )

@areyouhavingagiraffe here's hoping marital bliss follows your property search!

I'm going to view a house tomorrow that is within my price range. It went onto RM on Monday just gone, and I'm told by the EA it has already received 5 offers all over asking! It needs a fair bit of work (probate property, kitchen only has a sink and nothing else), so I'm not too hopeful of it hanging around for long.

I'm actually not that fussed about it as I'm only really seeing it as a backup property in case my current purchase (4 months and counting) falls through. It's probably only the second property I have considered going to look at since finding mine, as suitable properties seem to be quite scarce now.

@Starseeking, I just don't know if I believe anything which comes out of an EA's mouth. If they have 5 offers all over asking why don't they accept one, and then it means they are under offer and can seek their onward purchase?
Thinking back to when I sold my flat, I had offers and was keen not to keep people waiting, and I also wanted to be in a proceedable position for viewings.
Hope it goes well.
@GoinSouth, no youth here. I am 43!

Hello fellow sufferers! Not in quite the same situation as we live in Dublin but the property market is totally insane here. Perfectly standard 3 bed semis going for €60k+over asking. You basically have to look at properties around €100k under your budget to stand even a chance. We're not even looking in a fancy part of town! The EAs are desperate to create bidding wars and it seems they are mostly successful unfortunately.

Also there are so many FTBs now with pots of cash that anyone like us who is trying to trade up doesn't get a look in! Today we were told by one EA that their vendor would only consider us if we had already completed most of the selling process of our own property and had contracts ready to sign. So being sale agreed is no longer good enough. Right. Even though then both me and our buyer will have to wait a further couple of months minimum anyway for the purchase of their house.

I can see this is going to be a long and tortuous process and feel like we will never find anywhere.

Not read the whole thread so sorry not picking up on other people's plight at this stage!

Joining as we too are sick of it all and I need somewhere to vent/for support! We live in Guernsey and (STUPIDLY) sold our perfectly lovely house in Sept 2020 (a month before DC2 was due - WTAF) having found nothing. The reasons we sold for were extremely valid (too numerous to list) but we certainly didn't NEED to move.

Anyway, a friend said we could have her rental property for 6 months and extend if we needed to. Took that, were happy enough but still not finding anywhere. Then in Jan, she claimed that we had never agreed we could extend and she had new long term tenants waiting and kicked us out when DC2 was 5 months.

So we got another rental (at much higher cost) from a friend's mum but it is horrendous - a flat with no outside space and 22 metal outside steps to get in. Just horrendous. Didn't think we'd be here long - has been nearly 8 months (so 14 months in total of renting).

Meanwhile prices here have spiralled, both to buy and rent. Average house price is pushing 600k. We were under offer on a lovely property due to complete end August but they pulled out 3 weeks before as they didn't feel it was right time to sell, us having incurred loads of costs.

Now under offer on another property - not our ideal location and probably 100-150k over-priced but can see the potential and love the house/garden. They are under offer on something but the people they are buying from aren't yet and have been negotiating on something for about a week (so that doesn't look good in this market).

We are seriously considering leaving the Island as we just feel like we have been fucked up the arse - losing out on the huge price rise on the house we sold by selling too early, having all the disruption and cost of renting (and it is SO miserable in this flat) and then the prices of the things we want to buy galloping away. Really feel like we have let our DC down and fucked their futures as that money could have been invested for them. The UK would be much cheaper (less mortgage required) but more tax and I've been here 17 years and husband born here so is a big wrench.

So we are a bloody miserable household and thoroughly fed up. Oh and I'm fat from "drinking and eating through it"!!!

@sarahandduck12 that sounds absolutely awful. I can't begin to imagine dealing with a baby and all those steps up to the flat. We're currently renting a tall thin townhouse which is hideously expensive and which we hate, but I was feeling relieved that DD is 5 as all the [many many] steps would have been a nightmare with a younger child.

What would you do about work if you did relocate? We've just relocated 200 miles for a new job for me but DH took early retirement at same time which removed the need to find a job for him.

@RidingMyBike - yes, it has been pretty bad. DC1 is 3 so he can get up by himself but struggles going down so it is a huge struggle to get them both in and out on my own when DH not here. Sorry you are stuck renting and it is expensive - is there any light at the end of the tunnel?

We've both been granted permission to retain our jobs and work remotely which is brilliant. So we'd both work from home. My worries about relocating are:
-Loss of support (MIL, SIL, DH's cousins, friends - none of my immediate family live here);
-Paying more tax/NI - we pay 20% tax here and 6.6% NI equivalent (increasing to 6.7% from Jan);
-If we lost our jobs for any reason it would be very difficult to get new ones on Guernsey salaries;
-Making friends - something I'm not great at!;
-It's SO safe for kids here

But upsides:
-Cost of living much much lower - we already pay about 20% more than UK here for groceries and they are talking about adding another 8% to that;
-House prices much lower in UK so will need little or no mortgage, get a "better" house and meaning we could retire earlier;
-Free childcare in UK age 3-4 - here we only get 15 hours a week term time only for only the year before they start school (though appreciate that this is a short term cost);
--Nursery costs generally much lower in UK (again, short term reason);
-Open space and stuff to do - literally fuck all to do with small kids here - we used to have a zoo, aquarium etc but none of that now - so the uk appeals from that point of view;
-Cheaper holidays - it costs a bomb to get off the rock (by plane at least - you're talking around £600 return for family of 4, usually with overnights in Gatwick both ways. Ferry cheaper)

Gah. It's so difficult.

We have a trip to Devon booked for 29 Nov for 3 days to look at areas/houses but it seems just such a lot to organise to actually make a move and we don't want to rent anymore.

Just want to get our kids settled in a nice home.

@sarahandduck12 could you consider the pros and cons over, say, a five year period. We've found the move costs and difficulties are really high if upfront but the longterm savings will make sense - we've moved to cheaper part of country so will eventually save money (once we're no longer renting), our childcare costs are very very low here, council tax is cheaper here, we're barely using the car in new location etc.

Oh - childcare here isn't free for 3-4 year olds. If you're both working you'd be entitled to 30 free hours a week but that's term time only and also tends to be limited by providers as the govt doesn't pay enough to cover their costs. So, we needed childcare 33 hours a week over 3 days all year round but all we could actually get free was 16.5 hours a week during term time (2 x 2.75 hr sessions per day for 3 days a week). Averaged out per month our childcare costs dropped from £1200+ a month to £700+ a month which is obvs a big difference but definitely not 'free'.

One viewing this morning- no go but we'd suspected as much. As we'd thought would need work doing (central heating installed, total redecorate, new kitchen) but second upstairs bedroom long and narrow and had hot water tank in. It was also down a poorly maintained private Road (this wasn't mentioned in the EA details!) shared by 4 houses which felt rather hemmed in at the bottom. There were viewings either side of ours and apparently two offers already in.

But we did take the opportunity to walk and drive around that area and thoroughly road test the local play area!

@areyouhavingagiraffe your comment about house, husband and dog made me laugh I hope you get all 3 in the right order (maybe meet a husband who already owns a palatial 6 bed and has a dog??)

@Starseeking interesting about having a back up property. I’m a couple of months into a purchase which may go tits up so I’m still looking at other properties as well. Not that there’s much to view here!

Sorry to hear about all the rental woes. We are in a rental with a lovely landlady but the flat is tiny and not in a great area. It’s close to the flat I sold so DC can stay at the same school which has been a godsend, I feel bad for them as they have experienced upheaval of moving and now this limbo as we try to buy.

I’ve already said I think EA’s are pathological liars so in some cases I’d take comments about a property already having x offers above asking with a pinch of salt.

I can’t temperature if it was this thread or another one I posted on a while ago but wanted to give an update. Tbh I feel like I could be completely jinxing myself here but, after over a year of trying to buy a house with one sale & purchase fall through, another sale completed, moving in with family, loosing out on many many offers on houses, seeing my target houses go up 50k in a year and almost losing the will to live……………….. I have had an offer accepted on a house!!! A house I really love too. The location is a bit out of the area I’ve been looking but I really like it and can see myself being happy there (hopefully!). The house needs work but is in budget so just keeping everything crossed the survey doesn’t come back with any serious issues. I really was losing any hope and despairing at the ridiculous over-offer bids even bad houses were going for but it feels as if the market near me might be cooling a bit? Good luck to everyone still looking, it really is horrible out there at the moment!

So I viewed the backup property today, it's got amazing potential, it's really lovely. I was sandwiched right in the middle of two other groups of people who were equally enamoured.

The two main issues with today's property are that it's not in my ideal location (it's somewhere much more suited to older people as it's very very quiet, and no shops or other signs of life around, plus it's a drive to DC schools), and it needs at least £50k of work doing before I could move in.

Debating on whether to put in a half hearted offer to keep myself in the mix, or to just leave it on this occasion, given I'm already in the process with another property. The other property is in a great location, walking distance to DC schools and nearby shops, that house is slightly smaller though, 2 doubles and a single compared to 3 doubles seen today. Bidding closes on Monday lunchtime for today's property, so will have a further think on it.

This house buying malarkey is so difficult, especially when you're doing it on your own, you have my sympathies @areyouhavingagiraffe. I've got two DC under 6 who are with me the majority of the time as well, so I really want to get this right for them.

Definitely keep looking and viewing @Eastie77Returns, it makes me feel slightly as if I'm moving forward, and gives me a bit of hope, despite the slow progress on my purchase.

@Knittingbaker happy to see some positive updates! Welcome to the thread

@Starseeking honestly it sounds to me like your heart isn't in it for the backup property. I'd walk away if that's how I was feeling but equally I can understand you don't want all your eggs in one basket. Sounds like there's some pretty big long-term problems with the location, extra double bedroom aside!

@RidingMyBike sounds like those offers are welcome to the do-er up-er! As you say, at least you could properly test the local park and that's well worth the visit too

Separating out my comments here about lying EAs re: @areyouhavingagiraffe and @Starseeking

I think they don't realise how crystal clear it is they're either winging it or just plain lying. Viewed a place yesterday which was 50k higher than asking price of next door which only sold in May. I mentioned it to the EA who looked a little uncomfortable but assured us that there was a whole queue wanting next door, and at least one couple who'd "missed out" on next door had viewed this place... etc etc... Except later the EA let slip to my wife that we were the only viewings that day, none on Sunday and one Monday evening and that's all that's booked in. So... fairly sure if there was any real keenness there it would already have sold as it's been on the market now for a full two weeks. Also, of course, knowing there was a potential bidding war there and it still didn't go for as much as this place... EA shot themselves in the foot there. We weren't going to offer asking price anyway but that's solidified it!

@sarahandduck12 and @Gingerish welcome! It sounds like you're both rather going through it at the moment. Sending solidarity and hoping this thread and the fab people on it help you through the ongoing search.

I don't quite understand the extra implications behind all the Mumsnet emoji, so take a seat and have a or a ☕ whichever takes your fancy

@GoinSouth I think it's RightMove which means more people see properties and therefore more viewings nowadays. If I was just relying on the EAs emailing me properties I wouldn't have seen even half of the ones I have already - and I've seen plenty with the same agents! But refreshing ol' RM is faster than a human can email everyone potentially interested. I think it's equal blessing and a curse. As a viewer it's great... as a vendor it's maddening to have so many people viewing and no offers.

Also, I completely agree that offering without viewing is utterly ridiculous. If we'd done that (and we joked about it twice), we'd have been buying either a) the place with a very very noisy garden with an ancient fusebox, and b) the place with pretty obvious subsidence if only the EA photos had not been taken at jaunty angles to avoid showing all the diagonal cracks in the walls So it's completely possible they'll view it eventually and have regrets (even if they only view it the day they move in which surely some people do do). It's a gamble too far for me. I already feel like I'm pushing the boat out only doing one (thorough) viewing!

And now that's quite enough posts from me except to update that the house we viewed yesterday didn't seem haunted at all and, once I've done some calculations and steeled myself for a phonecall on Monday, we'll be putting in an offer. It'll be far below their asking price and it's "OIEO" but... you have to try... and if it's been on two weeks already clearly no-one else is jumping for it, so... For now I'm preparing an email of questions for the vendor. Some of it might make us reconsider an offer or at least affect it, so let's hope they get to it quickly!

@Starseeking and @areyouhavingagiraffe

I’m also on my own. It’s so tricky to make these kind of decisions without someone to bounce it off.
I did take a pragmatic friend to a viewing the other day who was a help. However it cost me lunch!

I’ve decided to widen my search radius. Seen quite a nice house - Edwardian, nice view on 3 floors… but have not got my head around the new location.
And as others are saying…the prices of houses are rising. Almost weekly.
Argh!