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?

How is it 3 miles from a station in London?! Do you drive? That is a fair old hike if you're walking, but TBH even though we're only looking just under a mile from our closest station my plan would always be to get a cab when coming home from nights out.
What would the roads be like to cycle back from the station? It wouldn't be for me but then I'm scared of moving a 20-25 minute walk from the station because we're only 8 minutes away atm.

It is in a village in the London Borough of Havering, in the north of the Borough. Yes, I drive and own a car, but I have always used public transport. If the buses were more regular then it would be do-able. My dream has always been to live somewhere rural, however I have always lived in very urban areas, where there are night buses, easy walk of a Station etc. Cycling could work, however it is up a big hill.....I love the idea of it, but is it practical for me, I am not sure.

@areyouhavingagiraffe - electric bike is the answer …. Sounds perfect.

My neighbour put their house on the market earlier in the month - they had 55 people asking to view on day one. The EA decided to hold an open day but trimmed down the 55 to cash buyers and it went to sealed bids.

It’s weird how people respond to “panic buying” - personally I withdraw and don’t engage - so haven’t been out to buy petrol, didn’t stock up in Covid. I don’t need to move now but don’t think I could take the stress. I am not saying I am right - no doubt I would lose out by sitting tight (I am already on the property ladder and my next move will be down sizing) I understand that people have to move for lots of reasons - and I feel sorry for you all that it is so stressful.

With the whole leaving London thing - where / when does this dynamic end? Who is buying the flats/houses in London that people are selling to move to the coast or country? Are these London / city properties going cheap? Oversupply?

[quote DFOD]@areyouhavingagiraffe - electric bike is the answer …. Sounds perfect.

My neighbour put their house on the market earlier in the month - they had 55 people asking to view on day one. The EA decided to hold an open day but trimmed down the 55 to cash buyers and it went to sealed bids.

It’s weird how people respond to “panic buying” - personally I withdraw and don’t engage - so haven’t been out to buy petrol, didn’t stock up in Covid. I don’t need to move now but don’t think I could take the stress. I am not saying I am right - no doubt I would lose out by sitting tight (I am already on the property ladder and my next move will be down sizing) I understand that people have to move for lots of reasons - and I feel sorry for you all that it is so stressful.

With the whole leaving London thing - where / when does this dynamic end? Who is buying the flats/houses in London that people are selling to move to the coast or country? Are these London / city properties going cheap? Oversupply?[/quote]
We've had a younger couple (by younger I think late 20's/early 30's) viewing our place, and they're not interested in kids so a flat is perfect. I also had a man about my age (kids the same age as mine!) view as he is buying a flat for his parents to retire into (they currently live abroad). I live on a big development and there is still a lot of foreign investment- the local estate agent (and the sales office) have Chinese translators on staff.

Our place is very well priced for the development but I've no idea who's buying in the new builds aside from investors- the 2 beds there are going for £700k+!!

@DFOD, I wonder whether I am panic buying. I don't think I can make the logistics work. I need the accessibility to be better than it is. I am a single gal and I love that I can go out in the City after work, hit the gym and get home whenever I want. I live in suburbs now but the transport is so good. For the potential purchase, well not so much. I think if I had a husband and a family life it would be different

@DFOD, my flat sold within days. FTB as well.

I ended up viewing a place yesterday we'd completely discounted and ended up offering, but it went to an investor as they are proceedable and we're not 😔 which, fair enough, but we don't need more HMO's around here! It's made us realise what we want though in terms of size.

Given up! Taking house off the market and getting g the builder round to price up an extension. Nothing to buy and too much stress.

I have a viewing on Saturday and if it's ok I might put in an offer, although it's offers over and I would only offer the asking price. It's come back on the market and I have a feeling they've bumped up the price but I can't find the original listing online. I'm ready to move, their sale has fallen through, so I can leave the offer on the table.

Hello again! I'm sure some of us must have chatted on similar threads 😀.

I'm renting, looking to buy. Good deposit from sale of old flat and no chain, mortgage in principle and solicitor appointed.

I'm browsing but unless something amazing comes up, I think we will be waiting fir a few months fir the market to settle down.

We have just withdrawn from our sale as there is absolutely nothing to even view. We accepted offer 6 weeks ago and whilst our buyers were happy to wait I couldn't cope with living in limbo. Checking Rightmove 20+ times a day was definitely something I didn't enjoy. After another sleepless night decided to halt things and improve what we have. Feel quite relieved today.

Wow so much has happened for everyone in the last few days! I think we're all being super brave.

Brave enough to view properties we originally discounted.

Brave enough to walk away from houses that won't work, even though they are the only ones on the market right now.

Brave enough to move into rented to break the chain.

Brave enough to pull out of a sale all together when the stress of the chain becomes too much to handle.

Brave enough to take a break from searching when the Rightmove obsession becomes unhealthy.

Brave enough to stay put and extend.

I think we are all incredibly brave - no matter what our brave looks like.

Yes PessimisticOptimistic, thank you. I needed that.

We have walked away from 2 properties recently that were great in some ways but not right for us. Our family/friends have accused us of never being happy, being far too fussy etc but we're holding out for the right place - even in this crazy market.

£750k+ is a lot of money for us to regret spending but since it's not being spent by our family they seem to think they have the right to comment on it...

Another viewing booked for tomorrow, for a house I'd ruled out because it has neighbours on both sides and is a two bed rather than the three I'd like.. However, when I watched the video walkthrough, it looked really nice. It has lovely big gardens and room for a log cabin at the rear of the back garden if I wanted extra space for WFH. So we shall see. It's been on the market a while so there might be room for manoeuvre on the price too.

Clearly as I’m writing this in the small hours I’m totally stressed and I really feel for everyone here and I think PessimisiticOptimist is so very right. Brave. The buying and selling market is completely stressful and horrid. We live in an area where prices and demand are high at present and we had 6 offers on our home. We didn’t want to do the sealed bid thing as it’s such a horrid thing to do but we accepted a good cash offer 25k over asking price.
We’re moving from north to a bit further south where property prices are way higher, so knew it would be something smaller and not so beautiful. This is for personal reasons and something we have wanted to do for a few years but for various reason put off - how we regret that now ! We have panicked a bit because the reasons for moving have got more acute, prices keep going up and we are concerned about getting priced out. It’s a 6 hour round trip to look at properties - we’ve looked at loads, offered 65k over asking price on 2 and were outbid both times ! We were only able to do this as we looked at property way below the value of our current home so we stood a chance, knowing that the final bids went high. We tried a third time and bid high and have got it and now instead of being delighted I am full
of anxiety and panic at paying too much ! The estate agents tell you nothing about other bids and best and final bids are the devils own work. My DH is totally chilled about it and did all the talking to the estate agents as I was way too stressed. I’m planning on calling the EA tomorrow to see if I can get any information at all on how close the other offers were ....... I’d be ok with the bid if I knew it was a fair competition. It’s crazy isn’t it ? Our buyers have hung on for three months which maybe isn’t so long (they are chain free and the house we are buying is chain free ) and I guess it will take another three months to get this through - not sure I can take it - we can manage it financially but oh the stress !
I realise this is just a long ramble . Has anyone else justified a high bid to themselves only to totally panic if it’s been accepted ?
PS I totally do the looking a RM every second and pouring over all the houses I’ve already discounted ....

There has got to be a better way to do this. The system is barbaric. My sister-in-law moved just before the first lockdown and it took eight months! I don't get how in this day and age of digital everything it still takes so long.
This government has spent pretty much all of the last ten years inflating the property market, most recently with the stamp duty holiday because it's about the only thing keeping the economy afloat. I thought once the deadline had passed the market might calm down a bit. Buyers here have been scrambling to make the cut-off.

Totally barbaric. Someone mentioned carnage . I hate to have had to be a part of it but it’s essential for us to move . Still awake, still feeling physically sick !

I looked at RightMove today and am starting to panic. I was so pleased initially that we were able to buy at all (but had to compromise and got a small 2 bed instead of the forever house). I'm now regretting that a bit. The kind of 3 bed houses that were previously within our budget are now at least £30k more expensive! If we have another child (which hopefully we will), we're going to have to come up with a lot more money to afford a move. Hopefully we'll have more equity and savings by then to afford it, but we're also not getting younger, so the longest we can hold off to buy the forever house is 5 years, or else we'd still be paying off the mortgage after retirement

That’s harsh for you.to deal with. You will have more savings and equity - maybe you will move area and it might be cheaper ? Looking at it another way you have got a property that is affordable for you and cheaper to run, so find a good way to save, or pay off more of your mortgage if you can but that obvs depends on wages etc. Stop looking at Right Move and beating yourself up - in fact we should all stop !

So, I walked away from the property I put the offer in on (the house in the middle of nowhere). I withdrew offer 24hrs after offer was accepted. I honestly couldn't make the logistics work (travelling to work etc), the bus service was dire. I also noticed from a look at the Council's website that the Seller had put in three planning applications to extend the rear, all rejected due to the "setting of Green Belt" to the rear. I knew the house was in a conservation area, and the seller told me "you can't touch the front, but you can do whatever you like to the rear". Not true and it is clear from the Planning Officers reports as to why this isn't possible. I didn't have any immediate plans to extend, but equally I don't want a place where it is impossible to do works to the rear due to "setting".

The place I viewed yesterday was lovely, and I could see myself living there. But it was small. The second bedroom is a single although with a bit of wiggling you could move a wall/door and make it a double. But there was no room in the kitchen or living room for a dining table. I WFH at the moment and I wondered if I'd feel cramped. The seller has been there for years but is moving to something bigger. There is potential to do a small extension (perhaps a garden room) at the back, which could help resolve the issue, and I have the cash to do it. Or do I wait and hope that something better comes on?

giraffe you’ve done the right thing. The transport just didn’t work for you. Wise decision to withdraw your offer as you would have regretted the location. Public transport for nights out and even the two days in the office are very important factors for you understandably.

Panic buying property sounds awful as it’s such a big purchase. This situation will change, it’s just when.

@friendlycat, thanks. I feel relieved to be honest. He had other offers so I am sure he would have been able to reinstate those, given I let him know so quickly.
Just had a call from an EA about a house which is £50K over my budget, telling me there were no offers and did I want to see it. I stood my ground and asked questions like "what are the sellers need financially to make their move work", and he wasn't able to answer my question. I feel like they just want me to see it to start a bidding war but it is out of my budget. I hate dealing with EA's. I am surprised they call me as I must come across a total bitch, ha ha ha

@marymay62 Yes that's true. I've made a 5 year savings/mortgage overpayment plan. Hopefully house prices won't have risen too much out of reach. Although maybe the price of our current house will go up too, so then it won't be too bad.
For now I'm just grateful we managed to buy at all.

AngelDelight28 - sounds totally positive! We make decisions on what we know at the time - most of us don’t have a crystal ball and hindsight is just there to torment us ...!