Having a wobble on new house - am I expecting too much?

[Loulouskiptomylou]

Please could I get some opinions?

DH and I are relocating to a new city for his job (I’m currently SAHM to our two DC but hope to go back to work in a year or so). We have absolutely fallen in love with an area - great schools, beautiful countryside, excellent transport links etc.

However there is very little property available for sale there and absolutely nothing suitable available for rent. We did look at a couple of two beds to rent to see if we could make it work with the kids sharing a room but they were too small. All the letting agents say they are mystified at lack of rentals as usually they have more but just massive demand.

We viewed pretty much every house 3 bed+ available in our budget - nothing interesting except one four-bed we weren’t expecting much from. We actually walked out really excited about it and decided to go for it. We offered asking price and they accepted.

The house isn’t huge (1,250sq ft) but could see ourselves living there as a family and still feel quite excited when I picture that.

However now the weeks tick on I’m getting majorly cold feet. It’s definitely not our dream home but am I being unrealistic expecting that?

Pros:
Really close to station for DH commute
Walking distance to excellent school
Beautiful beautiful village
Lovely community feel
Nice estate
Beautifully decorated house to our taste
Was a new build seven years ago so hoping for no major issues/work needed

Cons:
Garden is small
Rooms are all quite small
So far away from my dream of a gorgeous period property
It’s mid-terrace so no room to extend

My fear is if we pull out now we won’t get in anywhere in the area before schools deadline and end up pissing money away on a rental elsewhere. Desperate to get into this area and get settled.

Am I expecting too much? Do I need to calm down and focus on the big list of pros?

I’m just telling myself we can move again in a few years into our dream country cottage…

It sounds ideal for getting integrated into an area. Likely to be popular with other young families for you and the kids making friends. More so than a big detached out in the country.
Being walking distance helps massively. You don't bump into people and start school run chats from the car .
Sounds like it is reasonably priced for a four bed. Should make it easy to sell on as there will always be someone else in your position wanting a bedroom each for kids.
Remember how lucky you have been to get this and hold onto that.
Your needs as a family will change as the kids grow but for this stage, an easy to manage house and garden sounds ideal. You want free weekends for exploring your new area
Save the dream house and all the work that comes with it for a more appropriate time in your life

Room sizes is a deal breaker for me. If the rooms are small, you'll struggle with storage space and may regret it.

You need sizeable rooms especially with 2 DCs

@chukwe

Room sizes is a deal breaker for me. If the rooms are small, you'll struggle with storage space and may regret it.

You need sizeable rooms especially with 2 DCs

That really depends on the size of the rooms.

Really close to station for DH commute
Walking distance to excellent school

If your DH can walk to the station, you will be able to have one car between you, which will save a lot compared with 2 cars and car parking charges.

We live in a 4 bed house which is a similar size to what you’re buying. The back garden is small and the bedrooms slightly smaller than we’d like. There’s also some factories nearby. These were the compromises.

We bought it over 9 years ago with a plan to stay here for 10+ years. Garden size hasn’t been an issue, we were always too busy to garden when both working ft and now we have 3 very young children I’m glad it isn’t bigger as we have no time to maintain it. The factories don’t cause any problems, apart from a bit of noise in weekdays. I hardly notice the bedroom sizes either.

We have no intention to move in the short term but once the children are older we will need more space. I look at what comes on the market in our future budget and even houses at the very top end of the market have compromises. And there’s really not much coming on the market at the moment. I’m sure the house will be fine if it gets you onto the ladder/schools in your chosen area.

It sounds like a good, no-hassle house. And if you're new to an area, I think that's a big plus. It will give you time to look about and get settled in.

Period houses tend to need a lot of work, which is very tying when you really need to get out there and make friends and find your way about. And you have to know an area well to know if they are a good idea. Due to a job change, many years ago DH's family bought a lovely period property in a distant city which they had only seen at weekends. The apparently quiet road it was on turned out to be on a main route into the city, so was very noisy in the week, lots of traffic and fumes etc. DH himself was wondering about some houses in a town he'd relocated to for work. Colleagues told him, avoid like the plague, they were built on a bad site- an old mill lodge which hadn't been properly dug out.

Once you settle in, and make friends and contacts, you'll begin to get an idea of where and what is your sort of area/house.

Thanks again everyone for sharing your opinions and experiences, so reassuring and have made me feel really excited for the house

Also excellent points about wanting to be in low maintenance property and within walking distance so we can get out and make friends!

The stupid thing is I haven’t got a clue about decorating and DIY anyway. Think I want a gorgeous period property that’s all fixed up for me and never needs maintenance

A house is basically a tool to support your life, not a dream fantasy magical experience.

This house gives you exactly what you need to get started in your new location. Walking distance to a good school is priceless and much more valuable to your life at present than a ‘dream’ (think expensive to heat and maintain) period property.

Move in, enjoy, make friends, save….

People get too hung up on dream homes. My home isn't my dream home, it's quite small and cluttered, id like a bigger kitchen etc but it's comfortable, safe, big enough and in a location that works for us. There's plenty to be grateful for.

1250 isn't that small (for the UK anyway!)

@Loulouskiptomylou

Thanks again everyone for sharing your opinions and experiences, so reassuring and have made me feel really excited for the house

Also excellent points about wanting to be in low maintenance property and within walking distance so we can get out and make friends!

The stupid thing is I haven’t got a clue about decorating and DIY anyway. Think I want a gorgeous period property that’s all fixed up for me and never needs maintenance

Right now, with tradespeople and materials in short supply and expensive even when you can get them, you really have to love and be competent at doing DIY and have the time for it to take on a doer-upper, unless you have an unlimited budget and don't mind living in a messy slum for years until you can get people/materials in to do it.

I think what you're doing is wise. You can practice and learn by doing a bit of modest DIY on the house as and when you feel like it, by redecorating a room or laying a patio or whatever, without it being necessary. And in a newer house you're less likely to encounter problems that old houses can have that make a simple DIY project into a long-running dinner-party-story saga.

I also think the pros sound great and older properties, whilst perhaps more charming, bring their own issues.

We were renting a Victorian flat before we bought our house and my God it was cold - those draughty, single-glazed, sash windows were awful and I used to sleep in a hoodie and tracksuit bottoms.

Much prefer our nice toasty modern house.

How much would a period property with bigger rooms and a bigger garden cost? Probably hundreds of thousands more.