Feel gutted, have we paid too much....

[Shandysue]

Hi MNs, reaching out at a wobbly time, looking for some perspective.

It concerns a house that was listed originally at 475,000.
A year on the market, it slipped down to 425,00 so we viewed it.
Loved it, didn't offer at all though still that bit too much.
It went under offer from someone else, we told agent's we'd be in the background if anything went wrong.

So weeks later the agent calls, CLAIMS the buyer's pulled out and isn't it spooky as we'd JUST emailed to ask, etc etc....
We made an offer of 398,000, came back they needed 400,000 so we met that and it's ours.
HOWEVER
since exchange I can now see that a 3 bedroom, smaller garden but on same row sold in November 2020 for only 325,000.

I feel such an idiot. Had been so happy about the house and thought we'd offered low enough under asking but now feel the agent saw me coming. questioning if it was even true that the original buyer pulled out and think we may have outbid them unwittingly which I'd never want to do...

This house has 4 bed and a much larger garden than the 325 one but my gosh I'm just so angry I didn't offer much less, like 380,000 rather than 400,000. esp as it s a terrace.
I keep thinking about what that money would have bought.
I know it's done now. but I'm worried it's resale will be much lower and that we've put our money into a very overpriced property.
I figured if it had come down from 475,000 originally they wouldn't consider much under 400,000. I've lost houses before by being too low on starting prices.

Also since the similar 3 bed sold in November 2020 house prices have risen, even in the 9 months between then and now.
but it doesn't comfort me. , how can I make peace or learn from this??...
Thanks all xxx

I think you may be being a little hard on yourself. £75k for an extra bedroom and bigger garden is very reasonable. You don’t know, the buyers of the £325k house may be kicking themselves that for £75k extra they could have got that additional bedroom and outdoor space.

But you are comparing apples and oranges surely?

Honestly, I think you're working yourself into a twist over nothing. We had an offer accepted on a house last summer (2020) for 660K. Vendors eventually pulled out due to illness and decided not to sell. This past summer (2021), they re-listed the same house at offers over 850K. We decided not to re-offer because we'd since decided on a different area and it wasn't work that to us. It sold in less than a week. Same house, 200K difference in 12 months time. You're comparing apples and oranges. We've since had an offer accepted on another house which we love. 2 years ago, we could have gotten it for a lot less. But we love it and it's a family home we'll live in for a long time. I'm not bothered at all.

Did you have a mortgage. If so the bank valued the house and they were happy to lend at that level. So you didn't overpay

But surely if you've already exchanged then you've had surveys done and a mortgage valuation which would have confirmed the price?

We're in the same position - house sold in 2002 for £165k, we've had offer of £355k accepted. Smaller houses in the area sold for £220k within last 2-3 years. But, but, but - we've been looking for 4 months, have viewed approx 20 houses, had a purchase fall through and pound for pound this one is by far the best value. Just need to stop looking at previous sale prices and comparing to other, lesser properties.

It's perfect for us, we love it. It doesn't matter what it sold for 20 years ago - we're not going to get it for the same price. And we intend to stay put for a long time.

You’ve exchanged right? You have no choice, make the best of it

So it's a much bigger house, bigger garden and a year after the previous offer? Your payment sounds about right!!!

I feel your pain OP. House identical to ours sold 18 months later for 35k less than we paid.

It doesn't matter much because :

1. We needed to move 18 months ago and couldn't have waited
2. The house is lovely
3. We plan to stay here a good few years so house prices will naturally go up and possibly down over time anyway.

If you still really like the house then go for it

We were worried we'd overpaid but the mortgage people agreed with the price. My sister just brought a house and was told she'd overpaid by 20K, they renegotiated and she got that taken off. So they do tell you when you've paid too much!

£75k for an extra bedroom and bigger garden in a rising market sounds like a bargain. What am I missing?

For an extra bedroom and a bigger garden, £75K is reasonable. The house ticks all your boxes, I wouldn’t be getting upset about a lower offer which you could have made, which in all likelihood wouldn’t have been accepted.

But there’s no comparison. Prices have increased massively in this past year. Plus yours is a 4 bedroom house with larger garden.

If the one down the road completed in November 2020 it likely went under offer a good while beforehand - remember that first lockdown where everything ground to a halt? Poor buyers probably made an offer at the start of 2020 with no pandemic in sight and all sorts of havoc happened to their chain! Then the pandemic happened and a stamp duty holiday happened too and the housing market went nuts and prices increased hugely. So to me it sounds like you still did well to get it down from £475K. You just offered in a very different market to those people. Plus yours has more bedrooms and more space! Defo worth the extra with that crucial time difference.

Oh wow. You did well. Be happy. Its a slippery market and its hard to get what you want. If you really like the house - be happy.

I think you need to let it go. Sounds like your house is better, and also you don’t know- there could have been a massive issue with the other house which you aren’t aware of, but which is reflected in the price.

You've lost houses before by offering too low, thank goodness that didn't happen this time. Your house sounds great and unless you're planning on living there for a short amount of time it will be fine.
House buying is an art not a science, so many factors and variables beyond your control, so many ways it can go horribly wrong. If you've got a nice house for a price you can afford (which sounds good value against a comparison to a lesser house from a year ago) you've won the game.
When I bought my first house it was after a big property price surge and if I'd bought just 8 months earlier I'd have paid about 50k less for it. Grrr, but I wasn't looking for a house then so I missed the boat. That's life. Dwelling on how different things could have been for me if I'd saved that money would just send me round the bend, it's pointless, the wheel turns and on we roll.

Just because they're both houses doesn't mean they're the same. I can buy a pair of shoes from Primark for £20 or go to Office and get a pair for £120.

I don't really understand what you're worrying about

OP, you loved the house, and it sounds worth the price. Try to not kick yourself. When I was house shopping, the agent showed me two houses on this street, same style of house. However one, that had central air, had a smaller pie shaped lot with a backyard full of tall weeds, it looked out onto a busy road, a billboard, had worn out looking carpeting and all badly painted. The one we bought backs onto a ravine full of trees, birds ect. decent carpeting and walls all painted in neutrals. We spent more and had to pay more to get central AC installed, and build a fence, but it was worth it.

Good luck, and congrats on your new home.

I was always told to
Expect to pay about £100k for each bedroom. Obviously it depends on location but &75k more for A bedroom and bigger garden regardless of location would seem good to me.

You're just suffering buyers remorse. An extra bedroom, more space and a bigger bathroom is worth £75k, and now you get to enjoy the benefits of those things.

I promise you, in 10 years you will look back and think "What was I stressing about?"

You’re comparing a 3-bed with a smaller garden with a 4-bed with a larger garden.

And the 3-bed sold a year ago.

Enjoy your house, OP. This is just classic buyer’s remorse and you’ll get over it!

Weird times that we are going through especially with house prices.

Prices in some areas have skyrocketed.

Eighteen months ago two houses on our street went for c. £620k. Our adjoining semi was 'done up' by a builder and went for £820k. It had a cellar conversion but otherwise pretty similar to the others.

The difference is timing.

You've bought a house that you really like and it will be your home. In a few years the extra will no longer be relevant.

OP you don’t know why the house down the road sold for 325k. They might have needed a quick sale. They might have accepted a lower price of cash buyers.

Last time we moved our buyers dropped out a week before exchange. We were in a chain. We found a buyer who offered 20k less then the previous buyers (who had knocked us down 30k). We had a choice to take the lower offer or lose the house above and all costs associated. We negotiated them down to 15k and the house we were buying dropped by 5k (so additional 10K, which wasnt that much more then the solicitor/surveyors costs to date). So our house sold for 45k less then probably it was worth in the end.

A 4 bed house with a bigger garden?

And you have no idea what else might have been going on with the other house: damp, work needed etc etc.
And prices have risen in a year.

Honestly, I think you are being a bit ridiculous.