Buying a house I don’t like in a market of little choice

[newnameforthehousehunt]

Am I insane for considering this?

Me and DP have been house hunting for about a year. We are in a sought after area and need to stay here for DC school and transport to work reasons. Out of the 10-12 houses we have viewed, we’ve both really liked just one house which was top of our budget. We offered the asking price, then the vendor decided they didn’t want to sell after all DP has liked more houses than me, I’m much more critical

We viewed a house yesterday, also top of our budget but we don’t like it as much as the house we offered on. DP “quite likes” it whereas I feel it is just “ok”.

The positives:
end of cul de sac so will hopefully be quiet and no traffic for our cat

Garden isn’t overlooked at all

Bathroom and downstairs loo are recently refitted

Newish boiler

Has a hallway with stairs off it rather than from living room like we’ve seen

Parking for two cars

Larger than average garden for the plot

The negatives:

Kitchen/diner is modern-ish and functional but layout is atrocious, it’s not a huge room yet it has a back door plus sliding patio doors minimising work space meaning the only space for a fridge freezer is in the corner of the dining area. IMO the whole room needs an overhaul, money which we don't have and would need to save for/get a home improvement loan for. I could live with it for a few months probably.

3rd bedroom is a box room and this would be DC2’s room (not yet conceived )

main part of garden is north facing

garage isn’t attached to the house and is in front of it, and the agent didn’t know if there was power to it. If there isn’t we’ll need to get that sorted as ideally would want a bigger freezer and tumble drier in there.

there’s parking for two cars outside the house but guests would have to park further down the road and walk to the house, as the house is on a kind of shared driveway

the house felt a bit meh and soulless. Like there was no love in it. I know once you’ve moved in with your own stuff and make your own memories there it is different, but I wouldn’t feel excited about moving into it despite being desperate to get on the property ladder after renting for years. But maybe I’d feel better once we’ve moved?

Thoughts please - I am starting to realise my expectations are too high for what our budget is, and maybe all houses coming to market will the same as the house we viewed yesterday. Maybe I just need to go with one of them and get on with it? We could offer the asking price and be outbid anyway

That’s not your house. Keep looking.

@GrandmasCat

That’s not your house. Keep looking.

That's not my house, its driveway is too shared!

Unless you absolutely have to I wouldnt although I understand why you might. My most favourite house I just knew and I lived it there. My least favourite I bought out of desperation and it was horrendous.

I'm still looking after a year and it's so hard. But things will pick up soon

Don't buy it, it's expensive moving so you need to be sure.

I would wait.

I just bought a house that I thought ‘ok’. Didn’t fall in love with it, but didn’t hate it. Now, with new electrics and a plan to fix niggles, I’m liking it more and more.

But you have to start from a positive place. Doesn’t sound like this one is for you.

@labyrinthlaziness 😅😅😅😅

Also:

That's not my house, the bedroom is too boxy.

Don’t do it. We bought a house in a hurry as ag the end of our tether with house hunting and sick of renting. The house we were renting sold and we had to be out quickly. I really regret buying this house. I haven’t liked it since day one and never will. Literally counting the days till we can move again.

It’s not the one. Don’t do it.

I always find this attitide to houses odd.
I've never "fallen in love" with any house I've bought. I've bought it because it was either in the right location, or the right price or had potential.
They are bricks and mortar. They can't love you back.
Buying a house should never be a heart over head decision IMHO.
It's the biggest purchase you will ever make with possible long term consequences.
I didn't love our current house, but over a decade I've made it into a lovely home. I would still like to totally redo the kitchen but that's not happening anytime soon :)
You sound like you have found a few issues with the property:
Personally, a 3rd box room (so it's a 2.5 bed house really...) and shared drive and garage in front of the house would be an immediate no from me.
Also, ime people who live in cul de sacs can be a bit...odd :) parking wars are common.
Good luck but keep looking!

You can’t change the parking
The location of the house
The size of the 3rd bedroom

You can change electric to the garage
The layout of the kitchen dinner
Put two D.C. in one bedroom & have a playroom?

We had quite a bit of work done last year...

The price increases for materials and labour are eye watering...so bear that in mind. Work that would have cost £10k 2/3 years ago is £20/22k now.

Go and see it again. Then ask yourself if these are reasonable compromises or total dealbreakers for you. I love my house, my neighbours and my area. I sometimes regret it isn't a 27-room mansion with an enormous swimming pool and drool over property porn. But I still love living here. Don't buy a house you hate, but also don't forget that real life involves compromise. Which compromises are you willing to make and which are a step too far?

See the property and make notes. Consider all aspects and then decide.

Don't think I could bring myself to buy a house that was top of budget that I didn't love unless it was absolutely necessary

Agree with PP that the market usually picks up in springtime so you could wait, but you do sound extremely picky tbh

I was in a very similar position nearly 10 years ago. We had sold up to relocate to a new town. We were in a rented house and every property in our preferred area slipped through our fingers for 18 long months. There was one house that wasn't shifting and DH insisted we view it.

I wasn't keen at all. Perfect location but the house felt a bit off. Quite cold and not cosy. Didn't tick enough boxes for me. But DH could see potential. I was desperate to move out of the rented house so we bought the so-so house.

It was absolutely the right decision for us. There are still some things that I don't like about this house but I love what this house has given us as a family. I had to be very pragmatic at first as see it as an investment in our family rather than my dream home. Once I got my head round that, everything started to fall into place.

The house gives us space DH and I to both run our businesses from home. The DC have great friends living close by. We are very comfortable and safe living here. Lovely neighbours too. So the most important boxes were ticked and I can live without period features and bi fold doors. And my dream kitchen (just).

I agree on holding off for a few more weeks as te market will def pick up as we head into Easter. That said, this would be a good time for you to really think about what is really important for you in a house.

You haven't viewed that many personally in a year. We viewed approx 25 houses in 6 months! However I was like you and got fed up with looking and nearly bought something because it would bring an end to the stress etc! We waited and then our perfect house that ticked every box came and we got it. But it was 40k more. The only comprise was the washing machine and tumble dryer is in the garage but we have a door from back garden into it.

Have you considered washing you walking at the front of house to garage to do this? I wouldn't want my neighbours seeing me do this.

Same with fridge freezer, if there isn't any room in kitchen for one it'll be the same walking to the front garden to get supplies.

Shared driveway is a concern especially if neighbours have visitors and they park.

I'll be honest after about 10 houses I didn't worry about where the garden faced as wanted south facing but limited my search. Ours is actually south west facing but didn't even realise that until we moved in.

Think of 3rd bedroom, it will be fine for when baby is about 3-4 but will it be too small for toys, wardrobes etc?

Please don't rush into it because you are fed up and it's the only one. Stay where you are, keep saving and you may get something more expensive but ticks all your boxes

I would wait… you don’t want to plough money into a house you can’t see being happy in. The right house will come along you just need to be patient even though it’s frustrating. Good luck, it’s still early in the year more properties are likely to put on the market in spring.

Does it tick your boxes in the bright light of the day?
A box room for a baby not yet conceived will be fine as a nursery and good for a few years after it's born.

Are you a FTB? Do you have the luxury of waiting to fall in love with a house before you buy it?

Do you like the area? Go for a walkabout and see what you think and feel.

You need to figure out what you can live with and what is a compromise too far.

Keep looking!! Good luck.

No. If you don't love it now, you're unlikely to love it down the line.

I agree with the posters saying that if you don't love it now, it's unlikely you ever will....

We sold our previous house - which was already a massive downsize on those we'd owned previously - because the location wasn't right. Otherwise it was my dream home 🙁

The house we bought - in 2018 - is in a great location, but I hated it from the first viewing. DH reckoned it had potential, but - and I usually see the potential in project houses we've bought/viewed - it wasn't there for me. We've now spent loads on reconfiguring, putting in the dream kitchen and bathroom (only one so far), stamping our personality on it and giving it much needed character features.

But.... I still don't feel the love and believe I'm grieving for the house we sold ☹️

It's too small and a very challenging property to extend/alter (it used to be a mill and has multiple ground levels surrounding the building) and I can see why it took so long to sell!

We do have plans to extend, plus we're making the previously unkempt, barren half acre garden lovely....yet I'm still not sure I want to stay long term.

I wouldn't ever buy anywhere again if I didn't immediately feel the love on that first viewing!

I don't think you should buy this house because of the shared driveway. I can see the issue with the box room but if the child hasn't been conceived yet I don't know that that on its own could be a deal breaker. North facing garden, I think mumsnet is utterly ridiculous over this issue and if it's large then I think it would be fine. Cul de sac... mmm, I don't know that this is as positive as you think but that's me.

We've bought 4 houses, the one I loved the most on viewing I absolutely hated living in, it was absolutely awful and the fact that we don't live there anymore still brings me a huge sense of relief. The one I loved the most I was pretty meh about on viewing but it was a project house. The one we are currently in I liked, but we were also quite desperate to buy and perhaps jumped a little too soon. I don't hate it but it doesn't yet feel like home. Maybe it will in time.

Every house is a compromise. You can only ever buy the best house available on your budget. Not a house that isnt available. Even people spending millions make compromises.

You need to fugure out what really matters to you to work out what 'the best' means to you. Things like location and direction of garden you cant change, but things like kitchen layouts you can - (and a few months is a bit impatient )
However, having bought 3 homes now - there is always another one that comes up - there are several homes i had my heart set on and we didnt get and it took us a long time to find a house with all the right compromises.

I agree that a shared driveway is a big negative, and personally I consider a cul-de-sac a negative too.

A north-facing garden is not automatically a negative - the length of the garden and height of buildings around the garden play a big part. Plus sun in teh front of the house is a real positive especially in winter.

A box room is what it is - lots of families live perfectly happy lives with a box room! I would choose a box room in the best street over a bigger room in a worse street any day.