Should we pull out of this purchase?

[Thursday37]

I'll try to keep this short-iash as it's quite a complex lot of circumstances that led to us moving in the first place, but not all relevant to my post I guess.

We live in a tiny hamlet in an individual new build, it's big enough for us but we don't love the area and there's a practical issue with schools. We didn't have DD when we bought it (she was an unexpected bonus). House was built in 2018, has air source heating with all sorts of fancy smart tech which keeps running costs down. EPC rated C. Everything is new so maintenance free.

We are close to exchange on a thatched cottage in our most perfect village, we've wanted to live there for years. Slightly smaller than what we have now, but schools are perfect. It has oil heating, single glazed, needs a new kitchen and we are waiting on a thatchers survey as well as RICS level 3 to come back to see what sort of state it is in (ridge was done recently and the oil boiler is fairly new so house is E rated which could be worse for a cottage). It is stretching our budget to the max. It's also beautiful.

We knew running costs plus mortgage were going to be higher and kitchen will have to wait but with everything going on it's now looking insane to buy it. We are stretching ourselves to buy it and we have 2.5 years left of nursery fees. After that we will be much more comfortable, but we are now really worried about going ahead with all the uncertainty over energy and the economy. Heating oil costs are terrifying and it would not convert easily (house is not listed, but even so).

Houses where we are looking to move to are a rare as rocking horse poo - this is the first one that's come up in 9 years so it's not like we can defer it for 12 months and try again. If we stay here we will have to run the gauntlet of applying for out of school catchment as we can't use the local school (long story but it's an absolute no for practical reasons). The new house has guaranteed excellent and suitable schools at primary and secondary so it is a long term move for us.

I feel sick at the thought of pulling out but also sick at the thought of the costs to live there and the risk it places on us. Do we stay here or take the risk that things settle in a year or so and it will all be fine? We don't have long to decide as the mortgage is in place and the searches etc all done. I know wobbles are normal but this is not your usual wobble.

I would move.
Being in good school catchments is worth a lot of money.
If you're on the bread line and moving will bankrupt you then of course dont do it and suck up the bad school.
If you're able to cut holidays/luxuries and then afford this house and the stability of good schools then its with every penny.

I moved to a more affordable house and am now in the wrong school catchment. It keeps me up at night. I'm trying to downsize back into a better one. Moving is expensive!

I'd move. If you don't do it now, you won't be able to do it in a few years. Honestly you can live on soup and put jumpers on

I’d move. This may be your only chance to. You may become even further priced out of the market in that area and may have no opportunity to get in again, especially if houses for sale are that rare

I’d move too.

Enjoy your life.

If houses are as desirable and rare in that area as you say you could always sell if worst comes to the worst.

So many people didn’t move because of Brexit, then covid and missed the boat.

I'd go for it. Location and catchment area are so important, and a new kitchen/decoration can all wait. Especially with knowing nursery fees will end in a couple of years and you'll have more money to play with. Live off beans until then. House prices are only going to go up. (Unless the surveys come back with horrors that would need urgent attention/huge expense, then I'd think again).

I wouldn't, it sounds like a money pit as it it is, and with fuel prices and food prices predicted to rise and stay high, it's not a case of putting another jumper on, it's a case of potentially defaulting on the mortgage.

Have a read of some of the threads on here about the price of heating oil. The prices rises are eye watering and while they may not stay that high forever, you will be constantly hostage to the possibility.

If you stay where you have options. If you move you're tied.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4498878-To-be-terrified-about-the-cost-of-oil

You should go for it. I suspect you’ll regret it for a long time if you don’t. Location and schools are the reason people buy houses where they do added into the mix you say this location/house rarely comes up for said so yes do it!

Unfortunately your oil or gas or whatever will increase where ever you live.

I’d do it. Very worst case scenario you later sell and find somewhere else

Just to clarify the catchment primary of current house isn't bad but we can't use it as it has absolutely zero wraparound care. It is absolutely tiny (less than 40 kids 5-11) and there are no childminders here. We can't afford a nanny and have no local family help. The catchment secondaries are pretty bleak though as they are a in a local ex mining town that is quite deprived. The children that use this school have at least 1 parent at home or able to work around school hours. We cannot do this.

The local children where both parents work largely go private (we can't afford that) or out of catchment but that's a big gamble and we worry that it will limit her friendship circle locally. As an only child I would really like her to go to school in the community she lives in so she has best chance of friends to play with and isn't an outcast.

The new house has a brilliant primary with wraparound care and holiday care and the house and school are right in the heart of the village which is super safe for playing out when she is older. There's a choice of great secondaries too in a much more affluent area (they are all consistently good or outstanding so there's no bad option).

It's just a bit scary to be potentially buying a cold money pit - but once we no longer pay for nursery we will have circa £600 a month left over compared to now even after wraparound care considered, so it's only the period from now until she leaves nursery that is tight.

I'm reassured that people are saying to move because our family and friends seem to think we have lost the plot entirely!

Do it, if it's that desirable and doesn't work out then you can sell. I know a couple who made a purchase mistake last year, gave things a lick of paint and sold 5 months later for an extra £50k. The market is insane, so unless you have another option Id go for it.

I live in an old, cold house and it is a real money pit. With old houses there will always be unexpected repairs needed, electrics, damp, brickwork, lintels etc.
If you can add insulation to the internal walls and attic that will help. Also under floor - what is under the floor? Is it concrete or suspended wooden boards - that makes a big difference to the thermal properties of the house. Also gaps around the door, windows, skirting. Putting these right will cost money.
Get a thermal survey done, using an infrared camera, test the moisture in the walls with a gadget - dampness in old, under heated houses is a big source of bone-chilling cold.
If you can change the heating system, do. Air source probably won't work as they need a thermally efficient property to work in and heat to about 17 degrees with a top up. Electric infrared panels are good if you can spare the wall space.
Wear warmer clothes and use electric under blankets.
As long as you know what you're letting yourself in for and can budget for remediation work I would go for it, you'll love it in the summer.

Ca you a totally afford it?

Month to month. With fuel bills about to double and more. Can you do it?

Mortgages are fairly rigorously stress tested. You’ve been approved?

Move because of school catchment. You can use an open fire or log burner most of the time and that would reduce your oil useage to hot water and an hours heating in the morning
Oil prices may dip in summer so you can fill up for next winter. At least with oil it’s paid for before you use it.

It’s a tricky one, OP. We bought somewhere we could barely afford and it has been really tough. BUT we didn’t love it like you love yours. We bought to be in the area we liked and school catchment. If we did love the house, I would probably say it’d had been worth it. But we don’t and we’re selling up and I think we should have made a slightly different decision.

I don’t think many houses come along that you fall in love with though… so because of that, if you can make the money work, I’d say go for it.

How much disposable income will you have u til dd leaves nursery?
Some people are suggesting that house prices may come down slightly, so the option of "just selling" might not be open to you unless you have considerable equity.

I would also move for the catchment area, but if it is liveable I would defer the improvements until your child is in school and you have more disposable income.

It is the location that is important, not new kitchens.

If the relevant surveys come back acceptable then I would go for it. If houses in the area are so sought after then worst case scenario you can sell up and move again, but you are only talking of a relatively short time period to get over until you have more money to play with.

A log burner is also a good idea.

Move. If houses hardly ever come up there then you have a desirable property you can sell if necessary.

The school thing and wrap around care etc is massive.

Move. If the kitchen is usable then it can wait, draught proof the house as much as you can and prepare for money to be tight for a while.
Assuming that you are getting a fixed mortgage for 3 years plus, interest rates will continue to rise to fight inflation so that cost would go up if you waited.

@Bunce1

Ca you a totally afford it?

Month to month. With fuel bills about to double and more. Can you do it?

Mortgages are fairly rigorously stress tested. You’ve been approved?

Well that's just it - no-one knows where these prices are going do they......

When we offered on it we expected that our current £150 a month in winter/£100 Summer for electricity (which is both our electric cars and all our heating and cooking save a bottled gas hob) would increase to about £250-£300. We can afford that, just. But it's going up literally by the hour for oil so who knows when it will peak/drop. It will stabilise I am sure, but depends on Putin. The full tank would now be about £2k instead of £500. We have been on oil before so we are used to budgeting for it but not with these wild increases.

We are putting in over 50% deposit as have a lot of equity, mortgage is approved subject to valuation which is today, we should get the formal offer paperwork by Monday. We are porting current mortgage plus additional borrowing.

We are then having separate thatch and full surveys done to check as far as possible that there's no hidden scary expensive things like rotten beams or a full re-wire required. That's costing another £1k but necessary I think. We won't exchange until these are done in case we need to negotiate on price.

If it needs a new full thatch imminently we will have to walk away because we need at least 5 years before we can entertain that. The kitchen is old and ugly but I can live with that until nursery ends, the rest is in good decorative order so that's fine.

It does have 2 working open fires (and possibly 2 upstairs that have been blocked in) - can't have a woodburner without extending the chimneys and the insurance won't like them anyway. But we can use the fires instead of oil for sure.

We have very few luxuries as I have an ancient horse that costs every other spare £1 we have. Sadly she is on borrowed time and may not be with us for many more years. When she is gone I will have more time and disposable income than I know what to do with. But obviously not relying on her dying soon to fund utilities :(

I’d move. Ride out the next 2 years with frugal living then you’ll be winning.

You have two electric cars? And a horse? 50% equity? Crikey then move - in the worst case scenario you have sooo many options before defaulting on your mortgage - best wishes with the move

op have you actually asked the vendors what their yearly electricity and oil usage is? Just to check your budgeted figures are in the right ballpark (not withstanding future hikes).

Go. More money can be made but only one of this house exists. I'd go.

Move.
If you have 50% equity you are fine. If it really gets tricky,you can extend the term for a bit.

Going on the school catchment alone I would move. Being near a good school is so important.