Sad and having second thoughts after offer was accepted

[solario]

DP and I are in our late 40s and put off buying for a number of reasons. Now we're facing a shorter mortgage term along with crazy prices that mean we can't stay where we really want to live. I know I have a lot to be grateful for but I'm feeling down and really questioning if this is the right move. We were hoping to buy where we currently live, but the prices have risen too much. So we've offered on a place a couple of miles away and it was accepted.

It's a really amazing house and we can still commute to our schools, though we'll probably have to get a car to make it easy. The area, though, is not one we love and has much less to offer in terms of shops, restaurants, parks, etc within easy walking distance.

I'm hoping that in a few years we'll somehow to be able to buy in our first choice area. Maybe by then we'll be settled down and not want to leave, but I can't imagine that being the case right now.

I'm questioning whether we are doing the right thing, especially as properties are starting to be reduced. Part of me hopes something will still come up where we really want to live, but we also wouldn't want to ruin things for our sellers. I'm just really sad about leaving where we are and I know my kids, 10y and 11y, are upset too and I feel we've failed them, though I'm sure they'll prove to be very resilient about it and we are being very positive about the new house with them.

I wouldn’t worry about your sellers, just think about you and your family. However I don’t think your hope to buy again in a few years is realistic. Do you anticipate a major change in your financial circumstances?
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Long story, but I sold up in 2008, I didn't buy again, when I should have done, when the market was low in 2012ish (of course you don't know that's the case at the time). I was in a cheap living situ (house guardian), and spent 7 years saving/investing my way back to being able to buy a house in 2019. I had a sizeable deposit as I was 50, and on a shorter term mortgage. Like you I had to look outside the areas I ideally liked, and moved about 25 miles from my original area (to one without shops bars etc), but I love the house and the area works. All the worries I had were unfounded, and I'm paying the mortgage down fast too.

I know it never feels like the right time to buy (my 2019 offer was pre covid and a stock market crash and I thought I'd bought at a terrible time), and even if I had, the feeling of ownership and security would still be worth it.

The fact that you describe the house as amazing is such a positive.

My circumstances have changed a lot in the last few years: divorce (which was financially damaging to me but lead to new opportunities which I wouldn't have taken when I was married), inheritance, brand new lucrative career, side hustles adding to my pot.
Due to all the above I'm in a position to move slightly up the housing ladder, but a few years ago I was certain I would be struggling to even pay my current mortgage, let alone move up.
It might be worth sticking if you really feel passionately that you want to stay in the area, but being on the housing ladder in anyway is really important - could you buy the new house as a btl and stay in your current home for a few years?

it is always tough making a move but this sounds like it will be good for long term security. once you have a house & are paying the mortgage, then you will be in a much better position to move up in future. unlikely to be in 2-3 years, but 5-6 years might work.

and once you live in an area, you will discover the nice things about it that you can't always see as you just drive past.

Well, in your mid forties, I'd buy to be blunt.
If you want to move back to your much loved area when you can afford to, you can do that. But at the moment you're renters who will get less appealing to mortgage brokers with every passing month

You say prices have risen so much in the area you want to buy in but then at the end you say prices are falling. If you can find anything to buy in your preferred area then do it and do it now.

Because you will get old.

At your age I would do everything I could to get on the property market so you have it paid off by retirement age. Most places are fine too live in and with cars you can travel. You have ftb anxiety. Don’t over think it.

But you are only moving a couple of miles away (so 30 mins walk or less than a 5 min drive) and your kids don't even have to move school. If you want to get on the property ladder it sounds like now or never for you.

I'm questioning whether we are doing the right thing

Is this one of the reasons that you haven't bought a property before OP, that whenever you get close to it you don't want to go ahead? Because if it is down to that, it's pretty doubtful that any time will feel perfect for you and as the previous posters have said, the sooner the better in terms of the length of the mortgage.

Just think of it as a temporary move to tide you over. Then you can move again too your preferred area if and when the opportunity arises.