Because I threw my list of criteria and highest possible price out the window as soon as I saw it. No regrets!!

Go and see it again before you make an offer and think about how well it meets your needs and priorities. Honestly, I think this whole "the one" thing is just a made up thing in homes and interiors magazines where celebs rescue some old chateau and have an unlimited restoration budget and don't need to worry about schools and transport links. For most of us mere mortals, some compromise is made.

We’ve just had offer accepted. The house is right, but I don’t believe ‘the one’ exists. Seems unrealistic, they’ll always be a bit of compromise. And house will always have something wrong when you move in so be prepared for that. Just have to decide your priorities

Because they accepted our offer 😂

We live in a place with a really hot market and had already lost a couple.

Location, very big garden for the size of the house and potential to improve over the long term. Location and garden are things you can't fix long term. Decor and kitchen were not our taste but I knew I could live with them until we could afford to change them and build an extension. Ten or so years later and I absolutely still love the house. It's an ordinary 3 bed suburban house but it absolutely suits our needs. Hope you are happy in your new place too OP.

I didn't particularly like it when I first saw it but I loved the area and tried to buy one (quite a bit more expensive, better finish) in the next street. That purchase fell apart and we decided to buy our house and move to the area we wanted rather than lose our chain). Zero regrets, love the house now. Though DH was regretful when we first moved in, he had been a bit blind as to the state of the house and the amount of work needed knocked him for six.

Because it was the best we could realistically afford. I wasn’t crying with joy like on the telly but we could see how it would work and it’s turned out great. I still look at other houses but our budget wouldn’t play ball and we’re satisfied we picked the best of what would work for us.

The house that was the one for me just felt comfortable and sort of familiar. Even though the decor wasn't our taste and it was just a mid-terrace with nothing special about it. There were other similar houses we viewed that just felt like they didn't feel homely..

Both our first house and second haven't been 'the one', like some other posters have said, they were more like the 'only' one affordable, on the market, location etc. however I have liked both and found remarkable good points! Our house currently is most definitely not my dream home. It's a home I felt we could spend very little on but make a lot on over 5 years. The location is great and the garden is big though, so if we end up here, it's ok!

I didn't at first. So after I viewed it I kept on looking. It was only after a few weeks and I realised I kept comparing everything else back to that house, that I went for a second viewing along with my mum and my kids. I am still in that house 12 years later!

We both knew our house was ‘the one’ the minute we walked in. We both wanted a house with character and stepping through the beautiful stained glass front door and surround was what did it for us. We knew straight away and neither of us have regretted it for a second. We love our house. We looked at other houses and came away saying “well it was ok but….”

We had looked a a variety of houses. They all had 'basic' criteria- three bed, detached, certain area etc.
we looked at a newer house that on paper was perfect. But as soon as we walked in , I hated it. Couldn't explain what was work with it, just knew it wasn't for us.
The house we ended up in needs a huge amount of work, and we weren't looking at a doer upper really but we both totally love the house. Even in its complete state at the moment.
It just felt right as soon as we walked in. We saw past the 70's swirly carpet& teeny tiny kitchen and even on our first night here, it felt like home.

You start imagining yourself and family there. And imagine yourselves there in the future. When your thoughts go in that direction, you know it’s suitable.

Honesty I didn't really like it, it's an Edwardian house so has lovely features but was a complete renovation project. We really wanted to move to the area - amazing local school and close to the train station and could basically not afford anything here so when this came up we went for it. We have spent a lot of time and money renovating it and it's a lovely house now but still has things that aren't ideal - quite a small garden, small driveway, busy road but I love the area. I don't really believe in finding the one though, I would happily move regularly!

I think unless you have an unlimited budget and don’t need to be need shops or schools then you can’t find the one. Even then something might come along that stops it being the one like dodgy neighbours.

We’ve just put an offer in on a house. I don’t think it’s the one. There will probably be other suitable houses that come into rightmove before we complete. We have viewed a few other houses and most of them would have met our needs but I could find something to do to all of them. For us, we don’t want a large renovation project, we had that with our current house, so we want to spend in the region of £10-15k to get it how we like it but it needs to be in a state that we can live in for the next few years while we save up. It needed to be close to schools, shops, the train station. The layout needed to work for us and have space for us for now and how we imagine we might need the space in the future. We wanted to be near parks and places that DD could learn to ride a bike. We have all of those with the house we’ve offered and with time, we’ll make it the one.

That being said, it might only be the one for that moment. In 20 years time we might want to live more rurally again or prefer a renovation project. Or in 10 years we might need to relocate. So you find a house that meets what you need, you do the best to make it the one while it still suits your needs, then you move again (or just put up with the house not being the one).

We didn't. We put in a cheeky offer not expecting it to be accepted, but it was. We really considered pulling out.

8 years on, and a lot of work, and I adore this house. I really didn't appreciate all of its good points at the time. And now it's the house that we brought our DC home to, we have memories of my late dad here etc.

A house quickly becomes a home.

We were looking at flats and maisonettes in a slightly different area (due to budget) and the estate agent called us up to say there was a house in budget that we could view, and it was in our first choice area. It's nothing to look at from the front, ex-LA brick box but it's full of natural light, has a really good sized private garden with side access and had a really good vibe. We've been here 7 years and still can't believe our luck that we're in this postcode in an actual house.

It was

• in the right location
• at the right price
• fit out basic requirements

The house we ended up buying we actually viewed by mistake.

We wanted a 4-bed, 2-bathroom one, and for some reason a 3-bed, 1-bath was on our list… it wasn’t the most beautiful, but it was full of sunlight and it felt lovely and warm.
4 years later I have no regrets. It might start feeling small when the children reach their teens, but by then the mortgage will be paid off and we could upgrade.

I've had quite a lot of houses over the years and I can think of two in particular where I absolutely fell head over heels in love as soon as I walked in - I can still remember that heady feeling now - and I was desperate that dh would feel the same (he did). The last one we stayed in for 12 years and I think the grown up dc would now love to be able to bring their new partners back there and show them round with all the memories because we all adored it. But we moved - we are practical about houses and that one was a money pit. In my experience, location is the most important thing, if I had to choose something.

They're all victorian terraces around here, bigger than average garden and in our price range, almost every non-original feature has been changed a decade on. Does the job, happy enough.

I knew as soon as I walked through the door. We loved our previous house but were relocating. The new house had a similar layout, orientation, period features and just had a lovely 'feel' to it.

For us it ticked all the boxes for number of rooms and size, location, parking and flat garden (last one was huge but all hill).

We had to look beyond the aging decor and lack of maintenance but it has taken 6 months for me to actually like it.

I was right about the layout and size though, it works perfectly for us. I just could have done without the bathroom leak, fresh dig pee on the carpet and nothing to do with water properly sealed, anywhere.

I’ve bought 3 houses and each one had the same kind of immediate bubbling, excited effect on me when I started visualising living there.

First was with ex husband and we had agreed to play poker face with every house we saw. Within seconds, that went out the window for him and we left and put an offer in immediately. I hadn’t even wanted to view it.

I grew up in a period house and when I walked through our current Edwardian terrace, I felt right at home! Our house is the smallest amongst our friends but I wouldn't trade it for any of their bigger, clinical looking houses!