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Original poster

How did you know your house was 'the one'

111 replies

sillysocks22 · 15/03/2023 10:50

Just that really - about to offer on a house, it's strange as this house has been on the market for ages. I disregarded it originally as something about the look of it I didn't like. We went to view yesterday and we were set on offering afterwards as something about the house gave us a good feeling. After a nights sleep I'm having second thoughts. I wasn't bowled over in amazement with how much I loved it which is what I was hoping I'd feel when we saw 'the one' but we could see it has lots of potential & the area is perfect. I feel like even if our offer is accepted I probably won't stop trawling right move just in case something better comes up. Is that normal or do you think it means it's not the one for us?

OP posts:
Mummikub · 15/03/2023 13:11

I just knew too and my then BF (now DH) shot me a warning look as he could tell, I'm very transparent Grin
It was the first one of 13 viewings over two days and I disregarded the other 12 pretty quickly. It's an unusual house, ex commercial converted into a house and it's not on the best road, has quite a small garden for its size, but it was love at first sight. I think it helped that it was a new conversion as I'm crap at seeing past old decor etc.

Colgatetoothpaste · 15/03/2023 13:23

My DP disregarded our house when I sent him the Rightmove listing as it didn't have anything on our wish list other than location. I pretty much had to do a presentation to get him to view it 😂

We had only been able to view 6 properties as it was so difficult to get viewings during 21/22. We viewed one house, which on paper had practically everything we wanted, but I hated it. I can't really explain why whereas the house we bought we both just felt at 'home' as soon as we walked in and it was probably the best we could do. I still looked at other listing but nothing came up that I was particularly excited by. Unless you have an never ending limit its just natural to think something else could be out there better for you.

SparkyBlue · 15/03/2023 14:26

It was the one we could afford in the location we wanted.

BreathingDeep · 15/03/2023 14:31

For my last two houses, I didn't even view anything else - they just felt right. Of course, they had to tick the boxes for location, size, price, etc, but each time, I could visualise how we would live there, even the mundane making dinners, doing laundry, unloading shopping etc.

With the house we're in now, it was almost a physical reaction for us both. We viewed it and as we drove away, I could so clearly picture how we would live there, even down to the golden retriever that would sit at the doorstep.

We now have the golden retriever.

GMOOH2023 · 15/03/2023 15:03

We've just had an offer accepted on a property.

We had only viewed one other. We weren't actually intending to do any viewings at all on that trip - just checking out locations as we are moving back to the UK.

This one is smaller than we had envisaged, and significantly under budget but we both just knew that it was the right one and made an offer an hour after viewing.

It's absolutely the "right" house for us.

If it all falls through then we will struggle massively to find anything anywhere near comparable and I will cry - a lot.

Echobelly · 15/03/2023 15:08

It wasn't The One really, but when our first choice fell through it was still on the market, it was on the street we were already in, which we liked a lot despite the terrible parking, and it was the only other place that had the space we wanted. It needed a lot of updating works but we quite liked the idea of really making it ours by changing the layout, which we did.

Kentlassie · 15/03/2023 15:17

I knew as soon as I walked in. We didn’t make an offer as it had lots of steps at the front which were impractical for disabled dd. 18 months later it came back on the market and we made an offer without viewing it.

Irishka2022 · 15/03/2023 15:49

I just bought my first home on my own last Dec, just before Xmas! So happy there and never had any doubts before or after moving in. I did so many viewings and none of the houses gave me a warm feeling as this one on the first viewing, i remember feeling just relaxed when i walked on the street and was standing outside looking at the house. During viewing i constantly was thinking what i like and what i would change and felt exited for the first time imaging my belonging in the house itself. I never felt anything towards any other properties i saw so i made an offer on same day. Its hard to explain but i would say - imagine yourself in this house in 5 years with all the things you wanted to have and decorate and see what you feel. Its normal to keep looking at other properties also i still looked at new houses after i moved in but i consider myself very lucky as i felt i still chosen the best house and nothing that i have seen so far come even close to mine. Wishing you best of luck and hope you find dream house! Feel free to reach out to talk more in detail.

BarrelOfOtters · 16/03/2023 08:25

First house on my own…was literally the only one I could afford in the location I needed that wasn’t completely crappy. Still own it and now rent it out. Head decision. But I grew to love it….with all its issues.

went viewing houses with newly divorced new partner, who was still living with his ex. Walked in and said ‘buy it’, met his parents For the first time who had also turned up and said ‘buy it’. I moved in 3 years later, lovely house, now friends with his ex, and we’ve been married years…. It felt light, bright and all the hard stuff had been done.

most recent house, we were moving to get away from new noisy neighbours, to get off street parking and a garden. We looked at a lot, partly as dh was resistant to moving. Estate agent at our last disappointing viewing said he’d just valued one we might like. Looked at it 2 hours later, offered on drive home. We walked in and while it ticked all our boxes it also just felt right. It felt like home.

Stemgenius · 16/03/2023 08:32

I don't think "the one" exists

I'm an architect so usually pragmatic about houses and yet I cried when I walked through this current house. I just stood in the porch and cried (then the owner cried!). And made a verbal offer.

I had never done that before 😂 it was quite embarrassing! The estate agent just stared at us like "help! Get me out of here!"

Anyway, 2 years on and it's A PAIN IN THE ASS and we're looking to move again. Sometimes those emotions you feel are just relief that you found something liveable.

DanceMonster · 16/03/2023 08:37

I don’t think ‘the one’ is really a concept that exists with regards to housing is it? Most people buy the house that suits them best within their price range. There is almost always a compromise.
We bought our house because it was in the right location with the number of bedrooms we needed and it had a layout that we could work with. That’s it really. 5 years later we’re still here and it still suits us for the moment. It isn’t my dream home, but then we can’t afford our dream home.

BuildingAShepherdsHut · 16/03/2023 08:38

My house is a terrace in a row of identikit terraces. I viewed dozens of them. I walked into ours and just knew within seconds. It was not the nicest, or the most done up, it was just a feeling.

Have never regretted it.

WhenisitmyturntobePM · 16/03/2023 08:41

I feel like even if our offer is accepted I probably won't stop trawling right move just in case something better comes up.

If you do this you’re screwing with the lives and finances of everyone in the chain. It’s a dick move. Please be sure or walk away.

Sagittarius25 · 16/03/2023 08:45

I did have the literal moment of walking around it and thinking 'this is it'. Also walking around it thinking ok we can do that job, DIY this and that, we will need to get X in to do that job, but all with a positive 'yes we can do this' mindset. Rather than, 'oh god it needs X, Y and Z doing'.

We knew so much that it was the one that we immediately tried to ring the estate agents to offer when we got home from the viewing but they had already closed for the day.

AndrexPuppy · 16/03/2023 08:58

I didn’t, it was big enough, in the right place and I liked it but didn’t love it. It took me about 5yrs to actually love it and that was after a lot of work internally and externally. We’ve been here 20ish yrs now and will probably move in the next 5yrs. I’ll be sad to go.

Spendonsend · 16/03/2023 09:05

I'm a bit clinical about houses. It was in the right location, with most of the things we wanted like a garden, parking space and in our budget. Its not perfect but every house is a compromise. We decorated it and put our things on it and now it feels like home. I suppose my least clinical thing is I dont like low celings and small windows so I would have a 'feeling' in those houses and wouldnt buy them.

Lablover678 · 16/03/2023 09:44

When we walked into it and thought "wow" and it made the 20-odd houses we had looked at previously seem dull as dishwater.

And then 20 mins later when we walked around the area and along the river. 2 years in and even though we're still youngish, I can't imagine ever wanting to leave.

ifIwerenotanandroid · 16/03/2023 09:56

We'd been looking for two years when we finally found 'the one'. And like the OP, we'd rejected it on paper (no internet in those days) because it's an odd layout in terms of position & rooms, & so it didn't come across well in the estate agent's description.

But it had everything we were looking for (nice location, garage & off-road parking, as many reception rooms as bedrooms, etc), so when we got the same details through a second time, we went to see it. It was when we walked from the lounge into the dining room that I fell in love with it, because that room has big patio doors overlooking the back garden which has two mature pine trees in it. That did it for me. The whole house felt comfy, somehow. Other houses had been lovely but impractical, or just a huge turn-off as soon as we walked through the front door.

We're still here, so we made the right decision. As time has gone on, we've felt a few 'if only's about the house, eg if only the kitchen was bigger, if only there was more storage space, if only we could just push every wall out by a couple of feet. But we got it right. I hope you have too, OP.

Notyetthere · 16/03/2023 09:58

MollyRover · 15/03/2023 10:55

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

Ha! This was me in my previous house. I was composed in the whole process when we viewed previous houses. We had even made offers on a house that ticked all the boxes but we were sensible but when I saw the one, all sense went out the window.

Thepossibility · 16/03/2023 10:34

It came up right near the school we wanted.
We'd just got a great price for our previous house so could afford nicer than we'd ever dreamed we could.
It has heaps of parks around and and much nicer neighbourhood for the kids.
And nothing needed to be done! That was so important because we had to do so much work on the old house, ugh never again.

TheNoonBell · 16/03/2023 12:30

We both fell in love with the rightmove listing. Viewed 3 days after it came on and it was even nicer in real life than on the photos. We looked at each other and said it must be ours.

Made an offer on the spot to the owner who directed us to the EA, then outbid someone else's offer as nothing was going to stop us getting it.

Several years on I still pinch myself every day as it doesn't seem real. Still very much in love with the property.

topofbighill · 16/03/2023 22:12

Lcb123 · 15/03/2023 10:59

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

Agree.

I bought the house I'm in because the one I tried to buy for 12 months fell through.
Luckily I love it, but I'd have loved the other one too.

IhearyouClemFandango · 16/03/2023 22:15

Because I saw it from the road 😂

I must have driven past it numerous times over the years, but all of a sudden there it was. Under offer and over priced. But a fair few months later it came back on, I viewed it a few times without dh. Too small and very dated, but just perfect nonetheless. Dh not convinced to begin with but gave it/me the benefit of the doubt.

As soon as we moved in he felt it though, it has always felt like part of the family. Now much extended but the character and feel is the same, and the plot/location is perfect

Puppytrashedmysofa · 16/03/2023 22:24

It was the one.Now we are leaving it.I envy people that stay for 50+ years.We have to move every 10 years , nothing will ever replace it.

Seaitoverthere · 16/03/2023 23:24

We have had an offer accepted on house number 5 and hopefully this is our last house. DH wasn’t keen on viewing, it was out of our budget with the work that needs doing but agent said put in an offer to reflect the work after second viewing. I loved it walking in through the door and had a feeling we are meant to live there which I had with the others we have bought but very strong with this one.

Usually we find somewhere quite quickly but this house is number 16 since last year. Taking adult children to see it this weekend and hope they love it too.

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