Almost 2 years. Still can't find a house.

[Jooolz1]

DP and I accepted offer on our house June 21, completed Sep 21 and moved in to rented. Thought it would take 6 months to find a house. Looking for our forever home. as don't want to move again. There are certain things we can't compromise on and some we can.Search area is large but quite rural. We have 70% deposit and ready to go.
We are buying 90 miles away from where we live now and have been outbid 3 times and pulled out of one due to costly damp issues found on survey.
Now feeling very frustrated so we are considering 2 houses even though neither is really what we wanted but there's very little else on.
One is on edge of a village and is good house but has road noise. Other has no road noise but everything needs doing and neighbours extension blocks light to the only place we could add a sun room - which is a must have. Would you go for one of these or wait longer for the right house to come along?

Sort of true. Probably max premium bonds x2 for tax free returns. So about £275 on average per month.

Then say £200k in a 120 day notice account at 3.5%. So £7k. But split between two, £5k would be taxable, right?

But true you could be getting maybe £800 per month? Would take the sting out of renting.

(on a £300k deposit example)

No, not in Scotland. All 3 went to best and final offers. There was a 4th where we did have the offer accepted but we didn't proceed. I mentioned it earlier in this thread.

14 viewings in two years isn’t enough. We’ve been looking for a week and have seen four already. None of which ticked all our boxes online but you have to actually view them to count them out.

It’s something they say on Location all the time but it’s absolutely true. People are too quick to count out a property because it doesn’t appear to be what they want online. Within reason, ie don’t go looking at flats if you want a house, you just need to go out and see more houses.

Can you tell us your budget, must haves and how far you're willing to travel?

That's madness. We viewed 4. Offered on the 3rd viewing and the offer was accepted then the seller went silent for a month so we pulled out (they still haven't sold). Viewed the 4th and loved it even though it was very different and needed a lot of work. It sounds like you actually need to be pickier in what you view.

Well it’s probably dependent on the area you are looking in, what stock is available in your price range, and what you are and aren’t willing to compromise on.

Four in one week isn’t madness if you’re quite flexible on certain things and just starting the search. For us we won’t compromise on location or plot size. Other than that we will see anything that’s got a minimum of 3 bedrooms. The market we are looking in is very competitive so we need to be open minded.

Four in a week might be too many for some (we don’t actually have any others to go and see at the moment) but 14 in 2 years just simply isn’t enough.

Any reason why you're only focusing on the coast side? Do you want to be literally on the coast? There's some amazing villages in East Yorkshire with plenty for sale at the minute.

Personally Id' rather be nearer inland near Beverley.

Do you know the area well?

We don't want to be more than 15 minutes from the coast by car. Its part of our reason for wanting to move there. We know the area I mentioned in an earlier post very well. Been going over regularly since 2019.

When we decided back then, we could have had our wish list with bells on for our budget. It just wasnt the right time. Then covid happened and prices went rocketing.

I can't tell you my budget now unfortunately. I posted that we had 70% deposit at the beginning and i dont want our financial position outlined on MN.

Fair enough @Jooolz1, just thought we might be able to help

I know and am very grateful.

Have you thought about going on Location, Location, Location?

I would rule out the noisy house - I thrive on fresh air and most of the year keep the bedroom windows open, so even quintuple glazing wouldn't help with that.

I might consider taking another look at the missing sunroom place, if I could get a really good creative architect to tag along for another look. In the experience of family members who did just that in similar circumstances, an experienced professional- not a builder ! - will often spot solutions that would never have occurred to them on their own.

Why are you renting 90 miles from where you want to start your new life? Can you not move nearer and be on the spot to look at anything that comes up?

Have you considered dropping your budget and looking at proper do-er uppers? You'll have the money to do it and you can make the house exactly what you want (subject to planning permission).

If it helps we bought on a main road last year because we absolutely love the house. I was worried about the road noise but genuinely don't really notice it very much, I'm quite sensitive to noise and a light sleeper! you quickly get used to it and adjust I think.