If you've SSTC and there's nothing to buy, what are doing?

[Wheretoolive]

Was so excited to start viewing but can't find anything that meets my brief: in a safe area; detached; not an enormous house on an estate (I'm on my own). I have the budget but there's nothing on the market for me.

If you're in a similar situation, or have ideas how I manage this situation, it would be good to hear from you.

Crossing our fingers and hoping something will turn up very soon!

TBH we live in a sought after area and have a modest budget. So we are looking for a bit of a dooer upper, but not a whole renovation project. We don't like open plan and all the houses are (looking for a small 3 bed semi).

There's definitely a few more coming onto the market in this last week so I'm feeling more optimistic than a fortnight ago. Looking at a few unlikely houses today.

What are you looking for in terms of specifics, e.g we definitely want a garage

How particular is your brief? We've been helping some friends look around London and they have a healthy budget. There's plenty in all sorts of areas.

Is the area you're looking in mainly settled families who don't move much or is there another reason?

Your brief sounds very broad, so I’m surprised— unless there’s a lot of detail in there that you’d missed out. Like, when you say ‘a safe area’ do you actually have in mind a very specific area? How many bedrooms do you want? You say you don’t want a huge house on an estate, but there are few small detached houses. How important is it that it is detached?

What I suggest you do is go and view a lot of houses that are brief-adjacent. Eg, in a different area than you had imagined, but still safe; semi-detached but not on an estate — get a feel for what you might compromise on for a house perfect in every other way, or even with benefits you’ve not thought of yet.

winewolfhowls
Alchemistress

As I'm on my own I don't need more than two bedrooms but most of the detached houses in the area I want to live are 3/4/5 beds with multiple bathrooms. Would accept 3 bed but anything bigger would lead to empty rooms, unnecessary heating expense etc.

Area I want to buy in has loads of estates consisting of these bigger houses and they dominate the Rightmove listings. There are a few older, quirkier properties but these come on the market far less often and are snapped up quickly. And 2 bed detached houses are practically non existent.

I've previously lived in detached and would be worried about neighbour noise in anything else although appreciate that unattached neighbours can also create issues.

Safe area seems to equal sought after area for which I have the budget if something small existed.

NewFriendlyLadybird
What I suggest you do is go and view a lot of houses that are brief-adjacent
This is good advice - thank you.

It might be worth checking Rightmove to see how many houses that fit your brief have sold over the last year or so. If it seems very unlikely that something will come up, you can then start to think about the compromises you might make.

I took mine off the market last year when I couldn’t find anything to buy. I’m not moving twice/renting, my health isn’t great and I am not up to that.

Back on the market with lots of interest on day two. I will move this year, I will just suck up driving up to ten miles to school and work for a year and have a list of compromises I’m willing to make.

I too want something three beds max without multiple bathrooms.

We moved into rented last time we were in this situation. Gave us much longer to find something suitable. I'd have a chat with your buyers about ideal timescales and see how much time you might have to find something.

Yes I doubt you'll find a 2 bed detached. You often find 2 bed bungalows though. If you're in an area with a traditionally retired population I'd have thought they would be abundant, but a town centre maybe less so.

The Edwardians built a lot of 3 beds where people have subsequently converted the third bedroom to a bathroom so you get 2 decent sized bedrooms and a large bath - is there anything like that near you?

We were downsizing and moving area we had a lot of trouble finding what we wanted but we were very upfront with two lots of buyers that we would not be moving into rental and they would have to wait. We lost one buyer entirely understandably and a second buyer wanted the house and was prepared to wait. The whole process took 18 months we were lucky to be selling in a sought after area so we were just completely honest and it worked out.

I'm dreading being in a similar situation.
I've got a bog-standard house but desirable for the price point, so if it's priced correctly it should hopefully go under offer fairly quickly.

I'm also looking for a detached, I could compromise on this of course but I really really want some privacy and space around me, off-road parking, decent 3 beds and downstairs loo - there are still plenty of detached houses out there without a downstairs loo, or it's in a weird position.

Sunny back garden, garage, no loft extension and walking distance to local amenities, but not on a main road.

Not overlooking fields/potential development plots, as wonderful as that might be short term, there's so much house building going on in my part of the world that it would likely go in the next few years and this is my 'forever' home.

My budget is ok, but I've been browsing RM for a year and only seen 2 I would have offered on.

So many houses seem to have quirks like bedrooms coming off bedrooms which wouldn't work for me. Or they have been done up in a style that I would describe as soulless by a builder/house flipper with grey kitchens etc which aren't my taste, or just in undesirable areas in terms of location, edge of industrial estates or the motorway.

Just hoping the stars align and I sell for the right price and can find a suitable next home for the right price in the same timeframe so I know exactly how you feel!

TBH I feel sick and i'm panicking. My buyer wants to be in before end May due to some tax change that ends 1st June (they'll save £34k), I'm downsizing /divorcing from my home that was on the market for £1.5m in the country, beautiful, lots of land etc, I'll have about £420k to spend and I can't find anything. I've animals so can't rent, I'm stuck, and don't know what to do.