Is it normal to settle for a home you don't like?

[Namedrop000]

We're FTBs. We've been patiently saving for many years for our first home. But there's just nothing on the market at the moment? The places we've seen fit none of our (pretty modest!) needs, and have been in terrible condition. We don't have the cash for big renovations.

We've been looking for about a year and prices are going up, so I think we just need to buy something we don't even like just as a stopgap so we're on the ladder, and have somewhere to live. Is this normal? We were hoping to buy a very long term home that we actually had a fairly good feeling about, but seems like that's unrealistic.

I find it hard to stomach spending 400k+ on something I don't even like or care about and would be embarrassed to invite friends or family over to.

Lets just have a bit of a reality check. @Namedrop000 has a budget that is over £100K higher than the average house price in this country. She won't buy a pebbledashed house or one that requires her to drive and she wants to live in the SE. All she needs to do to afford a property is to accept her requirements are not achievable within her budget and compromise on either house or location. Or keep renting.

And lets not slag off the older generations because the reality is most of us are living in houses that would sell for less than her FTB budget.

I grew up in Basildon. Say no more 😂

For £400k,you can get a perfectly decent 3 bed semi in nice areas in Crawley. ...yes,they do exist! Around Three Bridges, good train links,or East grinstead.

Hi
i think is part of the human trappings of house buying…we had a fairly decent budget but I kept looking at houses out of budget which would be ‘perfect’ and finding fault with everything we could afford. You won’t find your perfect home unless you build it yourself: there is always something to sacrifice.

I empathise with anyone trying to buy these days…
I bought my first house at 21, when me and my partner at the time separated 5 years later the house had literally doubled in value!! It’s madness! (Also live in South East)Then in the last 20 years since owning my second house the prices have probably almost doubled again… I have absolutely no idea how any young people afford property these days!

But to answer your question, I’d probably get my foot on the property ladder … I’d be choosing something that is structurally sound… the places you mention (old people passing and property on market) is likely in need of things like double glazing / central heating maybe?? Are these things you can do once in overtime? Or are they full of bigger issues?

I don't know anyone whose first owned home was ideal.

I think you define non-negotiables - number of bedrooms, basically dry, sound and warm, and in the appropriate area for cycling & walking.

What it looks like and whether it has pebbledash are pretty irrelevant.

Then improve the decor as you go. This makes you love your home more and helps with resale value so next time you buy, you'll get a bit closer to what you really like. And you learn lots about house maintenance with your first purchase.

My first one had a wrecked kitchen, gold-sprayed bedroom 😳 and a garden that was hip-deep in weeds. But it was convenient, solidly built, with decent sized rooms and plenty of light. It took two years to sort out but gave me something to do while I was too skint to go out socialising. 🙂

OP, to answer your question, yes. Your first house now probably isn’t a dream home, unless you’ve got a significant deposit to start you off.

I would also hazard a number of the older posters who saying they were buying less than perfect first properties were doing so in the days of 100% mortgages which meant they had some wiggle room to do repairs and make some improvements and then ultimately equity which would enable them to move up the ladder.

It’s not like that anymore and it’s very difficult. I was a first time home owner in my 40s and it was only due to a completely unexpected inheritance I was able to buy a tiny two bed in the area I needed to be in which the average house was a 3 or 4 bed detached.

I Earned too much to qualify for affordable housing but not enough to afford to save a lot on my own and pay modest rent. It’s a really difficult space to be in. Before the inheritance, my small savings pot was always just not enough to get on the ladder - I’d need just another couple of years saving but by the time I reached the target, the prices had shot up.

I think if you want to own where you live, you’re going to have to make compromises. I know it’s difficult to decide what to compromise on. I really do. Particularly when you know it’s unlikely you’re going to be able to afford to move. It’s not nice and it’s not fair, and I feel sorry for you and others who are in the same boat.

My SO and I recently got an offer on a house accepted.

We've been looking for the past few months after accepting an offer on our flat.

Thought I would impart some takeaways from the experience..

Ultimately, we found you 'can't win'. We're second time buyers, but moving from a 2 bed flat to a 4 bed house isn't far of being a first time buyer!

The nicest areas had houses in poor conditions but in our opinion weren't sufficiently discounted to make it worthwhile. Or homes that were really small but we could see ourselves growing out of quickly.

In the end we found a decent house with a nice facade in a 'good enough' area that is perfectly done up (was done 10years ago) albeit we can / would like to make some enhancements. With a 4month old baby we wanted somewhere that was more or less good to go. We think the house will at least hold its value lon term although some value can still be added.

Our compromise was in essence a smaller garden. But based on everything else we saw this one came out on top. In the end house-hunting is less about 'finding the dream house', and more about 'what are you prepared' to deal with and compromise on.

I think a lot of searching for houses is about getting a good sense if the house in question is good value. You only know the real value of a house once you've seen enough other houses as a comparison. Hence, keep looking. Eventually you'll find somewhere that other prospective buyers haven't pounced on because they still don't know how well this house stacks up to others, whilst you do!

We spent enough time in the market looking at properties to feel we were getting a good deal based on the other options out there essientally. It's pretty much always that way.