Advice on whether I’ve made a terrible financial decision!

[EmeraldSunnset]

Hi, hoping for some perspective here.

15 years ago I bought a house for £200k. I know I slightly overpaid at the time as there was a lot of interest in it and I really wanted it and it absolutely suited me down to the ground so I was prepared to do that and I don’t regret that.

Over the years I would guess I’ve spent £40k on various improvements (all small things like new windows, a porch, floors, driveway etc etc).

15 years later I am ready to move on and found the perfect house. After 4 months on the market and several price reductions, I have accepted an offer for £275k, much lower than I was hoping for and with all that I’ve spent on it, I’ve only really made around £30k in 15 years. However I am ok with that as I believe I am getting the house I’m moving on to for less than it could be worth too. I thought it was just the current market and was feeling ok about it. I live in Dorset so very sought after area if that is relevant.

Here is what’s thrown me! My house is a semi and my neighbours have the mirror image house. If anything my house is slightly better now with a porch and new floors. Undoubtedly though they have a much better outside space, an amazing garden which is double the size and beautifully landscaped, a large outbuilding which could be a brilliant workshop/ home office or even converted to a granny annex or something, several sheds, a car port, stables and a very fancy pond with fancy fish in it. My outside space is a slightly messy garden with a falling down shed.

Well theirs has gone on the market and sold within a few weeks for £440k, so £165k more than mine. Is the extra outside space and buildings worth that much more?! Or should I have tried much harder to get a better price for mine? I’d be so grateful for perspective as I’m struggling here! Thank you very much

I should add that my sale/ purchase is in the latter stages with the solicitors so pretty immoral to pull out now unless I really have a good reason

I guess it is worth that much more as someone was willing to pay it.

Well it might be immoral but it happened to us and most people said to us that they understood why the vendors did it. They then built an extension and got £180k more than they were selling to us for because they saw what a neighbours house made when prices boomed in about 2021. You do have to make the right financial decision for you. Why don’t you get their agent around. You may not sell easily again though. It’s a risk.

We’re currently house hunting and would be happy to pay more if the garden is larger, needs less work, already has a garden office etc.

Doing the work ourself is a lot of faff so we’re happy to pay a premium to someone who has already done the work

Thank you, i appreciate these replies and they’re all really helpful.

Thanks, that makes sense, but when you say premium, £165k for the same house but better outside space including outbuildings? Would you pay that much more? I’m hoping you say yes because I want to be at peace with my decision!

Had similar when I sold mine 3yrs ago. I bought it 15yrs before for £95k, spent at least £35k on it and sold for £125k 😑.
My neighbours sold for much more despite not having an extension and their garden was just a yard at the front and back garden was fully taken up with a garage. I had lovely gardens front, side and rear plus secure wrought iron gates and railings.

It took months to sell as the buyer couldn't sell theirs and I so wish I'd taken it off the market and waited 6mths. My neighbours waited for mine to start going through and went on the market. They sold within days.

That’s a huge increase and on identical houses a garden and outbuilding can’t possibly warrant a 66% increase in value

you garden must already be pretty big if they have stables on theirs and yours is half the size.

I’d honestly be chatting to the estate agent and would take the view that not accepting a significant financial loss doesn’t make you morally bad.

Your properties are not remotely comparable by the sounds of it.

Extra buildings, sheds, land, ponds - just how much more land are they selling with the house?

I suppose it also depends what condition the outbuildings are in. My house has stables that the seller insisted were worth £60k but they're a bag of shit and completely knackered. In our opinion they reduce the value of the house as it would cost a fortune to remove them and the huge slabs of concrete they sit on.
However, if you neighbour has enough land to have a horse stabled there, that is worth a lot to someone as that is a fairly low price for an 'equestrian property' (which mine was marketed as, despite having no land 🙄).

Thank you so much. My garden is something like 0.2 acre but is on a slope. Theirs is getting on for 0.5 acres and is flat and beautifully landscaped plus the outbuildings as mentioned. I guess some of it is luck. I’m not a very lucky person!

They have 0.5 acres compared to my 0.2 but they rented a field behind both our houses for the horses.

Thank you. No land but options to rent land behind. I think the outbuildings are in good condition. I had no idea stables were worth that much so that helps thank you!

Half an acre of highly usable land with existing buildings which demonstrate planning permission is viable would be valuable.

How usable are your 0.2 acres of garden? Is it a minor slope of no consequence or would it require digging out and retaining walls to make it functional?

I think you're comparing apples and pears tbh.

Thanks, very helpful. I have a large flat patio, then a big slope which I guess some people might want to dig and terrace but I haven’t bothered, it’s just a bit hard work to mow. Then a flat lawn at the top which I sit on with nice views and a field and woods behind so it’s definitely usable but also definitely not as nice as neighbours if that makes sense!

The stables and the field to rent would be a big plus for many.

Thanks. The field to rent is by no means definite but I can see that. Although mine backs onto the same field so that potential opportunity exists for my property too (minus stables of course)

A steep slope garden would be an issue for many people. Very off putting for families with small children.

Sometimes it's not about the properties, it's about the people buying. Maybe your neighbours' buyers are overpaying? I've lived in streets where people unfamiliar with the area and its prices have moved in and overpaid (in one case I can remember, by a very large amount), usually because they've come from somewhere more expensive, their expectations are anchored to those higher prices, they can afford to pay them, and they don't do enough research on comparable prices in the area they're moving to. So it might just be fluke that someone like that came along for your neighbours, and if you were to put your house back on the market it's unlikely that you'd strike lucky with a similarly uninformed buyer.

Why not ask for it to be revalued?

DSis house increased by £50K between offer and selling 9 months later - and ‘she did the decent thing’ and accepted the offer. She should’ve pulled out and resold.

How long would it take you to earn the extra money??

How much interest would you save?

Id be asking questions.

I think if you struggled to sell yours then the price was as good as you’d get. Your neighbours buyers might value the extras and that is why they’ve agreed on that asking price. However if it’s overpriced then it will get knocked by the survey.

I'd pay the extra for the outbuildings and land, which is what I've actually done. I've looked at similar houses, possibly nicer and cheaper but without the land and outbuildings. If people can afford it, they'll take the extra space over a smaller plot. Over the years you can improve the interior of the house and maybe expand/convert the outbuildings - that's what I'm thinking.
I don't think you should compare. If you've made money since you purchased then you've done OK.

Thank you so much for everyone taking the time to reply. It means a lot as in real life it’s just me and I got myself into a panic that I’m doing a stupid thing and i just really needed to hear different perspectives.

What I’m taking away is that the extra land and buildings could be worth that much extra to some people and the neighbours might have just struck lucky. Possibly these buyers are overpaying (they are from London so it’s definitely possible as @TheRoseTurtle pointed out so well.

It would be risky for me to re market mine as I might lose the house I am buying. But I might consider getting it re-valued by the same EA as my neighbours and just see what they say.

It'll be the stables - people either want stables or don't, but those that do will pay a premium for them. It seems to EA knew how to market stables to the right people.

This is insane. No way would I be accepting of this.

Can you send a link to the two properties?