Think I have PTSD from the property market

[Wentie]

Firstly, light hearted, Not meaning to be offensive or flippant with use of PTSD

however, we have had a hideous time trying to upsize over the last 5 years. It’s just been awful and so stressful.

had 5 houses fall through. 4 due to the vendors pulling out for various reasons (ranging from changing their minds, to reading they don’t actually own the garden they were trying to sell etc), the other we lost our buyer far down the line. Had a hideous time trying to sell our house as unfortunately it’s now surrounded by building development that’s dragging on and has massively reduced our property value (was fields before)

it’s just been awful. We’ve lost a far amount of money as our house has dropped in value whilst the ones we are trying to buy have skyrocketed

house prices now 100+% plus MORE expensive than they were when we started. (Eg in 2017 house would have been £400 now £900 k)

we need to upsize and a reasonably priced and sized property that I like has come up within budget. I just don’t know if I can face it all again.

@ Noras - I'm so sorry you've been through all that. I am so triggered by the PTSD that I felt the tears welling up as I was reading your post .

Bloody hell, it’s not a competition. Op has apologised and is going to change the title.

its crazy

We've decided that next time we decide to sell, we'll be going into rented, advertising the house as chain-free, and refuse to look at what to buy until we've exchanged contracts. Hoping this will cut the heartbreak in half.

Some people really need to settle down on this thread.

I've had PTSD and I don't care that OP is using it in her own way as she feels it describes the difficulties she's had - I think it's obvious what she means when she said it.

It sounds awful and I'm sorry, I don't really have much to say other than it sounds incredibly stressful. Can I ask why your house hasn't gone up in value when others have - does it lack certain desirable features or something? You can never game the housing market to be honest, people who say they did were just lucky and bought and sold at the right times.

@Dotto we considered this but the property market locally is still rising, we are terrified of selling and then being priced out. If the market was more stable I think we would definitely do this

@Wentie this sounds really really stressful.
I'm so sorry for how rude everyone is being to you.

Point made. I don't know how many more people will feel like they have to come on here to insult you.

@beezlebubnicky thank you

i think what I wanted with this thread was somewhere to moan / vent about how stressful it is - and how I genuinely do actually feel tangible anxiety from it. It’s keeping me up at night, making me feel sick, I’ve lost weight because I don’t want to eat.

People might think “I’m moaning about not getting my house” like boohoo, but it’s not that. I’m absolutely gutted and horrified that there is a gap of several hundred thousand that may well have been thrown down the drain.

@wentie Just think before you post what you say. That's all. I hope you find your lovely house.

Does it not rise roughly by the rate of inflation, and you could poss get that same rise with your equity in savings accounts? And you may snag a better deal being chain-free when buying.

But it's never easy or pleasant no matter what you do..

@Wentie are you so tone deaf about other serious mental illnesses?

@ Wentie. I'm a mental health professional... So?

@beezlebubnicky good question about our house, I am trying to figure it out myself!

I think several reasons
-firstly it needed a complete renovation - basically everything - so we have spent about £100k on it which I don’t think we will break even.
-secondly it was edge of village, surrounded by fields and lovely views when we bought. It’s now completely surrounded by cheap estates, and has become the ‘cheap’ end of the village.
-lastly I think because it’s not quite big enough to be a proper family home, which as we were naive FTBs we didn’t quite realise

Point made. I don't know how many more people will feel like they have to come on here to insult you.

They will keep coming. Nothing better to do, maybe they haven’t got Netflix 🤷🏻‍♀️

so….?

I'm a mental health professional... So?

So stop acting like a eejit!

That sounds awful. I’m sorry for you I can’t even imagine how you had the reserve energy or mental stamina to cope with half of that.

To be fair that sounds horrendously stressful, especially with the amount of money it sounds like you've plugged into it. Not everything is directly comparable and for moving house that definitely sounds like the upper end of stress inducing house moves.

@Nuggetnuggety

You stop acting like you know it all. You're horrid. Going out now so I will leave the 'property PTSD' ers'.

Calling a PTSD diagnosis from traumatic birth "convenient" isn't exactly gracious either so let's all agree no-one is the winner.

@Wentie we moved in 2022 and the market was crazy. Super stressful & we didn’t have anything fall through. We had already sold which made it easier. I’m not sure I ever want to do it again.

You stop acting like you know it all. You're horrid. Going out now so I will leave the 'property PTSD' ers'.

You don’t do irony do you? Run along now.

I know you said extending the house still wouldn't turn it into a proper size family home but if it comes to it, could you extend and still enjoy life in it?
Even if the end result wouldn't be as big as big as what you envisioned for your forever house.

Oh bog off. Stop derailing. Find something else to do would you