Buying a house you dont like

[wonderings2]

We exchanged yesterday so nothing I can do now just looking for reassurance or anyone in the same position.

After several attempts over the past few years we have finally sold our house and found one to buy in the village DD goes to school. Its the only house that has come up for sale in the last 9 months that has been close to our budget and the size we need.

I feel like a brat but we've been in our current house 15 years and I thought we'd be moving to something that I loved rather than something that "will do"

Positives:

• Its closer to DD's school so the school run (which I do) will be a 2 minute walk instead of driving, getting parked etc. so will save me an hour a day.
• Its well within our budget so we have a manageable mortgage and will be able to extend and convert the space (its one of the few houses on the street that hasn't ben extended)
• We'll be gaining a bedroom, garage and dining room.
• Good secondary schools (secondary school in our area is on special measures)

Negatives:

• Awful garden, no bigger than we have now but just slabs and gravel (I love gardening and our current garden is lovely)
• Naff floors and carpets
• Dated kitchen
• There's noting wrong with it really, its just a non descript 70's semi - I just wanted something older with a bit of character and a big garden, this is the exact opposite of what I wanted.

Im being stupid aren't I?

Realistically we should be able to move in 5 years time and DH has promised it will be to somewhere we love - has anyone else done this and just sat it out? We really need to move now as we're so short on space and I really don't want to send DD to the local secondary school where we are?

Great! Opportunity to create a whole new garden. Well within your budget, so replace the flooring.

It sounds like all the things you don’t like about it are cosmetic and fairly easy to change in time. Location is the one thing you can’t change and that is a huge improvement on what you had!

Yeah I feel similarly about our current. Never loved it, we just bought it because it had the right number of rooms in the right configuration and was in the right area! We needed to buy before the primary school application deadline and this was the only one that fit the bill.
We’ve lived here 6 years now and are planning to move soon. It’s served us well really but I won’t be sorry to leave!

Change your view on some of the negatives..

If you are a keen Gardener then you have a blank canvass to create your perfect garden.

Naff floors and carpets
Dated kitchen
Is it in budget to get these changed? If not what low cost decorations can you do?

Sounds like you got the location location location. So now you need to look at how to make it your home.

Negatives:

• Awful garden, no bigger than we have now but just slabs and gravel (I love gardening and our current garden is lovely) this would be a problem if you hated gardening, sure, but you love it! Use your extra hour a day on that
• Naff floors and carpets under budget so you can change
• Dated kitchen you get to pick your own new!
• There's noting wrong with it really, its just a non descript 70's semi - I just wanted something older with a bit of character and a big garden, this is the exact opposite of what I wanted. having lived in both, older may be prettier but it’s more stressful - uneven angles, tiny windows, beams etc!

We are in exactly the same position. Limited inventory and we needed to be within the school district boundaries before the application deadline. We left what I thought was my "forever home" which was perfect for entertaining, to one which is "ok but nothing special." It feels very much like a step down.

That said, the school district is streets ahead of the one we left, and the neighborhood is safer. I'm chalking this one up to an example of maternal sacrifice! My youngest will be heading to college in 8 years. The day after he leaves we'll have the For Sale sign out!

We have recently moved into a house I don’t love. The chain for the house we loved collapsed so it seems even worse to have had to settle. The main negative is I know we won’t stay that many years so will Habe the stress again.

I totally get that you aren’t excited about the new house. You obviously made the right decision though and your quality of life will be great with more time, less driving, affordable home.
I’ve got a feeling you’re going to love it, because you will be creating it yourselves. Your own garden, your own vibe. Time to start looking at garden designs and decide what colour kitchen you want!

Garden floors and kitchen are all things you can fix !

Do you have the budget for an epic makeover? Love this one I came across recently:

I disliked a lot about our present house. Two years on and a bit of money thrownat it and I love that it’s just how we want it. We did get a bigger garden though so that box was ticked for us.

The same happened to me. I was hell
bent on a bungalow in our villiage. It was at the top of our budget range and needed everything replacing and it would have taken us ages to save up and renovate. My DH loved the bungalow but couldn’t see past all the work we needed to do.

We ended up buying a 60’s semi. That didnt need that much work. He loves it, me not so much. We’ve been here 20 years now, we’ve done everything we possibly can to it.

It’s on a quiet road, there are shops and schools nearby, the doctors is a five minute walk away. It has everything going for it, but it’s not that bungalow I fell in love with, and still speak to my DH whistfully about.

Im just used to living here now, it’s a slow acceptance. If we ever came into a huge amount of money (very unlikely). I’ll be looking at bungalows again.

Make sure that when you start to do your house up, you do it up and decorate with things that make you happy. We had a new kitchen put in and I didn’t compromise on anything. If I was living in a house I wasn’t keen on then I was going to have things inside I was keen on!

I totally get where you are coming from OP. You can make it work, and if you can’t then sell up and move on (if it’s viable). Good luck

You have the money to change those things! Get the paving up asap, top soil delivered and plant some bare rose things this winter. And spring bulbs- rewards immediately.
We've lived in a project house for 3 years now, it's a bit depressing, but location is so good. And now we're renovating and choosing floors, kitchen, bathrooms etc, it's fun to chose what we actually want.

Get an architect lined up too asap! It's worth it to be where you want.

In life you can either see problems, or opportunities.

It’s not quite the same as a 1970’s semi though is it, OP wants a character house so I doubt she would find this inspiring, probably make her feel worse!

@Traceysgoingtobelivid Ah yes, very off brief! OP, are there any similar houses on Rightmove/Zoopla in the area for interiors and garden inspiration?

Have a nosy on Zoopla (house prices bit) to see how your neighbours have extended/updated and done their garden. For inspiration.

I lived in a ‘meh’ house for 5 years, then moved to an ‘it’s love’ house for 5 more and just bought another old/ love it house now BUT I often feel nostalgic for the time we were in the ‘meh’ house. It was spacious and functional and I enjoyed playing around with decor etc because it was quite low stakes as we always knew we’d move. In the ‘I love it’ houses I get so stressed trying to choose perfect stuff and get everything right! And while I love old houses and am happy with our choices, they are certainly more work and expensive. Your time will come, enjoy not having so much pressure. Oh and also 1970s houses can be really cool. They are period houses waiting to happen IMHO.

Being near school and in the right catchment for secondary is so important. You know that you made the right choice!

OP I could almost have written that. We completed last Friday. I am trying to be cheerful and think about what I can do to make something positive of the situation. But I agree with you, it's hard when it's just a "this will do" house.

Thank you for all the replies, sorry I've been up to my ears in packing.

Youve all made me feel much better, we do have the budget to make some changes and make it our ow and just a few days of doing the school run by car have reminded how much easier its going to be when its a 2 minute walk.

We move on Tuesday and as soon as we're in an unpacked I'll get started decorating 😁

It sounds like nothing that can’t be fixed and because you’ve sensibly not overstretched yourselves, you should be able to make it lovely. And that hour a day saved? That’s invaluable.

Living so close to school is awesome, and saves so much time!
I have a very love hate relationship with my house, but slowly as we're able to fix it up I love it more. I still get wistful thoughts of one day downsizing to something nice and modern (give me efficiency over character any day, lol) but I wouldn't bother to move to another family home now. Getting the kitchen done (and stuffing the all the holes behind the units with wire wool) was a big step forwards for me.
Good luck with the move!

I think you can do alot with your new house! A new kitchen, dig the slabs up and I think it will feel different!

If you can spare a few grand get an interior designer in. They can work up mood boards and shopping lists for you room by room. It can totally transform a house

That's what we've done for our "meh" house and I'm really excited to get cracking with the work. With her input I can see It's going to be 😍 Plus she gets various discounts which she's going to pass on to us which will help cover a lot of the cost of her input.