Move to a property I’m not 100% on?

[Lostat42]

We’ve been forced to put our house on the market due to the house next door being turned into an 8 room HMO.

We’ve been in the house 5 years, we’ve loved the house and have been quite lucky as we haven’t really had to spend much on it due to the previous owner doing a lot of work.

However, it was never a forever home….its a terrace with no parking and just a small yard, plus the area is not great…it up and coming, but not the best of areas. So selling was always on the cards, but the HMO situation has forced our hand.

We’ve accepted a good offer on ours (and they are fully aware of the HMO) which had free’d up £125K as a deposit on a new house.

The problem is, we’ve really struggled to find somewhere, demand where we are (Stockport) is really high, and despite offering on several properties (some 15K - 20K) over, we’ve not had much luck.

That said, we’ve had an offer accepted on a 3-bed semi, with a garden and parking, in a much better area (albeit slightly further out than I’d want) but 1) it’s all so much more expensive 2) I just don’t love it.

Despite the big deposit, our mortgage is increasing by £450 a month, and it will need 20-30K spending in it to get it where we want it (I have around 70K in savings so between us we could get it done over the years).

Plus, it lacks the period features our current house has, and some of the rooms are not as big, to the point where I feel some of our furniture will just not fit!

To add to that, we don’t plan on staying in this part of the country forever (neither of us are from here), so we plan on moving back to the midlands (where I am from) at some point.

I’m just really confused about what to do, I’ve resigned myself to the bigger mortgage and the reno costs, just about, and it’s definitely in a more green area, with a lot of countryside nearby but I just wished I loved the house more. The thing is, we’re so far down the line now that I don’t think we can do anything.

So, do we just take the hit to move away from the area and the looming HMO, and accept I’m going to have to spend a large chunk of my savings to put our stamp on it?

Or do we stay in our house until we find something I love, but dread what’s to come in the next few months as 8 people move in next door?

Renting is an option, but there’s a lot of considerations…..we’re 2 years into a five year fixed, redemption penalties, then there’s monthly rent which will no doubt be similar to our new mortgage payment, and potential storage costs for our furniture.

Has anyone gone through with a house they don’t love, to essentially get them out of a rubbish situation, even if it’s a (costly) short term option?

It doesn’t sound ideal but as it’s just another temporary home I’d buy it. Stockport is very up and coming so it should be a good investment for your midlands place, as long as you’re prepared to put the graft in for the Reno and you’ve priced that correctly?

but I know what you mean. We’re in a mid terrace and the leap to the next property is too much - and the rooms are always smaller than the ones we currently have. Our current plan is to buy next door and have two.

we have no HMOs next door though, all our neighbours are great and I’d miss them a lot. The HMO would definitely make me move. You can hear a pin drop next door - the walls are a single brick thick.

I'd stay where you are, even with the HMO. My son is 28 and a doctor, because of the way he has had to move around the country since he graduated he has only ever lived in HMOs or house shares. He has met some lovely people in the HMOs, all workers like him. It's not necessarily going to be a problem

I think I'd rather risk seeing what the HMO is like than spend a great deal more money moving from one house I don't love to another I not only don't love but have to do up and lose half my savings, with the knowledge that it too won't be a long term home, plus an extra 450 a month to boot.

I guess it really depends on where your heart is, but, for me personally, period features and big rooms mean everything. They make me so happy.

You've got no guarantee that an 8 room HMO is going to be a nightmare, have you?

To me, a nightmare would be the cost of money lost in moving twice and potentially still ending up in a house I don't love (for you: Midlands) because I've spent so much bloody money moving and doing up houses I'm not in the slightest bit emotionally invested in.

The advantage of having it being turned into an HMO rather than, say, split into 3 flats, is that local councils come down far hard on breaches of regulations on HMOs than a lot of other properties. Well, in theory they do, anyway.

>and it’s definitely in a more green area, with a lot of countryside nearby but I just wished I loved the house more

I'm on my third countryside house, and let me tell you, it's no bed of roses. I won't go into a massive rant about all the inconveniences, let me just tell you the first two that pop into my head: a fucking pigeon woke me up flying into my window at 4.45am today - this is a common occurrence as I'm surrounded my mature trees, and I'm currently in the process of writing my second complaint to the power grid about our 14th power cut in the space of 8 months, which are absolutely killing all our electronics.

I think you’re being a bit judgmental of the HMO. Not everyone can afford their own place and it doesn’t mean they are going to be nightmares to live next to! It seems a bit extreme to sell a house you love before you’ve had any experience of what the HMO will be like.

Also, an extra £450 a month in the mortgage and spending all of your savings for somewhere you’re not really keen on? I personally wouldn’t. Have you exchanged yet?

I'm probably not the best person to answer this @Lostat42.

We had to sell my dream home (in the Midlands, coincidentally, where we'd moved from the south coast, having already downsized twice!) because OH wasn't settling there and needed a fresh start. It was a gorgeous Arts & Crafts, detached, 4 bed house with large garden, garage, parking and tons of original features.

Having lost money on the sale, we couldn't afford to move 'home', so bought somewhere more rural with a bit of land, that we hoped to make a quick profit on (it was a repossession in a terrible state) to enable us to do so in a year or two. From day one I hated it - no original features and so isolated. We're not afraid of doing the work (mostly ourselves), but it eventually took six and a half years to complete.

It was then valued higher than we'd hoped by several EAs, but being in a far cheaper part of the UK and the whole 'moving somewhere rural with land' having gone off the boil since the heady pandemic days, we ultimately didn't make as much as we'd hoped.

The price we achieved did enable us to come home to the south coast last Autumn but we couldn't afford the type of house we wanted. In order to secure somewhere here, we bought a Georgian cottage (semi-detached) that had been butchered in the 1960s/70s till absolutely zero original features remain. It does have parking (and a hideous integral garage), but the whole interior needs complete reconfiguring which - even DIY - is costing a not-so-small fortune.

So we now have another house I hate and are having to live on a building site in the hope we can eventually sell this one and buy something nicer. It's a first world problem and I do feel lucky to be back near family (and two minutes walk from the sea!), but I so miss the lovely proportions and features of the house we sold in 2018! Plus I'm so done with renovation projects now and really don't think I can do another long, drawn out one.

That said, my only experience of HMOs is the large house we bought 20+ years ago that had previously been divided into flats and bedsits. When we viewed the property the bedsits in particular looked as if extremely filthy animals had been living there. However, I'm sure it was the exception not the rule!

I think you just have to go with your gut @Lostat42...good luck whatever you decide!

Ah, this is such a tricky situation, and I really feel for you. It sounds like you've handled everything as best as you could, especially with the HMO forcing your hand.
We were in a similar boat last year, moving from a house we loved because of neighbour issues. The place we found was fine but not a dream home, and I wrestled with that feeling of “should we just wait?” when the market felt impossible and the situation at home was getting unbearable.
A few things that helped us decide: 1) We made a list of what the new house gave us that the old one didn’t (peace, more green space, parking), even if the rooms were smaller or the vibe was different. 2) We reminded ourselves it didn’t have to be forever, just a step to improve our day-to-day life while we planned for the next chapter. 3) We were realistic about renovation costs, splitting out what we needed to do quickly versus what could wait, so it didn’t all feel overwhelming.

It sounds like the HMO next door will impact your quality of life quite a bit, and while it’s tough to move to a house you don’t love, you might find you adjust and grow to like it more once it’s yours. Especially if you can make it feel like home bit by bit over time, and know it’s not forever.
One thing we learned the hard way was how easy it is to miss hidden issues when you’re keen to move but not in love with a house. We ended up getting a digital survey to check for things like damp, roof condition, and dodgy windows before offering, which helped us feel more confident about the budget for repairs. Might be worth looking into if you end up continuing your search or need reassurance on this one.

It’s such a tough call, but sometimes making the “practical” move is what gives you breathing room, even if it’s not the forever home dream. Whatever you decide, it will work out, and you’ll look back knowing you made the best call with the options you had. Best of luck! I really feel for you