Want to sell house a year after buying

[neverendings]

Has anyone done this without losing thousands?

I bought my first house at the end of last year, and for a few reasons that I won’t bore you with, I want to sell. I’m not happy here and really want a fresh start somewhere new. I’m considering selling and staying with a family member until I figure out my next move.

The market is awful, and a lot of houses in my area aren’t selling for ages. I’ve already put about 11k into the property, and I think I’ll have to pay the mortgage lender to get out early.

Has anyone here sold so soon after buying? What happened? Did you end up losing a lot of money? Was it worth it to be in a happier place? I’m devastated really, this isn’t how I thought it would be.

I was in and out of a house within 11 months once. The house was very nice, but I hated the location and the awful neighbours. It was nearly 25-years-ago, so I can’t give an opinion on the financial implications of doing it now though. That said, life is too short to be miserable if you don’t have to be. Just move on if you can.

Yep, we’ve been here a year and I’d like to move. DH likes it, but I don’t. It won’t be possible, because nothing is selling and we would lose too much money to make it work.

If you can afford to lose the money, then go for it. Cut your losses. I lost money on my first flat for similar reasons but I got over it! You will save a bit if you live with a family member, so hopefully that will make up for it. Good luck!

I haven't done this, no, but no one can answer your question in a way that reassures you anyway because every situation will be different.
Are you absolutely determined to sell? Can you afford to make a significant loss (did you put down a decent deposit)? Hopefully you can manage to save some £££ by living with your relative.
If you are 100% sure about selling and the market is 'awful' in your area, do not price it too high. Price it a bit lower than whatever similar houses are actually selling. You should then attract some interest. Don't linger on the market for ages and expect it to get better next year because it will probably be worse!

Yes. I bought a lovely house with my then partner but we separated soon after. We completed in August 2002 and it was back on the market in June 2004. So, 22 months. In the early days of RightMove I think!

Viewers asked why, obviously, and the agent told them the truth. This is obviously more tricky if the problem is unpleasant neighbours for example i.e. something that’s not specific to your personal circumstances.

You might be able to port your mortgage if you bought another house. That would mean you would avoid expensive get out of mortgage early. Check your mortgage documents to see what is says about poeti g mortgage.

I sold within 17 months and I lost money.

My neighbours were awful and my mental health didn't recover for years. But I couldn't stay. I moved onto a rented apartment and then found my next home. Feeling safe and it being quiet at home is important to me and despite so many things going on now I love coming home.

We once sold after a couple of years (hated the location) and lost money. I think we paid 280k and sold for 260k after annoyingly spending a bit on tidying the dated decor up. If we'd not done this we would probably have been stuck on the market for ages, though, as the house had been on for over a year when we bought it.

We didn't have a mortgage and we went on to buy an unfinished project house (with cash again) in a better area where we could add value, so we recouped our losses eventually.

If you truly hate it there @neverendings I agree it would be better for your mental health to sell and start again.

You may not lose much on the sale price, but obviously you won’t recoup the moving costs - stamp duty, legal fees, estate agents fees, etc.

And unless you can port your mortgage to a new property there will be no way to get out of any ERC charge due.

You will lose money for sure but theres more to life than money. Better luck next time!

All depends on the market. My neighbour in my old house moved in February 2022, they had sold the house by the December - personal reasons. They only re-decorated in the short time that they were there but somehow managed to sell it for £25k more than they purchased. Guess they got lucky.

We did 2 years in a house that ended up being on the receiving end of anti social behaviour. We did make money but the market had risen during those two years.
can you rent the house out?