Oh GOD I've just made the CLASSIC mistake of viewing a house before mines even on the market - and I've well and truly fallen for it (sad)

[puffylovett]

My other half says the only way he will think about moving is if I can find a way to do it with minimal costs - we've just increased our mortgage to pay off my college fees and we're just clawing our way into an element of stability financially. Basically I haven't been managing our budget very well !

But with DC2 due in a few weeks, our 2 bed house is going to be soooo cramped. We're 15 min drive from all our friends and I'm totally reliant on the car for everything as we're in the country. We had always planned to get our bathroom done up and then put the house on the market, sell for the best price poss and then rent till perfect next place up came along.

But I've just been to see a house that has dropped in price by 20k to within our price range - it's a dooer upper period property and I'm in LOVE and now so sad that it's probably going to go to a developer

What an eejit ! stupid stupid stupid but I've been dreaming of moving out of this house for so long - 5 years now ! and this house would be a 10 yr + stayer for us. I'm obsessed !

sorry, I just had to vent

If it's a dooer upper, do you have the budget to do the work, as well as the budget to buy it? If not, do you really want to be living in an unsuitable house, with a new baby?

Sorry to seem negative, but the facts and figures do seem to be stacked against you.

Is it worth getting your current house valued without the new bathroom? And to get some idea of how quickly properties in your area are shifting? Give an estate agent a call - you have nothing to lose.

Thats what I thought Hassled - properties are just starting to shift again around here. That's what I'm going to do I think.

When I say it's a dooer upper - it's liveable, it's mainly decor. The kitchen is old but clean, same with the bathroom and it's got Dble glazing and Gas CH - yes, I would eventually replace everything, but we would aim to do it slowly over the next few years rather than in one go. That's always been our goal, as houses the next size up are just that tiny bit beyond how much we would like to spend otherwise !

puffylovett - don't give up! Definitely find out how quickly you could shift yours and whether it is indeed possible to get your dream home.

In my experience it's much easier to put up with imperfect kitchen/bathroom if you're in a place you love, than have to live somewhere which just doesn't work for your family.

It makes financial sense as well (in the long run) to be moving to a place where you can increase equity by modernising, especially if you're planning to stay for 10 years. Good luck!

Ah thanks Cares !

well I have maniacally spent the last 2 days cleaning / sorting and generally getting my house in order. (it does help that the nesting instinct is kicking in in a big way )This morning I rang 3 estate agents and they are coming out on thursday / friday to value the house. One of them has just sold a house down the road the same size as ours, and says that properties are moving quickly if priced correctly.

I haven't DARED ring the agents of my dream house - am convinced that the 2 suited and booted gents who went in after me will have snapped it up ! On the other hand, for what it's on the market for and for the eventual sale price, it may not quite be investor material - well thats what I keep telling myself

If it's meant to be, it's meant to be, right ?

Go on, tell them you are interested! If it is a nice house especially, it may well be that the owners would RATHER sell to someone who loves the house than a developer (I am sure we managed to get both our houses partly because we obviously liked them!).

And don't worry about your bathroom. I read somewhere that while a smart kitchen and bathroom will help you sell and add to the house value, it is often not worth getting them done ESPECIALLY for selling, as your tastes might be quite different to the potential buyers', so you could be spending lots of money on something they would prefer to replace anyway. Whereas if you don't do it, you will get less for the house but not necessarily as much as the work would cost you, and then they can do what they want with it.

If it helps, we are (hopefully!!!) about to exchange on a house we viewed months before ours was on the market, when we were still deciding whether to sell. It then got taken off the market, but came back on soon after we had sold ours and then we managed to get an offer accepted. Also our kitchen needs completely re-doing but didn't stop us selling our place very quickly. So, there is hope!

OK so here's an update. I've had our house valued by 2 estate agents. They've come in similar prices (another coming tomorrow). Both say a HIP takes a week to 10 days. Both think it's location is good, don't do the bathroom - it's not worth spending the money. One suggested showing it as the last room, and then whilst in there just offhandedly mentioning that we have planning permission for an extension so as to divert attention

So, I have managed to persuade my DP to come and view dream house tonight. I emailed the agents rather than called, because I didn't want the disappointment, and they rang today to say it's still available.

With what we could get for our property, we may need to extend the mortgage a bit and that's the sticking point with DP = he doesn't want to. However, if we were to move to any other property in the area, we would need to extend the mortgage by about 30k to secure a great property, we've known that for a long time. With this one, we could maybe get away with a 10k extension max if we got an OK price for our house, yes it will need money spending on it. But if we planned to be there for 15 yrs whats the rush if it's liveable.

So my next job is to persuade my DP ! Am thinking lots of gourmet meals and blow jobs, LOL !!

In the meantime, second viewing I'm going to try and remove the rose tinted glasses and look at it objectively !

Thanks for the encouragement Mynameis... oh and as for the upper chain, it's an ex housing elderly peoples property but astoundingly it's victorian on a great road, near town... bizarre... anyway my point being it's empty at the mo, no owners to impress....

Oh and congrats, I hope your exchange goes through seamlessly !