House Buying Is More Stressful Than Divorce, Death or Bankruptcy

[Toast]

I hear that, Derek. It took me a long time to reconcile the moving out of London thing but at some point it stopped being an issue. I can't think of anything that I did to make that happen though so it's in no way a helpful comment but I hope the same happens for you too.

That's good news, LM!

My vendor has just come back to me saying she's had an offer accepted on a different house and she thinks we could be sorted in November. I spoke to the EA on the other house I mentioned and got some positive feedback from them about my situation (I decided to be completely transparent upfront about what was going on, rightly or wrongly) and the vendor's position so now I'm not sure what I'm going to do. It didn't feel quite right to be thinking about another house despite all the additional benefits I talked about so maybe I should just let it lie. I'm going to appeal to my gut to speak up I think

[Marth]

It absolutely wouldn't Toast - do it. And massive congratulations Est!

I wanted to see somewhere else over the weekend (in a far more preferred location for me, but with one fewer bedrooms, and trickier parking) and by the time the bloody EA got back to me today, they told me that it was already under offer (not a huge surprise).

I keep on veering mentally between thinking I've got a great house under offer which I can make properly lovely vrs but it's not quite in the right location, and I'm not necessarily quite ready for a suburban life. My gut is being uncharacteristically quiet about it, annoyingly.

That's a toughie, Del. I would say from your post that you do have a gut feeling about it. Maybe go and have another wander around and see what's about.

When I left Hackney for Walthamstow I was genuinely bereft. I felt I had moved to the country. I used to get upset going past my old towerblock on the train going from Walthamstow to Liverpool Street.

Walthamstow was on the change though and I ended up much preferring it to Hackney (which had gentrified so much it wasnt my thing anymore anyway really)
Location is important to me. I would choose it over property, but it's nice to realise that places on the "outskirts" are becoming quite interesting and nothing is staying the same.

[Derek Nimmo]

That's great news about your vendors, November it is. I hope your gut is speaking more clearly than mine!

I went to see it again on Saturday Marth, and came out feeling very chipper - it is such a friendly house, and the studio / garden are particularly great - but that other house threw a spanner in my works It's highly unlikely that anything like the other house will come again soon though - it's a very specific location, and very few houses in that price range.

(I never had any doubts about moving from London to Brighton strangely enough, and have never regretted it. But that was city to city. City to suburbia - although I'm near a station - feels like more of a leap.)

[Marth]

That's great news about your vendors, November it is. I hope your gut is speaking more clearly than mine!

I went to see it again on Saturday Marth, and came out feeling very chipper - it is such a friendly house, and the studio / garden are particularly great - but that other house threw a spanner in my works It's highly unlikely that anything like the other house will come again soon though - it's a very specific location, and very few houses in that price range.

(I never had any doubts about moving from London to Brighton strangely enough, and have never regretted it. But that was city to city. City to suburbia - although I'm near a station - feels like more of a leap.)

Totally. I'm feeling very happy about my move from London to Bristol, though I miss being able to just pop on a tube to a major event. I wanted to be near the city centre and though I'm not in the most salubrious of areas, I really like it. It's diverse and has a friendly vibe.

Your house sounds great. Friendly with a studio and garden. Glad you are getting those feelings from it. Sounds lovely actually. Being next to transport will always be a winner for me.

[rosy]

Great news Little My!

I hope things become clearer for you both, Toast and Del.

[Estrella]

Yay Est! Would love to see it when you’re ready to share.

We’re plodding on with our design. It’s getting g bigger and bigger but I can’t wait to get on with it now!

I will share, but when things are a little more certain looking. I’m having a wobble just now with the stress of lining everything up.

Would love to see your designs too.

[Estrella]

That’s really tough, Del, though it sounds like things are a bit clearer after your second viewing?

Tough situation for you too, Toast.

[Livilla]

I keep on veering mentally between thinking I've got a great house under offer which I can make properly lovely vrs but it's not quite in the right location, and I'm not necessarily quite ready for a suburban life. My gut is being uncharacteristically quiet about it, annoyingly.

I was definitely wobbly about moving to suburbia and leaving my Zone 2 London base. It did take a bit to get used to it, but I really love where we live now, and I was so grateful to have the extra space during lockdown. Having somewhere you properly love can make a big difference, I think.

[Derek Nimmo]

I'm glad you're still enjoying everything Marth - Bristol is such a lovely city

Thanks Liv, I think I just need to get my head around the lack of very immediate amenities to the level I have now. In the new house, there is a parade of shops at the bottom of the road, just nothing particularly interesting pub / bar / cafe wise in the immediate vicinity but it's not like I'm out in the wilds or anything, I could walk to more interesting places in about 20 minutes. And it's still only 30 mins on the train to the middle of Brighton, 1.5 hours to London etc etc.

Basically, I'm a spoilt brat

[smalex]

You're not spoilt, Its a debate as old as time Del. I've finally been to Brighton now I can see why it might be hard to replace!

[Derek Nimmo]

Oh yes, I meant to ask - what else did you get up to (other than the Pavilion)? The weather was not in your favour, to say the least!

[smalex]

Oh gosh, I'll say. It was appalling. We bussed in on the saturday morning (she lives facing the sea in Peace.Haven) and walked along the front (got very wet and blown around), wandered round the shops (lovely!), had some lunch, then went to the Pavilion (which blew me away, I didn't know it had such an amazing interior). We cut our loses about 3pm and went back. We were supposed to go out in the evening but decided to shelve it because we couldn't face getting soaked again. I haven't seen her in nearly a year so we had plenty to chat about. It was a shame about the weather, but even so, it was such a lovely place. A seaside town that doesn't look like an existential crisis in weather like that is quite something! I'd like to go back again in better weather (although, I think she might move again soon so maybe not soon).

[Derek Nimmo]

I'm glad you enjoyed! The place does have its charms, even in 50mph winds, but sunny is much nicer (obviously). Is she planning to stay nearby on the coast or go elsewhere?

[smalex]

Hmm, undecided... maybe move into actual Brighton or Hove (but £££) or possibly move back.

[sally maclennane]

Thanks Liv, I think I just need to get my head around the lack of very immediate amenities to the level I have now. In the new house, there is a parade of shops at the bottom of the road, just nothing particularly interesting pub / bar / cafe wise in the immediate vicinity but it's not like I'm out in the wilds or anything, I could walk to more interesting places in about 20 minutes. And it's still only 30 mins on the train to the middle of Brighton, 1.5 hours to London

This is similar to where I live, it's very suburban and although there are shops around, they are just corner shop. There is one coffee shop that has opened nearby but that's not much compared to where I lived before, there are at least 6 cafes there, a couple of nice restaurants and a decent pub. I can walk back there in 30 minutes and the city centre is 15 minutes by train. I do like having more space though, including the garden but probably for me, the biggest bonus is lack of noise. Living in a flat got very tedious for me and at that point, I never worked from home.

I do understand though, I've just been for a walk and it's so incredibly dull just walking through streets of houses. Thank god for podcasts!

[Lola]

There’s nothing round here except a big shopping centre and Asda. It’d be lovely to live near a little high street or something. You can walk down to the river but once you’ve done that a couple of times it becomes very boring.

Next time I move I will definitely think about the area a lot more.

[Toast]

I feel pretty much exactly the same as Sal and, for me, the stress associated with the noise has just become too much. I'm so ready to trade that for somewhere quieter, even though I will really miss the local shops, bars, etc.

My vendor is happily discussing a November completion date now which is possibly slightly ambitious but I'm going with it.

The people buying my flat want to delay completion until after Christmas. They're in a rental until March and it sounds like they don't want to be paying rent and a mortgage. Well, I don't particularly want to be paying two mortgages either. We could easily have it all sorted by end of November so I thought an extra month was reasonable.

I'm starting to get fed up with all of this now. I know I've been lucky compared to a lot of people but I've had enough of the endless chasing and questions and having to talk to people all the time. It's exhausting.

[Little My]

No, I hear you. At the end of the day, everyone is looking out for their own best interests and so you should too within reason. Our buyer wanted to close a month after our preferred date, which we agreed to, and then annoyingly found out they were living with their parents between houses once theirs closed.

[Derek Nimmo]

It is a ridiculous process Toast - I found out this week that my sellers solicitors hadn't bothered sending them out a pack yet, and that my buyers haven't yet sent their money to their solicitors for searches, nor did they have everything in order mortgage-wise (although they now do). People, it's been a month since offers were accepted, what have you been doing?? Luckily, I'm in zero hurry timewise but honestly.

In other news, my mortgage 'valuation' (it will have involved sitting at a desk and looking at zoopla) has come in at £25K below what I'm paying - not a problem for my lender as I have a good wodge of equity but it has made me worry about what might happen on my flat. And whether I'm over-paying. And round and round my head goes, I'm boring myself!

[Estrella]

We are full swing here. Our place goes on the market on Tuesday and valuations, finance and building inspections are organised. I am stressed to the max though.