Sale agreed - Cold feet..

Wearandtear

Hi,

First time poster - have been following this forum for several months as I join the house hunt with my partner to become first time buyers.

We've been looking since last Summer, and were happy to take our time, no rush. Have bid on several properties but felt that the other bids against us were coming in too high too quickly so didn't pursue. We also have seen some questionable behaviour from auctioneers but that's another story. We have our 'wishlist', budget, finance, insurance etc and know what areas of cork (city) we're interested in.

We finally went sale agreed on a property a few weeks ago, and moving along smoothly now. Technically, the property ticks all the boxes, garden, parking, semi d etc. Fair location, the area wasn't my preference to begin with, but seems to be a nice quiet road and is handy for work but still not too far from city etc.

I'm posting because people keep saying things to me like, you know when it's the one, you get the right feeling from the house when you enter and so on.

Is this something people here feel too? I could see myself living in several of the houses we've looked at happy enough, but didn't get a 'love at first sight' feeling with any of them, the way people from my family and work seem to be implying I should.

snowflaker

Thats a bit ott, the house i bought wasn't love a first sight- I critiqued all the houses I viewed sharply.

But I live here now and I love it.

The perfect house doesn't exist as perfection isn't attainable

Del2005

Wearandtear wrote: »

Hi,

First time poster - have been following this forum for several months as I join the house hunt with my partner to become first time buyers.

We've been looking since last Summer, and were happy to take our time, no rush. Have bid on several properties but felt that the other bids against us were coming in too high too quickly so didn't pursue. We also have seen some questionable behaviour from auctioneers but that's another story. We have our 'wishlist', budget, finance, insurance etc and know what areas of cork (city) we're interested in.

We finally went sale agreed on a property a few weeks ago, and moving along smoothly now. Technically, the property ticks all the boxes, garden, parking, semi d etc. Fair location, the area wasn't my preference to begin with, but seems to be a nice quiet road and is handy for work but still not too far from city etc.

I'm posting because people keep saying things to me like, you know when it's the one, you get the right feeling from the house when you enter and so on.

Is this something people here feel too? I could see myself living in several of the houses we've looked at happy enough, but didn't get a 'love at first sight' feeling with any of them, the way people from my family and work seem to be implying I should.

Everything is a compromise. You either pay more than you can afford for the home of your dreams, as most people are looking for the same thing, or accept some compromises on the home you can afford.

Samuel T. Cogley

If you're only sale agreed then you can pull out of the sale but you can write off that EA.

I fell in love with my place but would have been happy enough in a couple of other houses that we viewed, but we viewed a fair few.

That said we got a lot for our money as we were quite canny with the area.

Mrs OBumble

Love is over rated.

Make sure you're not paying more than you can afford or more than it's worth, and that its good enough to live in forever if need be.

bee06

People say that about wedding dresses too! Wasn't the case for me in either case. I'm too logical. Some people just aren't "feeling" people if you know what I mean.

If it ticks all the boxes, you can afford it etc then don't be worrying. I'm sure there are also people who "just knew" it was the house for them and they regretted it in the long term.

Lekrub

What rough area are you going for? I'm finding the pricing for Cork mad enough for what you get.

snowflaker

bee06 wrote: »

People say that about wedding dresses too! Wasn't the case for me in either case. I'm too logical. Some people just aren't "feeling" people if you know what I mean.

thats probably me too.

tuisginideach

Long, long ago, I wasn't happy about the windows in an otherwise suitable estate of secondhand houses. I ended up buying a house in the estate three years later at more than twice the price - with the same 'unsatisfactory' windows. I was extremely happy there.

Your subject title 'cold feet' reminded me of how I 'took to the bed' with a fierce flu after going sale agreed (and thank God I am rarely sick) but I think the stress/relief/enormity of the decision hit me a few days after signing the cheque and floored me! That was 27 years ago!

Wearandtear

Thanks for all the responses, reassuring to hear some outside perspective.

I especially appreciate the wedding dress analogy. I thinking I'm not one of those 'feeling' people either but it's such a big purchase I'm anxious that we make the right choice.

I hadn't considered the fact that if we did back out, that's the end of that EA - seems obvious now but something to keep in mind.

@tuisginideach (great username) I certainly feel I could take to the bed myself. I will be relieved when it passes, though I suspect a bit of an anticlimax at first until we settle in and make the place more our own.

Wearandtear

@Lekrub

Myself and the mister need access to the south link for work so we've mainly been looking on the southside (much to the distress of my family) - main areas were the Lough, Turners Cross, city side of South Douglas Rd, Douglas Rd etc.

Boreenmana road would be ideal but too high for our budget as we don't want an apartment.

I agree with your about the pricing. We were looking at fixer uppers at first, as we have some trade connections. The bidding was going crazy on some of them considering that they needed so much work done to even move in, never mind in the long run how much you'd have to put into it.

In the end we still have some cosmetic work to do to what we've gotten, but it can be done over time, we can move in once we have the keys.

Sorry if i'm doing this reply thing wrong Mods - I will take another look at the FAQ as I was struggling with the quote function.

pilly

If you're happy with the location and the general size of the house the rest is fixable in my opinion. It's what you do to a house that makes it a home really. My mother used to tell me "you'll never be finished with a house" and she was right because it's a lifetime thing.

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Sunny Dayz

Hi OP, it's normal to get cold feet and second thoughts, as you said yourself it's a huge purchase and commitment.
However in relation to not feeling the love for the house, remember that the house when you viewed it was someone else's house - it had their furniture in it, their possessions, their photos on display, their taste in decorating. When you move it with all your bits and bobs, it will start to become your home. You will put your own stamp on it and change it to suit yourselves.


Once the main things are ok with the house; good location, garden, aspect, amenities, the rest can be changed.

mrcheez

Sunny Dayz wrote: »

You will put your own stamp on it and change it to suit yourselves.

Pretty much this. You'll rarely find a place that you fall in love with at first sight, but once you put your own touches on it and give it a re-paint with your favourite colour scheme you'll finally feel it's "yours".

One thing to check is soundproofing. If you can't hear your neighbours consider yourself as having found a fantastic deal as it's the bane of a lot of households!