Serious buyers remorse. Options please?

C

CoffeeLover

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I got the keys to my first home last week but I have a serious case of buyers remorse. There's nothing wrong with the house itself, I've just totally changed my mind and want to move closer to home - about 50 miles away.

What are my options? Mortgage is 82k, fixed for three years. Estate agent reckons I could get 110k for the house. I have enough savings for a 20% deposit, within reason, elsewhere. Civil servant, gross 60k, single, no children.

Should I try to rent it out and move home for a while? Try to sell immediately and buy something else - where does this leave me eith banks, mortgages etc.

Really, really stressed that I'm after putting myself into an inescapable hole here so all advice greatly welcome.
 
Firstly, I’d take a deep breath. You are in a very good position and there is no need to be stressed. Life is too short.

I would advise you against compounding what might have been a mistake by rushing into making another big decision so quickly.

You only got the keys a week ago, take a deep breath, don’t stress, and just give it a fair crack of the whip whilst also weighing up its pros and cons versus those of a potential move.

Personally, I would avoid making life changing decisions until we all have more clarity around what the post-Covid working world will look like.

But don’t let this stress you, life is too short. You have a good job and are in decent nick financially.
 
1. Find out if there are any questions regarding paying off mortgage early.
2. Check market trends for housing nearer your home.
3. Don't rush anything (Like GordonGekko says). Slow down, think, you're in a good position and appear to have control of your destiny.
4. Side Issue:- Some old work colleagues who made it to Dublin on promotion back in the 80's have now sold up in Dublin and bought another home in Cork in which to retire find the place has changed since the 80's and regret moving back to Cork.
 
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply with such a reassuring comment.
 
Leper said:
4. Side Issue:- Some old work colleagues who made it to Dublin on promotion back in the 80's have now sold up in Dublin and bought another home in Cork in which to retire find the place has changed since the 80's and regret moving back to Cork.
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thats interesting, was it a rural or urban area they moved back to in Cork ?
 
joe sod said:
thats interesting, was it a rural or urban area they moved back to in Cork ?
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It’s probably not the location is the issue but the upheaval. You spend 30 years in one spot dreaming of a past utopia that didn’t exist then nor now and fail to realise it until you move lock stock and barrel to realise you were actually quite happy where you were but you hadn’t realised it.
 
Coffee Geko gave you great advice. You must not do anything rash. Can you take the weekend to think about what it is made you panic.
 
So stressful for you. Buying a house is a major decision and it can be hard to get right. How about giving yourself the 3 years to have a hard deadline for moving?
This should give you a chance to explore your new location, make friends, experience something new, and try out some living in your own home. You know if I had to do it all again I would move the fridge here and the cooker there, I would definitely like/not like an en-suite. Find out what works for you and suits you. Improve the house, garden, repairs etc.
Then keep a look out for your new home, location, type of property etc. Take your time and get it right.
For sure there will be a financial loss with selling and buying costs again. But it looks as if you will make a profit on your current home, you have your 20% deposit for your new home and you will have a proven history of paying off your current mortgage.
If the house you want comes along quicker than the 3 years then go for it. There will be a break fee maybe for the fixed mortgage but if you go with the same lender for the new house you should be able to negotiate around that.

This happens to people all the time who get relocated for work, no sooner have they moved in then they need to move again, your reason may be slightly different but still just as valid.
 
@Bronte yes you are right but I think rural areas have changed alot more than urban areas, alot more traffic and one off houses yet pubs and social scene not like they were in the 80s. In other words the rustic rural idyll does not exist anymore. Because of the rural crime wave alot of people have installed electric gates so not as open as it used to be.
 
I'd agree with most above.

Purchasing any property is a leap into the unknown and you rarely if at all get everything right. Every house is a learning experience. Look at the positives of this experience. Think of the next few weeks/months/years as an opportunity to learn more about what you want and don't want.

Rather than focusing on the negatives start a list of positives and negatives. Ok, location is an issue but there is so much valuable information you can take from this. Apart from the location what are the other positive/negatives.

If you could pick up the house and move it is there anything else you would change? Take the time to figure out if you like the size of garden, the orientation, kitchen size, lay out etc.

You want to use this time to inform you decisions for your next move rather than moving from one regret to another.
 
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If you put it in on the market immediately a lot of potential buyers may be put off. It could look like you've discovered a serious structural issue or very anti-social neighbours. Is this going to see it sell at a 20% discount? No. But 5%-10% possibly.
 
It's not inescapable. I agree with most of the posters to give it a little while before you commit to moving.

It will cost you about 4.5k to sell. you pay max 6 months of interest to break out of the fixed mortgage (edit: only if with Ulster bank)(about 1k I guess), 1.5% ea fees to sell, and say 1.5k solicitor costs to sell.

How much did you pay for the house?

I wonder if there is a 14day cooling off with mortgage and would they entertain you switching to e.g. a variable or one year fix straightaway. I think I would ring the mortgage department straightaway and ask about that.
 
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CoffeeLover said:
What are my options? Mortgage is 82k, fixed for three years. Estate agent reckons I could get 110k for the house
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If you want to let you could. Assuming an 8% yield you will gross maybe €9k a year. Budget for after expenses and tax around €4k-€5k.

Positives are that it gives you a bit of time to figure things out and will cover most or all of mortgage. Negatives are that you have become a landlord with all the risk and hassle involved.

Your mortgage contract may say that you have to tell the bank if it becomes a BTL and they'll put you on a higher rate. But general consensus on AAM is that if you don't tell they'll never find out.
 

id do nothing with it for a full year ,a year passes very quickly , not because i insist you learn to love the place but because if you hold it for a year , it will look like a straight forward flip of the property , that happens all of the time all over the world where a place is bought but nobody ever lives in it . the market appears to be growing strong outside the major urban area , covid 19 appears to have increased the appeal of more rural locations

feeling unsure is not that unusual after buying a place , ive felt it myself in the past but grew to be more than happy with the purchase , granted mine were for investments rather than to live , still , took me a good while to grow into the homestead im living in since 2012

its by no means a disastrous situation , you didnt stick all your money on something which will disappear in a puff of smoke or which nobody will ever want
 
There's some excellent advice above. Take your time - you should never make a big decision like this from a position where you feel you've a gun pointed to your head. If you ultimately decide to sell, there's unlikely to be any material difference in outcome of putting the house in the market now, in 1 month or in 3 months. So take your time to decide, and to work out what it is you really want so that if you buy again it's for the right reasons.
 
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Far away fields are always green. Coffee Lover has made a mistake (or at least appears to have made a mistake). It's not the end of the world. She/He hasn't got married to a lover and decided to call it a day while on honeymoon. There's no kids involved either. So when his/her mind is made up re location in which to have a house it's only a matter of relatively little money and time. Nobody died! And Coffee Lover is in no way tied down.
 

Your advice re:swapping back onto variable is absolutely golden. Sitting in the branch now to get it done. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
 
CoffeeLover said:
Your advice re:swapping back onto variable is absolutely golden. Sitting in the branch now to get it done. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
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You are very welcome! Hopefully that reduces the stress a bit.

Keep in mind the variable rate will cost you more money after some number of months, compared to the break cost.

So you should review the rate again in next few weeks.
 
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