Never-Ending Story

The problem with buying property is that it’s never done. That’s a little-known piece of information, and you can thank me later if you weren’t already aware of it. It’ll help when you inevitably find yourself questioning life as you slowly find yourself unsatisfied with your status quo as a homeowner. 

I’m not just talking about the process of buying an individual house, which in itself feels never-ending – from observing the market, organising finance and interpreting a Section 32 through to conveyancing and settlement, it’s a stretch to say the least. Nor am I referring to the lengthy period of repayments, which people seem to forget is a part of the buying the buying process that generally goes on for decades. 

I’m actually referring to the fact that, once all of that is done and dusted, you’re still not done. Why? Because by then, you’re ready to sell up and buy another property. You’ve spent the past years coming to terms with the fact that your ‘perfect’ house is not so perfect – that, or it was clearly imperfect to begin with – and now it’s time to level up, whether that means upsizing, downsizing, moving two streets away so you’re further from the main road, or adding room for a pony. 

You’re in a position to conceive of this, having dodged the bullet of paying off someone else’s mortgage for the past however many years, and you’ve also learnt from your previous buying mistakes. That means you’re obliged, on some level, to go through with it. It’s time to once again pick up the dance of constantly scanning the real estate market, obsessively checking your finances and organising conveyancing solicitors. ‘Mentone townhouses’ suddenly becomes a go-to predictive text term in your phone. Before you know it, you’re officially back in the game.

You see, it’s always possible to do better in this pursuit, and most people who’ve bought property find it difficult to settle for second best when there’s another option. That’s fair, I suppose – life is dynamic, and no one wants to be  unnecessarily stuck in one place forever.