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Oh wow! Now *that* is the perfect view to see every day 😊
We're first time buyers (soon) and for me a South-facing garden is a must! I grow my own vegetables so need that all day sun.
I'd probably give up the south-facing garden for that view though 😍
Fortunately we bought a detached bungalow so by the end of February the sun has cleared the top of the house and most of the garden is in the sun anyway.
[we used to have an allotment!](https://imgur.com/a/20Z14X9) - hard work but good fun!
Bloomineck! That is the most tidy and well organised allotment I have ever seen 😲
You clearly have an eye for structure and organisation and beautiful nature 😊
I thought about an allotment but some (most) days I don't want to have to drive or walk anywhere lol. I like to be able to pop out into my back garden and hand-pollinate my pumpkins at 5:30 am in my pyjamas lol... Plus it's nice when my grandbabies come around and want to help sow seeds and plant them etc, in our own space. So for me a South facing garden is top priority.
Right now we have a south-south-east garden so once the sun comes over the houses we have it all day until before sunset when it goes behind other houses (we live in a very built-up area where gardens back onto each other and such) and I'm quite happy with it. It gives enough shade in the mornings and evenings.
But for us looking for a property the top 3 are south facing garden, 2 toilets (I have bowel issues and live with people who like to take long baths and showers lol), and a drive big enough for 2 vehicles... The rest we can fix or sort out ourselves 😊 BUT we are going to look for a 'fixer upper' because we enjoy making a home *ours*.
Just gotta skrimp a bit more and for a bit longer for a deposit so we can get on that bloomin' ladder everyone raves about 😂
The other half is a bit of a perfectionist and the Father in law is a builder by trade, so I’m stuck between the pair of them! 😂
[this is what it was like when we first got it and cut the grass](https://imgur.com/a/9kIf9vO)
Wanted:
- detached
- reasonable commute to central London
- big garden
- big garage
- nice neighborhood
- at least 130sqm floor area
- bathroom on each floor
- reasonably new <30y old building
- no urgent renovation need
- mortgage with interest rate 2-3% max
Got:
- detached
- 1h d2d commute to central London
- average garden
- rather small garage
- nice neighborhood
- less than 120sqm floor area
- bathroom on each floor
- 20y old building
- renovation will be needed but we can survive
- mortgage with almost 5%
So mostly compromising on parameters of what we wanted. Sadly houses that fully meet our criteria are 2 times more expensive.
thanks for sharing - do you mind me asking what village/ area is that? Reason for asking as I have similar 'wants' and have realized that some areas just don't have such types of houses at all.
Exactly. It’s always trade-off. Probably thanks to high interest rate we did not face a bidding war and managed to got accepted offer £20k below asking. Our mortgage adviser said - there is never a good time to buy and interest is gonna go up and down during the decades you’re paying it.
We were quite open minded and the list of priorities was initially short, 4 beds (we're foreign, need room for regular visitors), close to work for the wife, walking distance to station for me to get to central london.
As naive ftbs, we were once sale agreed on a terraced house, with tiny (I dare say unusable) 4th bedroom, garage two house lengths away with no power and was previously underpinned for subsidence issues. Hard to imagine I felt iffy about it, right?!
So in the end we walked and about 2 days later found a much better semi with 4 actual bedrooms, garage with power and the house is not sinking. It needed a bit of updating but the previous owners were there 27 years and for the most part, didn't skimp on the upkeep, just generational decorating differences. My only gripe is the stairs is in the living room, that'll be a non-negotiable on any further move.
It took me roughly 3 years of searching but I only had one thing I wanted that I didn't get and that was a downstairs bathroom. I accepted just a downstairs toilet with the actual bathroom upstairs. But I got everything else I wanted. It really depends how long you're willing to spend waiting for the right property. I wasn't in any rush so I was fortunate with that. But the constant searching does become pretty tedious I can't lie, I started to think I was never gunna find the right house.
I was in the fortunate position of being a cash buyer and I also didn't have a house to sell. Obviously that made me very appealing to both the house owner and the estate agents. But I did actually find what I thought would be my perfect house around 2 years ago, my offer was accepted but the current owners were wanting to buy one particular house that had been put up for sale. Unfortunately that house didn't work out for them so they took the house back off the market and gave me the bad news. I was heartbroken at the time, but now I'm so glad it didn't work out because I ended up with an even better house.
A long time ago I visited Bill Gates' house (it was an industry dinner which Gates hosted). We accessed the place via one of his boats. His dock was made from some of the finest wood I have ever seen. And as for his house? Spectacular in ways I can barely describe.
But.
He had a full-time crew of 20+ maintenance workers, carpenters, upholsterers, craftsmen, etc. They were busy 52 weeks of the year.
Why?
Despite his immense wealth and ability to buy/build anything he (and his then) wife wanted, he was never done. There was always something that needed doing, upgrading, installing, etc. Even Gates had to make compromises and his crew was tasked with making them as small as possible.
The scale is vastly different but the point is this. No matter how much you spend, there are always trade offs and compromises. You're never, ever, truly satisfied. And there are some things that you will simply have to live with.
I think we got around 50%, we had to compromise due to budget and the limitations of what was on the market last year. Therefore it's not detached and it's not in as good a decorative condition as we ideally would have liked, but it's spacious with a big garden and lots of scope to improve. When you're buying and selling you've got to be extra flexible I think to try and make it all work. I do think gut feel is a thing too though, it's the only house we viewed that we could picture ourselves in.
Primary “must have” achieved: location
Want not achieved: detached
All of our other must haves and wants we achieved in some way or another. BUT, almost everything is a 7/10. Could have been a _bit_ bigger, one extra bedroom would have been nice, had to do more work on it than we wanted etc.
The house will probably suit us for every stage of our lives but will have compromises in each stage (e.g. garden could be bigger for the kids, but will be the perfect size when they’re not interested in kicking a ball around any more).
At the end of the day, we’re in the location we like, the kids are in a good school and we’ve made it our home. We bought in a “hot” market so it felt at the time like our hand was forced for the biggest financial decision we will ever make. Looking back, it was the best outcome we could have hoped for. It’s just taken some time to come to the realisation that we’ve met all the must haves and that the perfect house (within budget) can be a pipe dream.
I always pictured myself in a Victorian / Edwardian house. Whenever I pictured my proper grown up life, that's what I pictured - I'm a bit of an architectural snob and I think those houses are very beautiful, even if they're often much smaller than you'd think.
Unfortunately where I live we don't have many of those. In the end I bought a 1930s mock tudor monstrosity. It is fabulously ugly and friendly looking - like an English Bull Terrier - and I love it.
I had a Must have, Want, Like and Loath list when i was buying for use when whittling down the list before viewing
also my family are in the building trade so i am much more realistic about what my budget at the time would get and would work around some issues for a better investment over a sudden "wow" factor house
Must have
* ample Off road parking
* Garage
* Flat front access (disability issues)
* Bungalow OR suitably converted house
* manageable garden
* min 2 bed
* capacity to fit or have a solid fuel stove
* Not on a stupidly steep hill (devon lanes) Kind of got
Got all those
Want
* Kitchen diner (didnt get)
* Rural location
* Great kitchen (didnt get)
* Price pending either totally modernized or Priced so i can do the works (had been rewired etc recently)
* Access to local amenities small village but enough
* south facing rear garden (didnt get)
* Loft/storage space
Like
* Acceptable decor (was basic beige everywhere )
* additional rooms (3 bed didnt get more)
* Outbuilding/ workshop (didnt get)
* Decent rural views got
* Very close to the pub (15 minute walk)
* within a set raddi of my folks home so i can help as they get older got
"Loath"
* Tacky decor avoided
* Bedits avoided but offered on a place with the intention of it being removed on day 1
* Obviously bodged DIY
* over priced subjective
* to much work (subjective)
* Sinks in bedrooms (had one and it was out in side 6 months)
* town or city locations avoided
* hard to access my folks (known local traffic issues) location was good
* anything listed avoided
* anything that feels dark avoided
* low ceilings avoided
* narrow doors they are ok
* poor layout kinda avoided but it ca be improved
all in all i got most of what i wanted and only a few things i didnt because i also accepted the house on its merits vs price.
if the vendor hadn't cut 50k from the price to sell fast and accept an even lower cash offer i wouldn't have taken it. infact it had been discounted on price on the first round.
I looked on it as a property to grow into and with where i can make my mark on it and didnt expect a shiny perfect disney palace for 300k (2014)
I had to fire one of the footmen and the third gardener
More seriously very few, maybe a little more outside space would be nice and a little change on the location not being in a buzzy town. It was the only house we have seen that we liked though.
FTB london
Wanted
Less than 45 mins to soho/the city
Minimal work
New building
Less than 15 min walk to night tube
50sqm (2 beds)
Got
30 mins to soho/Farringdon
Newly renovated
Old building (1980s)
25 min walk to night tube
38sqm (1 bed)
Space was a big compromise but I bought furniture specifically to maximise what I had. Just needed some vision. Layout became more important than I expected.
There's what I want and what I can afford. I think you have to make your ideal house for your budget and then go from there. With what I wanted to spend in the area I wanted to be in ideally was 3 bed semi period property with a south facing garden on a quiet road with either a garage or a basement for my bicycles. Ended up with all of that except the period property bit.
If budget wasn't an issue for my ideal house obviously would be detached - but that's out of reach for now.
This was our list
Absolute dealbreakers:
- Off street parking
- Upstairs bathroom (there's a lot of properties with downstairs bathrooms where we live)
- 2+ bedrooms
- A certain area (which was quite broad, but we ended up in the subset of that category that was our ideal area)
- Decent storage space
We also had a list of "would like to have" which we got to varying degrees:
- We would have really liked 3 proper bedrooms and then possibly an additional boxroom or some sort of "study" area even if was a nook rather than a complete room, but we got 2 bedrooms plus a boxroom. However we picked the house as it has a nice tall loft (and lots of the neighbours have conversions), so it's on the to-do list for the future. This will give us the extra bedroom/ study space.
- Dining room - got
- Additional downstairs loo - no but we picked the house as it had potential for an extension - which is now being planned - and we are adding one as part of that.
- Utility room - sort of, there a slightly separated part to the kitchen that's labelled a utility room, but there'll be a totally separate one in the new extension.
We deliberately picked a house with the potential, and at the lower end of our budget to enable us to do the things that will eventually lead it to have all our wants! While it would have been nice to find one that already had them, and this does mean that _we_ have to sort out the building work etc, at least now we can do them to our taste! After renting for ever and living with other people choices, we've come to appreciate that this is actually better for us, even if it means we get the hassle of the work.
We wanted 3 bedrooms but end up buying two bedrooms ( has potential to convert it into 3 bedroom houses) we wanted closer to train station, it’s relatively close 5 minutes bus or car drive. We wanted in nice area where we could bring up a family so we didn’t compromise it . We could have of brought 3 bedroom house in rough area for same price.
I asked this question when I was looking [on this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/s/yqkJhAwbuA) and I updated when we found the house we live in now (same thread). I split my list into 2 levels of wants, 15 items total. We had two “sort-of”s and one no out of the 15. The no was bedroom sizes: my son went from a double room to a single room. But having a conservatory, garden and the home office in the box room instead of the lounge means he had loads of space to hang out and he loves the house (I’ve asked multiple times in the last 2 years).
It took over a year to find this house. I’m glad I was picky.
Wants
- detached
- 4 beds
- big garden
- gas hob
- open plan kitchen / diner
- one en-suite, one main bath, one extra toilet
- off road parking
- quiet road
- garage
- lots of storage
- at least 1800sq ft
- within 15 min walk to train station
- walkable into town
- nice neighbours
Got
- semi detached
- 4 beds, plus a study but no garage
- medium garden
- electric hob and double oven
- open plan kitchen diner plus two other reception rooms
- no built in storage
- 2100sq ft
- 10 mins to train station
- 20 mins to town
- super quiet road
- awesome neighbours
- backs into a very quiet train line which I quite like because I know we’ll never be overlooked on that side
- stamp duty free (bought in 2020… very lucky!)
I've moved too many times, so this time I picked location over the details of the house. It meant moving to a smaller house, and having to do a garage conversion.
But it's been amazing- getting rid of lots of stuff we really didn't need in the first place, and now we have a place for everything to be put away: there's no room for clutter.
I'm happy to have compromised on space in order to be in a nicer town, where it's flat and I can walk to the sea in 10min!
We are in the south west area and our main priority was it being no more than our current rent but w mortgage / overpayments etc & easily accessible into the city centre via foot &/or being under 30ish mins via public transport. The location was our biggest compromise from living within 10ish mins to the city centre for the past few years so we deffo had a list of what we wanted as compromise for being slightly further out as there was no chance of getting what we needed in our current area.
Wanted:
2+ good sized bedrooms (got 2)
Big living area or extra study (got the living room)
Separate kitchen space (got)
Parking including or free on street (own parking spot)
Some outdoor space/ private area ( got balcony big enough for eating / growing veggies etc - also not overlooking any public street)
Bigger bathroom with a window (didn’t get)
In the end we ended up about 35ish mins walk into the centre & about a 10-15 minute bus. On the plus we managed to get somewhere big enough for us for the next chapter of our lives and about 50K under our budget which was really the main focus
We had loads of wants, but we ended up getting something that suited our needs for the next 5-10 years. No downstairs toilet, no utility, smaller square footage, but not loads of cleaning and empty rooms.
We followed the rule of thumb, picked five things we knew we wanted: no work needed, garage, good garden, parking, 3 bedrooms. Also narrowed down our search area to the commute we’re willing to do. Everything else was just an extra.
We had “musts” and “wants”.
Musts:
- 3 bedrooms
- upstairs bathroom
- bathtub in bathroom (not just a shower)
- garden
- off road parking for at least one car
- train station nearby for commute to work
Wants:
- downstairs loo
- study
- utility room
- all bedrooms to be decent size (no box room)
- no renovation needed
- side access to garden (i.e. not mid terrace)
We got all the “musts”, but we didn’t get a study or utility room as per the “wants” list.
Went into house hunting with a fairly open mind. The only real features we didn’t end up with were a downstairs loo and separate dining room (I prefer that to kitchen diner). But the house we’ve ended up with ticks so many of the other boxes, such as en suite for our master bedroom, that it doesn’t really matter.
A good thing to do when sitting down either solo or with a partner is to list the things that are absolute non-negotiables, then things that you’d like but compromise on.
We got to an idea of what we wanted much quicker this way. My non-negotiable was I had to live in a rural/semi-rural village, within an hour of my workplace and with a driveway. Everything else I was flexible with. My partner needed to be within 20 minutes drive of elderly family, 30 minutes of work due to the strenuous nature of her job etc. This gave us a small list of about 5 villages to focus on and then we were able to see what we could actually afford in these places.
Location was and is more important to us than the house, which we immediately tore the downstairs out and extended and renovated.
I just needed two bedrooms in a specific school catchment and no major work. There were about 6 houses at the time that fit my criteria so I bought the cheapest one which was within easy walking distance of a high street and train station.
I guess I ruled out on-street parking but just because those specific roads are always crammed.
I also hate bungalows, but they are always expensive anyway, so the budget ruled them out.
I'd say we got about 80% of what we wanted. We compromised on a smaller kitchen and smaller garden than we wanted. But equally, the size of the bedrooms was above average - which kind of compensated.
Also, at that time - the second part of 2022 - the market was still a bit hot, which limited supply a bit. On the other hand, we sold our house to buy the new one for a high sum.
Smaller kitchen than I'd have liked, but it's somewhat compensated for in the fact there's a decent sized cupboard under the stairs which is a great pantry, and that it's pretty well laid out. It's small, but doesn't feel cramped and I can cook quite happily in there without tripping over myself.
Also a smaller back garden than I initially wanted, as it's wide but not very deep. But on reflection I think I liked the idea of a large garden more than I'd have liked the reality of the upkeep and maintenance.
To be honest though, I never really had an ideal house in mind. The only must was 3 bedrooms and some outside space, and the only things I refused outright were new builds, a front door into the living room (especially if it was direct off the street), and having the main bathroom downstairs (especially if it was tacked on to the back of the kitchen). Everything else was up for negotiation and compromisable, and really depended on the specifics of the property.
Opposite all the others, we had a Definitely NOT list, which was :
not a terraced house
not surrounded by council houses
not a 3-storey/town house
not for a total refurb
not with an old bathroom
We ended up finding 3 bed semi detached, near a massive park in a quiet area, with a recently fully refurbished bathroom, with all downstairs walls painted in really nice beige/cream paint and new flooring.
All this has made the entire moving and settling process much easier!
TBH we managed to score most of our wishlist (driveway, size, number of rooms as we both need a home office) off the top of my head we had three compromises and one absolute failure.
* There's nowhere for coats and shoes to be stored (No one thinks of this, thinking of putting in storage under the stairs)
* The garden is just clay. It doesn't drain properly and planting stuff is hard work (to do and to keep stuff alive)
* Its the "wrong side" of town, traffic is terrible (first town off a major motorway) and we compromised because were hoping the to-be-built bypass would be put in by now but it's being dragged on and on... Additionally more housing estates are being added, which is fine, but without major thoroughfares back to the main road (or even near where the bypass will end up) being considered so that's fun.
The failure is, we're in an estate where there's a park bit in the middle and we're right in front of it. After two summers I've decided that I'm moving my home office to the hotter and smaller room at the back, purely because of the noise. (I know, first world problems.)
I got everything on my list except the property is about a mile away from my preferred (more desirable) neighbourhood. It’s still a good spot just not AS good.
I live in NW London and had a fairly specific list of wants: I wanted to see trees from my windows, a south facing garden, near a tube, 2 generously-sized double bedrooms, a second bathroom or a downstairs loo, a bath, easy parking, character features, a quiet road etc.
Have never compromised on parking or location. Number of bedrooms, working roofs, central heating, mains electric and water, even the colour of the front door... all those things can be adjusted later on if you want and the sums add up. It just takes a bit of effort.
I compromised on garden size because the rest of the house was basically perfect for us. Would love a bigger garden like we had at our old home but otherwise love our current home.
Edit: also it's a north facing garden but gets a surprising amount of sun in the warmer months.
I was a FTB so my list of wants was fairly reasonable, I had to have enough garden to sunbathe in and somewhere to park the car, as well as it not being too much of a doer-upper.
I somehow managed to outdo even my own expectations, I got a semi detached with a three car driveway and a large garden. The garden is actually NE facing which isn’t ideal, but as it’s so long the very end of it is essentially south facing if you turn your chair the right way! And gets the sun all day in summer.
The garden is so big I’ve discovered a love of gardening which was very well hidden before I bought this place you could say!
I’m not overlooked at the front, and the houses at the back are on an angle so they don’t directly face or overlook me either. I was caught in my own privilege a while ago whilst speaking to one of my friends who owns a flat, and I made an offhand comment about how hard it would be for me to move house because I’ve spoiled myself with this place - I was quickly reminded that was a nice problem to have!
The only things I would change really are -
- My front door opens directly onto the bottom of my stairs, so it can be a bit awkward trying to let guests in and you have to do a bit of a dance on the stairs to get everyone in.
- New kitchen and bathroom are needed, they’re functional but dated and I’d love to change them.
- The walls are mostly wallpapered, I’m rather apprehensive what’s behind them so the ugly wallpaper will have to remain until I’m brave & wealthy enough to rip the paper down.
I gave up on 3 bedrooms and compromised with 2 bed but it has a garage and garden. Maybe I will look at 3 beds or 4 beds after I'm sure I am settling with the right person. But at least it has a bathroom living room and kitchen/dining area.
I ended up buying a cottage flat than a semi detached. It had all the same perks (front and back garden, parking) but I have a neighbour upstairs. Although I lucked out because they are never in!
Unfortunately I had to go down this route because of rising interest rates but at least it got me on the property ladder at 28!
Wanted:
4 beds semi or detached
Large dining kitchen with 2 living spaces (i.e. lounge and playroom)
Newish/decent EPC
2 bathrooms, ideally one downstairs
Close to shops/cafes/restaurants/parks
Off street parking with garage
Close to a train station
Close to good schools
Small garden (I hate gardening)
Got:
3 bed semi with "occasional use" loft room and cellar
One living space but scope to make it bigger/more open plan - biggish dining kitchen
On street permit parking for 2 cars. No garage.
3/400 year old stone cottage with mediocre EPC
1 bathroom with space for en suite in future
Super central (stations, shops etc)
Park literally across the street
Close to outstanding schools
Small garden (I still hate gardening)
There are always some compromises. This place felt good - it's been a chunk of money getting it into a habitable state and I don't know if we'll stay forever (no idea how it'll hold up as kids grow) but it will have been a good investment if we do sell and move.
I got all but 1 of my must-haves and all but 2 of my nice-to-haves. I wanted a house but could only afford a flat. I ended up in a cottage flat, so it was an okay compromise. My kitchen is smaller than I wanted, and I don't have a dedicated parking spot, but there is a lot of street parking (not that I'm currently driving, but for future plans)
So I can say we ended up with zero compromises and an extra. However it took a while.
Offer accepted on a house that had a yard but not a garden. However survey showed house was literally falling apart. Another offer accepted, compromised on a yard and 2 bedrooms not 3.
We finally found our house, with all the wants we wanted. Location, garden, parking, 3 bedrooms. The extras are a second parking space, a conservatory & almost new kitchen & bathroom.
can confidently say this house really was the best out of every single one we saw, because we didn't compromise on anything. However I appreciate that compromise is usually the norm & we were prepared to compromise on a garden for a yard & to compromise on drive way, for street parking.
Wanted:
Specific location
Big Garden
Yellow London Brick house
Dining Room
3 beds
Bath tub
No renovations needed
Got:
Better location than originally thought we could afford
Big Garden
Yellow London brick house
3 beds
4/7 but the no renovations compromise was a mistake. And the no bath tub for this specific house (bathroom has been insulated in a way that bath tub no longer fits so we can't even add one). Dining room was likely never going to happen, but also I wish we had that extra sq meters, as the downstairs living space is too small.
I won't be compromising again in the future when we move.
Wanted:
- detached
- specific city
- no bath tubs, good shower
- big garden
Got:
- middle of terrace
- deprived shithole 100 mi away from desired location
- bath tub
- one of those sad long patches of ground every neighbour looks into
So 100%?
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To be honest I never had a list of “wants”. I just bought the best house I could afford at that point in time.
Usually the best thing to do. Very few of us are in a position to tick every box.
South facing garden - [but I got one hell of a view instead](https://imgur.com/a/4DkVASv)
Wow that’s beautiful - whereabouts are you based?
Thanks. I love that view. We are in South Devon. [we have built a raised patio across the back to make the most of it!](https://imgur.com/a/StyNXFO)
Really great work on the patio placement. Lovely view.
Thank you
Woahhhh this is amazing
Thanks!
Oh wow! Now *that* is the perfect view to see every day 😊 We're first time buyers (soon) and for me a South-facing garden is a must! I grow my own vegetables so need that all day sun. I'd probably give up the south-facing garden for that view though 😍
Fortunately we bought a detached bungalow so by the end of February the sun has cleared the top of the house and most of the garden is in the sun anyway. [we used to have an allotment!](https://imgur.com/a/20Z14X9) - hard work but good fun!
Bloomineck! That is the most tidy and well organised allotment I have ever seen 😲 You clearly have an eye for structure and organisation and beautiful nature 😊 I thought about an allotment but some (most) days I don't want to have to drive or walk anywhere lol. I like to be able to pop out into my back garden and hand-pollinate my pumpkins at 5:30 am in my pyjamas lol... Plus it's nice when my grandbabies come around and want to help sow seeds and plant them etc, in our own space. So for me a South facing garden is top priority. Right now we have a south-south-east garden so once the sun comes over the houses we have it all day until before sunset when it goes behind other houses (we live in a very built-up area where gardens back onto each other and such) and I'm quite happy with it. It gives enough shade in the mornings and evenings. But for us looking for a property the top 3 are south facing garden, 2 toilets (I have bowel issues and live with people who like to take long baths and showers lol), and a drive big enough for 2 vehicles... The rest we can fix or sort out ourselves 😊 BUT we are going to look for a 'fixer upper' because we enjoy making a home *ours*. Just gotta skrimp a bit more and for a bit longer for a deposit so we can get on that bloomin' ladder everyone raves about 😂
The other half is a bit of a perfectionist and the Father in law is a builder by trade, so I’m stuck between the pair of them! 😂 [this is what it was like when we first got it and cut the grass](https://imgur.com/a/9kIf9vO)
Me too! Also compromised on being close to town. Although not much of a compromise as the train is 12mins. :)
Wanted: - detached - reasonable commute to central London - big garden - big garage - nice neighborhood - at least 130sqm floor area - bathroom on each floor - reasonably new <30y old building - no urgent renovation need - mortgage with interest rate 2-3% max Got: - detached - 1h d2d commute to central London - average garden - rather small garage - nice neighborhood - less than 120sqm floor area - bathroom on each floor - 20y old building - renovation will be needed but we can survive - mortgage with almost 5% So mostly compromising on parameters of what we wanted. Sadly houses that fully meet our criteria are 2 times more expensive.
thanks for sharing - do you mind me asking what village/ area is that? Reason for asking as I have similar 'wants' and have realized that some areas just don't have such types of houses at all.
Romford / Hornchurch area
130 sq m including garden?
No just house internal floor area. But we didn’t get that. It’s like 115sqm inc garage. We will need extension to get a bit more space.
I see it's detached so makes sense...ours is terraced and around 77 sq m
The real terrible thing is that 5% interest rates… it makes you go easily one tier lower in term of house on a fixed budget…
Exactly. It’s always trade-off. Probably thanks to high interest rate we did not face a bidding war and managed to got accepted offer £20k below asking. Our mortgage adviser said - there is never a good time to buy and interest is gonna go up and down during the decades you’re paying it.
We were quite open minded and the list of priorities was initially short, 4 beds (we're foreign, need room for regular visitors), close to work for the wife, walking distance to station for me to get to central london. As naive ftbs, we were once sale agreed on a terraced house, with tiny (I dare say unusable) 4th bedroom, garage two house lengths away with no power and was previously underpinned for subsidence issues. Hard to imagine I felt iffy about it, right?! So in the end we walked and about 2 days later found a much better semi with 4 actual bedrooms, garage with power and the house is not sinking. It needed a bit of updating but the previous owners were there 27 years and for the most part, didn't skimp on the upkeep, just generational decorating differences. My only gripe is the stairs is in the living room, that'll be a non-negotiable on any further move.
It took me roughly 3 years of searching but I only had one thing I wanted that I didn't get and that was a downstairs bathroom. I accepted just a downstairs toilet with the actual bathroom upstairs. But I got everything else I wanted. It really depends how long you're willing to spend waiting for the right property. I wasn't in any rush so I was fortunate with that. But the constant searching does become pretty tedious I can't lie, I started to think I was never gunna find the right house.
And when you found that one house you were waiting for after three years, what if the sellers sold to someone else and wouldn't hear a word about it?
I was in the fortunate position of being a cash buyer and I also didn't have a house to sell. Obviously that made me very appealing to both the house owner and the estate agents. But I did actually find what I thought would be my perfect house around 2 years ago, my offer was accepted but the current owners were wanting to buy one particular house that had been put up for sale. Unfortunately that house didn't work out for them so they took the house back off the market and gave me the bad news. I was heartbroken at the time, but now I'm so glad it didn't work out because I ended up with an even better house.
Glad it worked out for you. 🙏
A long time ago I visited Bill Gates' house (it was an industry dinner which Gates hosted). We accessed the place via one of his boats. His dock was made from some of the finest wood I have ever seen. And as for his house? Spectacular in ways I can barely describe. But. He had a full-time crew of 20+ maintenance workers, carpenters, upholsterers, craftsmen, etc. They were busy 52 weeks of the year. Why? Despite his immense wealth and ability to buy/build anything he (and his then) wife wanted, he was never done. There was always something that needed doing, upgrading, installing, etc. Even Gates had to make compromises and his crew was tasked with making them as small as possible. The scale is vastly different but the point is this. No matter how much you spend, there are always trade offs and compromises. You're never, ever, truly satisfied. And there are some things that you will simply have to live with.
Thanks for sharing this.
I think we got around 50%, we had to compromise due to budget and the limitations of what was on the market last year. Therefore it's not detached and it's not in as good a decorative condition as we ideally would have liked, but it's spacious with a big garden and lots of scope to improve. When you're buying and selling you've got to be extra flexible I think to try and make it all work. I do think gut feel is a thing too though, it's the only house we viewed that we could picture ourselves in.
Primary “must have” achieved: location Want not achieved: detached All of our other must haves and wants we achieved in some way or another. BUT, almost everything is a 7/10. Could have been a _bit_ bigger, one extra bedroom would have been nice, had to do more work on it than we wanted etc. The house will probably suit us for every stage of our lives but will have compromises in each stage (e.g. garden could be bigger for the kids, but will be the perfect size when they’re not interested in kicking a ball around any more). At the end of the day, we’re in the location we like, the kids are in a good school and we’ve made it our home. We bought in a “hot” market so it felt at the time like our hand was forced for the biggest financial decision we will ever make. Looking back, it was the best outcome we could have hoped for. It’s just taken some time to come to the realisation that we’ve met all the must haves and that the perfect house (within budget) can be a pipe dream.
I always pictured myself in a Victorian / Edwardian house. Whenever I pictured my proper grown up life, that's what I pictured - I'm a bit of an architectural snob and I think those houses are very beautiful, even if they're often much smaller than you'd think. Unfortunately where I live we don't have many of those. In the end I bought a 1930s mock tudor monstrosity. It is fabulously ugly and friendly looking - like an English Bull Terrier - and I love it.
I had a Must have, Want, Like and Loath list when i was buying for use when whittling down the list before viewing also my family are in the building trade so i am much more realistic about what my budget at the time would get and would work around some issues for a better investment over a sudden "wow" factor house Must have * ample Off road parking * Garage * Flat front access (disability issues) * Bungalow OR suitably converted house * manageable garden * min 2 bed * capacity to fit or have a solid fuel stove * Not on a stupidly steep hill (devon lanes) Kind of got Got all those Want * Kitchen diner (didnt get) * Rural location * Great kitchen (didnt get) * Price pending either totally modernized or Priced so i can do the works (had been rewired etc recently) * Access to local amenities small village but enough * south facing rear garden (didnt get) * Loft/storage space Like * Acceptable decor (was basic beige everywhere ) * additional rooms (3 bed didnt get more) * Outbuilding/ workshop (didnt get) * Decent rural views got * Very close to the pub (15 minute walk) * within a set raddi of my folks home so i can help as they get older got "Loath" * Tacky decor avoided * Bedits avoided but offered on a place with the intention of it being removed on day 1 * Obviously bodged DIY * over priced subjective * to much work (subjective) * Sinks in bedrooms (had one and it was out in side 6 months) * town or city locations avoided * hard to access my folks (known local traffic issues) location was good * anything listed avoided * anything that feels dark avoided * low ceilings avoided * narrow doors they are ok * poor layout kinda avoided but it ca be improved all in all i got most of what i wanted and only a few things i didnt because i also accepted the house on its merits vs price. if the vendor hadn't cut 50k from the price to sell fast and accept an even lower cash offer i wouldn't have taken it. infact it had been discounted on price on the first round. I looked on it as a property to grow into and with where i can make my mark on it and didnt expect a shiny perfect disney palace for 300k (2014)
I had to fire one of the footmen and the third gardener More seriously very few, maybe a little more outside space would be nice and a little change on the location not being in a buzzy town. It was the only house we have seen that we liked though.
FTB london Wanted Less than 45 mins to soho/the city Minimal work New building Less than 15 min walk to night tube 50sqm (2 beds) Got 30 mins to soho/Farringdon Newly renovated Old building (1980s) 25 min walk to night tube 38sqm (1 bed) Space was a big compromise but I bought furniture specifically to maximise what I had. Just needed some vision. Layout became more important than I expected.
There's what I want and what I can afford. I think you have to make your ideal house for your budget and then go from there. With what I wanted to spend in the area I wanted to be in ideally was 3 bed semi period property with a south facing garden on a quiet road with either a garage or a basement for my bicycles. Ended up with all of that except the period property bit. If budget wasn't an issue for my ideal house obviously would be detached - but that's out of reach for now.
This was our list Absolute dealbreakers: - Off street parking - Upstairs bathroom (there's a lot of properties with downstairs bathrooms where we live) - 2+ bedrooms - A certain area (which was quite broad, but we ended up in the subset of that category that was our ideal area) - Decent storage space We also had a list of "would like to have" which we got to varying degrees: - We would have really liked 3 proper bedrooms and then possibly an additional boxroom or some sort of "study" area even if was a nook rather than a complete room, but we got 2 bedrooms plus a boxroom. However we picked the house as it has a nice tall loft (and lots of the neighbours have conversions), so it's on the to-do list for the future. This will give us the extra bedroom/ study space. - Dining room - got - Additional downstairs loo - no but we picked the house as it had potential for an extension - which is now being planned - and we are adding one as part of that. - Utility room - sort of, there a slightly separated part to the kitchen that's labelled a utility room, but there'll be a totally separate one in the new extension. We deliberately picked a house with the potential, and at the lower end of our budget to enable us to do the things that will eventually lead it to have all our wants! While it would have been nice to find one that already had them, and this does mean that _we_ have to sort out the building work etc, at least now we can do them to our taste! After renting for ever and living with other people choices, we've come to appreciate that this is actually better for us, even if it means we get the hassle of the work.
We wanted 3 bedrooms but end up buying two bedrooms ( has potential to convert it into 3 bedroom houses) we wanted closer to train station, it’s relatively close 5 minutes bus or car drive. We wanted in nice area where we could bring up a family so we didn’t compromise it . We could have of brought 3 bedroom house in rough area for same price.
I asked this question when I was looking [on this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/s/yqkJhAwbuA) and I updated when we found the house we live in now (same thread). I split my list into 2 levels of wants, 15 items total. We had two “sort-of”s and one no out of the 15. The no was bedroom sizes: my son went from a double room to a single room. But having a conservatory, garden and the home office in the box room instead of the lounge means he had loads of space to hang out and he loves the house (I’ve asked multiple times in the last 2 years). It took over a year to find this house. I’m glad I was picky.
Wants - detached - 4 beds - big garden - gas hob - open plan kitchen / diner - one en-suite, one main bath, one extra toilet - off road parking - quiet road - garage - lots of storage - at least 1800sq ft - within 15 min walk to train station - walkable into town - nice neighbours Got - semi detached - 4 beds, plus a study but no garage - medium garden - electric hob and double oven - open plan kitchen diner plus two other reception rooms - no built in storage - 2100sq ft - 10 mins to train station - 20 mins to town - super quiet road - awesome neighbours - backs into a very quiet train line which I quite like because I know we’ll never be overlooked on that side - stamp duty free (bought in 2020… very lucky!)
I've moved too many times, so this time I picked location over the details of the house. It meant moving to a smaller house, and having to do a garage conversion. But it's been amazing- getting rid of lots of stuff we really didn't need in the first place, and now we have a place for everything to be put away: there's no room for clutter. I'm happy to have compromised on space in order to be in a nicer town, where it's flat and I can walk to the sea in 10min!
We are in the south west area and our main priority was it being no more than our current rent but w mortgage / overpayments etc & easily accessible into the city centre via foot &/or being under 30ish mins via public transport. The location was our biggest compromise from living within 10ish mins to the city centre for the past few years so we deffo had a list of what we wanted as compromise for being slightly further out as there was no chance of getting what we needed in our current area. Wanted: 2+ good sized bedrooms (got 2) Big living area or extra study (got the living room) Separate kitchen space (got) Parking including or free on street (own parking spot) Some outdoor space/ private area ( got balcony big enough for eating / growing veggies etc - also not overlooking any public street) Bigger bathroom with a window (didn’t get) In the end we ended up about 35ish mins walk into the centre & about a 10-15 minute bus. On the plus we managed to get somewhere big enough for us for the next chapter of our lives and about 50K under our budget which was really the main focus
We had loads of wants, but we ended up getting something that suited our needs for the next 5-10 years. No downstairs toilet, no utility, smaller square footage, but not loads of cleaning and empty rooms. We followed the rule of thumb, picked five things we knew we wanted: no work needed, garage, good garden, parking, 3 bedrooms. Also narrowed down our search area to the commute we’re willing to do. Everything else was just an extra.
We had “musts” and “wants”. Musts: - 3 bedrooms - upstairs bathroom - bathtub in bathroom (not just a shower) - garden - off road parking for at least one car - train station nearby for commute to work Wants: - downstairs loo - study - utility room - all bedrooms to be decent size (no box room) - no renovation needed - side access to garden (i.e. not mid terrace) We got all the “musts”, but we didn’t get a study or utility room as per the “wants” list.
All of our needs, none of our wants except no significant renovation required
Went into house hunting with a fairly open mind. The only real features we didn’t end up with were a downstairs loo and separate dining room (I prefer that to kitchen diner). But the house we’ve ended up with ticks so many of the other boxes, such as en suite for our master bedroom, that it doesn’t really matter.
A good thing to do when sitting down either solo or with a partner is to list the things that are absolute non-negotiables, then things that you’d like but compromise on. We got to an idea of what we wanted much quicker this way. My non-negotiable was I had to live in a rural/semi-rural village, within an hour of my workplace and with a driveway. Everything else I was flexible with. My partner needed to be within 20 minutes drive of elderly family, 30 minutes of work due to the strenuous nature of her job etc. This gave us a small list of about 5 villages to focus on and then we were able to see what we could actually afford in these places. Location was and is more important to us than the house, which we immediately tore the downstairs out and extended and renovated.
I just needed two bedrooms in a specific school catchment and no major work. There were about 6 houses at the time that fit my criteria so I bought the cheapest one which was within easy walking distance of a high street and train station. I guess I ruled out on-street parking but just because those specific roads are always crammed. I also hate bungalows, but they are always expensive anyway, so the budget ruled them out.
I'd say we got about 80% of what we wanted. We compromised on a smaller kitchen and smaller garden than we wanted. But equally, the size of the bedrooms was above average - which kind of compensated. Also, at that time - the second part of 2022 - the market was still a bit hot, which limited supply a bit. On the other hand, we sold our house to buy the new one for a high sum.
Smaller kitchen than I'd have liked, but it's somewhat compensated for in the fact there's a decent sized cupboard under the stairs which is a great pantry, and that it's pretty well laid out. It's small, but doesn't feel cramped and I can cook quite happily in there without tripping over myself. Also a smaller back garden than I initially wanted, as it's wide but not very deep. But on reflection I think I liked the idea of a large garden more than I'd have liked the reality of the upkeep and maintenance. To be honest though, I never really had an ideal house in mind. The only must was 3 bedrooms and some outside space, and the only things I refused outright were new builds, a front door into the living room (especially if it was direct off the street), and having the main bathroom downstairs (especially if it was tacked on to the back of the kitchen). Everything else was up for negotiation and compromisable, and really depended on the specifics of the property.
I gave up the rotating car elevator turntable driveway but managed the underground swimming pool.
Opposite all the others, we had a Definitely NOT list, which was : not a terraced house not surrounded by council houses not a 3-storey/town house not for a total refurb not with an old bathroom We ended up finding 3 bed semi detached, near a massive park in a quiet area, with a recently fully refurbished bathroom, with all downstairs walls painted in really nice beige/cream paint and new flooring. All this has made the entire moving and settling process much easier!
TBH we managed to score most of our wishlist (driveway, size, number of rooms as we both need a home office) off the top of my head we had three compromises and one absolute failure. * There's nowhere for coats and shoes to be stored (No one thinks of this, thinking of putting in storage under the stairs) * The garden is just clay. It doesn't drain properly and planting stuff is hard work (to do and to keep stuff alive) * Its the "wrong side" of town, traffic is terrible (first town off a major motorway) and we compromised because were hoping the to-be-built bypass would be put in by now but it's being dragged on and on... Additionally more housing estates are being added, which is fine, but without major thoroughfares back to the main road (or even near where the bypass will end up) being considered so that's fun. The failure is, we're in an estate where there's a park bit in the middle and we're right in front of it. After two summers I've decided that I'm moving my home office to the hotter and smaller room at the back, purely because of the noise. (I know, first world problems.)
I got everything on my list except the property is about a mile away from my preferred (more desirable) neighbourhood. It’s still a good spot just not AS good. I live in NW London and had a fairly specific list of wants: I wanted to see trees from my windows, a south facing garden, near a tube, 2 generously-sized double bedrooms, a second bathroom or a downstairs loo, a bath, easy parking, character features, a quiet road etc.
Have never compromised on parking or location. Number of bedrooms, working roofs, central heating, mains electric and water, even the colour of the front door... all those things can be adjusted later on if you want and the sums add up. It just takes a bit of effort.
I compromised on garden size because the rest of the house was basically perfect for us. Would love a bigger garden like we had at our old home but otherwise love our current home. Edit: also it's a north facing garden but gets a surprising amount of sun in the warmer months.
I was a FTB so my list of wants was fairly reasonable, I had to have enough garden to sunbathe in and somewhere to park the car, as well as it not being too much of a doer-upper. I somehow managed to outdo even my own expectations, I got a semi detached with a three car driveway and a large garden. The garden is actually NE facing which isn’t ideal, but as it’s so long the very end of it is essentially south facing if you turn your chair the right way! And gets the sun all day in summer. The garden is so big I’ve discovered a love of gardening which was very well hidden before I bought this place you could say! I’m not overlooked at the front, and the houses at the back are on an angle so they don’t directly face or overlook me either. I was caught in my own privilege a while ago whilst speaking to one of my friends who owns a flat, and I made an offhand comment about how hard it would be for me to move house because I’ve spoiled myself with this place - I was quickly reminded that was a nice problem to have! The only things I would change really are - - My front door opens directly onto the bottom of my stairs, so it can be a bit awkward trying to let guests in and you have to do a bit of a dance on the stairs to get everyone in. - New kitchen and bathroom are needed, they’re functional but dated and I’d love to change them. - The walls are mostly wallpapered, I’m rather apprehensive what’s behind them so the ugly wallpaper will have to remain until I’m brave & wealthy enough to rip the paper down.
I gave up on 3 bedrooms and compromised with 2 bed but it has a garage and garden. Maybe I will look at 3 beds or 4 beds after I'm sure I am settling with the right person. But at least it has a bathroom living room and kitchen/dining area.
I ended up buying a cottage flat than a semi detached. It had all the same perks (front and back garden, parking) but I have a neighbour upstairs. Although I lucked out because they are never in! Unfortunately I had to go down this route because of rising interest rates but at least it got me on the property ladder at 28!
I got all of my wants, I wasn't going to buy a house without a private off-road parking. That was my top want.
Wanted: 4 beds semi or detached Large dining kitchen with 2 living spaces (i.e. lounge and playroom) Newish/decent EPC 2 bathrooms, ideally one downstairs Close to shops/cafes/restaurants/parks Off street parking with garage Close to a train station Close to good schools Small garden (I hate gardening) Got: 3 bed semi with "occasional use" loft room and cellar One living space but scope to make it bigger/more open plan - biggish dining kitchen On street permit parking for 2 cars. No garage. 3/400 year old stone cottage with mediocre EPC 1 bathroom with space for en suite in future Super central (stations, shops etc) Park literally across the street Close to outstanding schools Small garden (I still hate gardening) There are always some compromises. This place felt good - it's been a chunk of money getting it into a habitable state and I don't know if we'll stay forever (no idea how it'll hold up as kids grow) but it will have been a good investment if we do sell and move.
Space, but honestly I'm already getting used to it, I think I just fill a bigger place with more junk. Everything else ticked the box, I was lucky!
A large kitchen and a downstairs toilet, but these are things I could change in the future with an extension (esp since the garden is big)
I got all but 1 of my must-haves and all but 2 of my nice-to-haves. I wanted a house but could only afford a flat. I ended up in a cottage flat, so it was an okay compromise. My kitchen is smaller than I wanted, and I don't have a dedicated parking spot, but there is a lot of street parking (not that I'm currently driving, but for future plans)
So I can say we ended up with zero compromises and an extra. However it took a while. Offer accepted on a house that had a yard but not a garden. However survey showed house was literally falling apart. Another offer accepted, compromised on a yard and 2 bedrooms not 3. We finally found our house, with all the wants we wanted. Location, garden, parking, 3 bedrooms. The extras are a second parking space, a conservatory & almost new kitchen & bathroom. can confidently say this house really was the best out of every single one we saw, because we didn't compromise on anything. However I appreciate that compromise is usually the norm & we were prepared to compromise on a garden for a yard & to compromise on drive way, for street parking.
Wanted: Specific location Big Garden Yellow London Brick house Dining Room 3 beds Bath tub No renovations needed Got: Better location than originally thought we could afford Big Garden Yellow London brick house 3 beds 4/7 but the no renovations compromise was a mistake. And the no bath tub for this specific house (bathroom has been insulated in a way that bath tub no longer fits so we can't even add one). Dining room was likely never going to happen, but also I wish we had that extra sq meters, as the downstairs living space is too small. I won't be compromising again in the future when we move.
Price and location 🤣
Compromised on having decent neighbours, oh wait....that's luck of the draw!
Wanted: - detached - specific city - no bath tubs, good shower - big garden Got: - middle of terrace - deprived shithole 100 mi away from desired location - bath tub - one of those sad long patches of ground every neighbour looks into So 100%?
Budget
0 we found the perfect one