Perfect House or is there always a compromise?

sequin123

Hi

I would just be interested to know when you bought you house, did you hold out for a full list of ticks against your priorities or is there always some kind of compromise.

So we have seen a house (3 bed detached) and this is my tick list:

Nice road (V important) - prob best road in area, all houses immaculate
South gacing garden - yes tick
Not overlooked - yes tick (good for newish house)
Off Road Parking - hmmm yes but garage and drive a back of house as corner plot, would prefer traditional garage on side of house with parking at the front
Reasonable inside and average space - very good condition no work needed

So is there always a compromise (ie parking) or do you hold out for a full list of ticks? We have been under offer now for 8 weeks and just struggling to find anything as not much coming on and this one has the most ticks to date.

Just be interested to hear your experience and whether you compromised and if you did, did you regret it?

Thanks:)

Emmzi

you can hold out if you have endless time and money. That's the real trade.

vegasvisitor

I suppose it depends upon availability in your chosen area, and also budget too!

Without seeing what you mean with the drive/garage I can't really see how that's a major problem. It is however something you probably can't change, whereas inside condition would be fixable if it was the box which wasn't ticked.

I guess when we moved last time we compromised (due to budget as we were 26 at the time). We live in a 1/4 villa, and I suppose given the choice we would have preferred not to be in a 'flat' type house. However it does have its own garden so it didn't really seem to matter.

If the garage and drive really annoy you then I suggest you don't do it. You need to think about how much a 'traditional garage at the side' is important to you.

jonewer

If I found a house that had everything I wanted it would cost a £bazillion!

I think you always have to compromise.

We always said we didnt want anywhere that was near a road that was even remotely busy, but have now found a place on a moderately busy road but with the pay off that the other side of the road is forest and parkland.

You have to take the ying with the yang.

goldengirl28

we are having to make some compromises

street - perfect location
south facing garden - yes
garage and off street parking - yes BUT, garage needs replacing as derelict
4 beds - yes
ensuite - yes but needs updating
good size garden - yes
good size rooms - yes but needs a complete redecorate

our biggest trade off is that we wanted a house that we could move straight into, without any work...................to get the location, i'm having to trade this off................its needs loads ow work

TOBRUK

Hi sequin123, well I bought my house as FTB and so first of all (like everyone) I had a budget. When looking for a house I wanted it in a nice area, but as I was viewing I was trying to imajine myself living there, I went round every room and tried to make a list of costs I would have such as decorating, new carpets (if needed) storage needs, new bathroom suite (if needed), age of boiler (potential big cost to renew) etc.

I don't think you can find any property without one room that needs work, or something that doesn't quite work but I needed to work out if I would at some point be able to make changes that would make it exactly how I wanted it. After my first viewing of the house, I had a feeling that it was right but then I made a list of pros and cons. After the second viewing I made an offer and I have never regreted it. I added a conservatory which I love.

I am now going to sell but only because I need to because of my health (need to move nearer to family and buy a bungalow) otherwise I would be quite happy staying here. I have been looking at properties again but now I have a totally different list of needs.

I have found the perfect bungalow - the only downside I can see with the property is storage, but I know I can get around the problem, so this would be a minor problem. It is in the perfect location and near family. A totally different property, it's a new build and no work needed I can just move in. Beautiful kitchen with granite worktops etc. I only hope that I will be able to sell the house to be able to make an offer before it's sold.;)

sequin123

Thanks for your replies so far, its really interesting to read and seems that unless you have an endless budget then a compromise is likely..

lesley74 wrote: »

IWithout seeing what you mean with the drive/garage I can't really see how that's a major problem. It is however something you probably can't change, whereas inside condition would be fixable if it was the box which wasn't ticked.

As it is a fairly new house, its on a corner plot so assume they dont have the space for a drive so that put the garage at the rear of the property - so technically you access through the bottom of your garden or walking around the outside of your house.....

pimento

We discounted the house we now live in without even viewing it. It's on a main road (busy B road), it's garden faces north-east and it's next door to a part-time fire station.

When the house we were buying fell through just before exchange, we went and viewed it and as soon as I walked into the lobby I knew that I was going to buy the house. It just felt right.

I know that sounds really silly, but we'd viewed about 20 houses and I hadn't had that feeling with any of them except the one we now live in.

adg1

It is almost impossible to find the perfect property, unless you build it yourself from scratch in your perfect location.

Thats why people have to compromise on something, normally the size, the location or the budget.

To find one that matches everything you want bar the garage needing rebuilding and some cosmetic work I think you've done well.

Bufger

Its always a trade-off in my opinion. You have to be willing to sacrifice one thing for another at some point. Here is my list and what i ended up settling for.

South facing garden of reasonable size - Check
Garage - Massive double garage!
Driveway - Nope. Permission accepted to drop kerb so is a future possibility
Hallway entrance - check
Lots of Kitchen workspace - MASSIVE kitchen
Near good schools - Check
No roadnoise when inside - Check

The one thing i did say is it MUST have a driveway and in the end the house i loved didnt have one. It does have scope to knock down a wall, have the right surface applied and a kerb dropped. It also has other off street parking out the front so its not a complete loss. I'm happy with the trade!

ET1976

I think the extent to which it's reasonable to compromise is proportional to the length of time you plan to be in the house.

We compromised on various things for our current house because it made financial sense and we always planned to be in the house only medium-term. Our next move is (planned) to be to a house we will stay in long-term so we will want all the boxes ticked (assuming the list of boxes starts off within our budget!).