Perfect House or is there always a compromise?

RX-78

We divided our into "essential", "must not have" and "Niceties". Finally found a property we are in process of buying and its the one we discounted at first straight away on internet

Essntial
Less than 30min drive from work (our work place is in different cities!) - tick
Nice suburban area - tick
More than 2 bed rooms - tick
Garden - tick
Broadband - tick

Preferred
Less than 250k - given up after seeing several houses in the ideal area
South facing/paved garden - also given up after seeing the prices
Study - tick (well I've won a room for it)
Walking distance from pub/bar - tick
Garage - tick and tick
Near by shops - given up
Large kitchen - given up (well kind of, thinking of extending)
In need of modernization & reduced price to reflect this - tick
Not overlooked - tick
Downstairs toilet - tick
Good school near by - well half tick

Must not have
Near station/main road - tick
No ASBO family - tick (well we think)

So we've done well we think!

pingu2209

Everyone's wish list is different:

Within the catchment area of a particular school (this can add £80k on to the price at least)
Not on a main road
Decent sized garden, not over looked
Garage
Decent living space
Large kitchen you can fit a table for 6

scrummy_mummy_2

Your wish list will change over time too, so in 15 years your needs and wants will be completley different in ways you cannot imagine now.
I have lived in my home for 14 years and we have remodelled it and are still doing work on it as our family grows and changes...as long as the fundamentals are right everything else can be worked with.
When we moved in the local comp was rubbish! but now it is massively oversubscribed, we live on a busy A road, but they are moving the 'old' comp and rerouting traffic, so the flow will be lighter (can't hear it in the back garden anyway!)......nothing is ever set in stone so buy something you will be happy in because you cannot buy happiness and all the other stuff like good schools, how busy the road is, neighbours can change at the drop of a hat.

tara747

pingu2209 wrote: »

Everyone's wish list is different:

Within the catchment area of a particular school (this can add £80k on to the price at least)
Not on a main road
Decent sized garden, not over looked
Garage
Decent living space
Large kitchen you can fit a table for 6

Whaaaaat????? Private education would be cheaper! :eek:

penguingirl

Our 'wish list' change dramatically when we were looking (as our budget stretched with it...)

In the end we wanted:
quiet and good road- tick
parking (preferably enough for 2)- tick
a hallway- tick
3 beds- tick (but fairly small)
a garden- tick
a good sized kitchen- tick
a lovely kitchen- nope, but hopefully we will have it soon!
no structural work required- tick
a good bathroom- nope, but again hopefully we can do it

We also ended up with a ensuite and loads of storage but they weren't on our 'must have' list. Unfortunately we have a lot of decorating/ modernising to do- but we can do that given time.

tara747

I am sooo tempted to look for somewhere that needs redecorating (and has a lower price to reflect this etc etc) as I'm sure that I'll want to redecorate anyway so there's no point in paying more for a house that doesn't need anything done and then spending loads on decor! Does that make sense???

confuseddad_2

When we went to see our present house it was a complete wreck. Everything needed doing and I mean everything but it just was the one!

Good area, lots of space and the most important and the main reason we moved it had a garden and fortunately it was south facing. We wernt looking seriously but it came up and meant a lot of sleepless nights, with funding and selling our currant house at the time.

Took 6 months of intensive work and we are still on with it, but it was the classic worst house in the best street and know well it looks and is great.

And if we looked to buy it know we definattly couldnt afford it. Still cant really but in it untill they carry me out in a wooden box.

tara747

How do you afford the renovations? Do you keep back some of your savings for it or do it and pay for it as you go along?

morg_monster

tara747 wrote: »

I am sooo tempted to look for somewhere that needs redecorating (and has a lower price to reflect this etc etc) as I'm sure that I'll want to redecorate anyway so there's no point in paying more for a house that doesn't need anything done and then spending loads on decor! Does that make sense???

But there is a gradient of "redecoration". Our house had grubby walls in a few rooms; kids drawings on them etc, we just had to prep and paint, easy peasy, each room has taken a day at the most and didn't cost much. Easy to do this if you just want to change the colour scheme.

At the other end of the scale you have to have walls replastered, rip down wallpaper that's been up for 40 years, etc etc. Much bigger job, may have to hire equipment, get pros in or have days off work to finish it in a decent timescale, etc. I would say only this latter type of redecorating would be reflected in the price. So just consider which end of the scale you are at.

confuseddad_2

First month we had to fund two homes then we sold our old house and realised the equity we had built up.

Drew up a budget and went for it. half of the money we had we paid of the purchase price and the rest we did as much work as the money allowed.

Al the big jobs re wire, central heating, roof, wall ties, pointing first. Bathroom. Kitchen one sitting room and two bedrooms for us and dear daughter next. Then we moved in.

Just finished the hall and stairs decoration for this x mas.

Make a budget, get some quotes and try and stick to it. have a little put back for the un seen and do whats possible as time and money allows.