Buying a Bungalow

hazyjo

It's more about having windows open in summer during the night. I now sleep very soundly on our third floor knowing nobody's gonna be climbing in the window during the night (well, apart from Spiderman, maybe!).

Perhaps that's just me as an ex-London resident though. Friend of mine lived in a ground floor flat and got burgled while she slept in her bed (couple of streets away from my old house - horrible as she lives alone), and my sister and her family (3 kids) got burgled while they all slept in their beds last Christmas. They were asleep upstairs, but if that had been a bungalow... nah, not for me. That was enough to scare the bejesus outa me (and them!). Might have meant the burglars would have been heard, granted. But I'm not sure that's safer or riskier! And they might have come in through a bedroom window - not sure I'd like the worry.

Have considered the odd one or two, but there's always been something I've prefered and I've never viewed one with the intention of buying. An ex lived in one out in the middle of nowhere just outside Preston - that felt okay I suppose, but that might just be the hazy wine-fuelled memories!

I suppose if it were my home, I'd be sleeping with one eye open...

Jx

csnann

It will cost a bit more to heat as you won't get the benefit of the ground floor heat rising to warm your bedrooms. If you are well insulated, it shouldn't cos much more, though.

mrputney08

I love my detached bungalow. You will pay a little more for the land but I love it. I watch the foxes and badgers in my front garden, it's great. Make sure it's at least set back from the road if you can.
But no dragging the vacuum cleaner up the stairs. No getting on tall ladders to clean the windows. It's can be nice and toasty in the winter thanks to a government grant aided loft insulation, your own seals on the doors, and it pays to invest in good quality thick curtains to keep the heat in.
Also if you are still living there when you're old and grey and your joints can't manage the stairs, no worries, lol.

chris_m

mrputney08 wrote: »

But no dragging the vacuum cleaner up the stairs. No getting on tall ladders to clean the windows.
Also if you are still living there when you're old and grey and your joints can't manage the stairs, no worries, lol.

My thoughts too for when I retire - another being able to just use a stepladder (or short pole with a hook on) to clear gutters.

My ideal will be one with a converted loft for the bedroom - when I get too doddery for the stairs I'd just move down into one of the "original" bedrooms.

tyllwyd

My main consideration with a bungalow would be privacy for the bedrooms. My MILs bungalow has the bedrooms on a corridor, with the front door at the end of that corridor. So if you've slept in, and you want to dash along the corridor to the bathroom in your dressing gown, if someone has called at the door you end up trapped waiting for them to leave. And when the kids were little and I'd put them to bed, visitors would always end up talking loudly as they said goodbye and wake them up again.

It's not a deal breaker, but I would have a look to see if the bedrooms could be organised so that they were slightly away from the main living area.

Aquatronixjenny

I live in a bungalow and love it. The bedrooms are well away from the main living area - and my bedroom has patio doors leading to an enclosed area of the garden so its lovely in summer. We're in a very quiet area so no worry about leaving windows open overnight. My only main worry would be that a cat or a fox could get in which is why my daughters bedroom window is always shut when she's in bed.

I love the fact that I don't have to drag the vacuum cleaner up the stairs. My daughter can play in her bedroom and I know she's only just down the corridor if she needs me, we don't have to use stairgates etc.

The option to extend is always there as we have an enormous attic.