Top priority when buying a house

cloo

If it's for long term living, I'm quite a fan of my mum's maxim to 'buy as much space as you can afford'

For me location and space are top, decorative order somewhere at the bottom. Not interested in paying a premium for perfect decor we'll probably want to change anyway.

avenida

Paully232000 wrote: »

When we bought location was at the top of the priority and as we were in no rush when we started looking we could wait, and we wanted it as a forever house and obviously cant change the location.
In the end we chose a house in the location we wanted, the layout was fine, including space front and back. The only thing was that it had not been decorated, or really looked after in the 12 years since it had been built, including settlement cracks still in every room. Now, nearly a year later have decorated everywhere and is as near perfect a house as we could have found.

Thank you :-) The 2 houses we are looking at are both about the same size, but the one in best location is just not as pretty looking, think we need to go back and c them both

Paully232000

avenida wrote: »

Thank you :-) The 2 houses we are looking at are both about the same size, but the one in best location is just not as pretty looking, think we need to go back and c them both

Yes I would recommend going back to see them. The house we live in now, at first, we had discounted it, but on reflection/second look changed our mind when we actually thought in detail of the work that needed doing (not as much as we first thought). As a bonus, not that we are selling, a couple of houses of a similar size, and standard to how our house is now have recently sold for between 15-20% more than we paid.

ellie27

Location is top for us and in particular catchment areas for good schools.

I would be happier in a smaller, poorly decorated house in a great location than a large pretty house in a poor location.

DigForVictory

View at least twice, buy once.
Otherwise no matter what your priorities, that's an impulse buy.

Presuming the money is sorted, I'd say location top priority, layout 2nd (as long as it isn't Listed, you can always lay about with a lump hammer, although I really do recommend an architect's help spotting load bearing walls First, there) & finish well down the list.

Once you've got timber, damp, electricals, heating, lighting & plumbing checked & sorted, any finish you had will need a rigorous scrubbing as a minimum!

All the best!

moneyistooshorttomention

Location...location...location.

The rest can always come later.

TrixA

While location is probably the most important single factor, for me there can't be any deal-breakers. For example we wanted a decent garden, so crossed off anything with a tiny or north-facing garden. We also wanted a good sized kitchen, so crossed off anything with a small one unless the property was readily extendable. In the end we did have to compromise somewhat on location, because we couldn't find anything in our ideal location and within our price range that had no deal-breakers. We compromised in the sense that we're 15 mins from the station instead of 5 mins.

Davesnave

Yes location is very important, but beware, it isn't always what it's cracked-up to be.

We rented for 9 months in a road that was more highly regarded than the one we'd sold in. By the time we left, we were glad we'd not purchased there, especially as there would have been a £50k premium for the privilege.

Before we moved on, we threw a party for all those in the cul de sac who wanted to come along and have a nosy inside our landlord's Mum's old house. There were only about 20 houses in the close, yet a good number of residents didn't know each other, despite living there many years.

So, if a 'good location' just means access to amenities, tidy gardens and a higher % of street trees, it's not enough for me. I want community too.

Kynthia

Location can't be changed, so it is the most important. However that doesn't mean you only buy in the most highly regarded road, it means you buy an acceptable property in the general area you want with the amenities/schools/transport links you want. However if you can't afford to buy a property that meets your needs in that location then you need to compromise.


I wanted to live in a certain town. I've had to buy at the other side to the station which I really didn't want as rising prices meant we couldn't get the size/space and layout we needed. I also compromised slightly on the house itself but it had the most important things, and I'm still in the town with lots of the benefits I wanted, as opposed to the next town where I could have had a better house which ticked every box and also had more potential. However I would have regretted being in the other town more than I regret the compromises on the property. It's a balancing act.

avenida

Kynthia wrote: »

I wanted to live in a certain town. I've had to buy at the other side to the station which I really didn't want as rising prices meant we couldn't get the size/space and layout we needed. I also compromised slightly on the house itself but it had the most important things, and I'm still in the town with lots of the benefits I wanted, as opposed to the next town where I could have had a better house which ticked every box and also had more potential. However I would have regretted being in the other town more than I regret the compromises on the property. It's a balancing act.

Its really hard balancing isnt it ?