Top priority when buying a house

ben_m_g

We are half looking at the moment, a huge net to cast but very few fish.

Location is one, good schools and local amenities
Size is a biggy, small children need lots of space.
Possibility, I like to make a mark on my home and I really don't like throwing money away for nothing.


I find it very hard to find such a property,

Anything in the 'right' location, isn't big enough (or not on the market).
Anything 'big' enough is very basic on the inside and leaves no budget to improve
Any many if not all have no potential, refurbished kitchens or bathrooms.
(Something I despise, not only is the owner going to want more for the property because of perceived value, but you then have to pay to get rid of it, then pay to put what you wanted in the first place.)

pinkshoes

1. Location

2. Parking (minimum off road for 2, cars)

3. Decent size garden.

Fluffi

Location - both in terms of convenience for me and also in general e.g. will it be sellable to broad market when its time to move on.

Layout/space has to be adequate but if the location is wrong then it doesn't matter.

Decoration can always be fixed...

avenida

Fluffi wrote: »

Location - both in terms of convenience for me and also in general e.g. will it be sellable to broad market when its time to move on.

Layout/space has to be adequate but if the location is wrong then it doesn't matter.

Decoration can always be fixed...[/QUOTE

The 2 houses are much the same size, just different layouts and one is newer than the other

BabyBoots

1. Location
2. Room sizes & shapes
3. Sunlight
4. Layout of rooms
5. Standard of workmanship (don't want to spend the rest of my life fixing Frank Spencer's house)
6. Parking
7. Anything that's nice to look at - fireplace, feature window, view etc
8. Easy to clean/manage
9. Nice kitchen & bathroom

I've struggled to get to 5 so far!

gazter

avenida wrote: »

Ok guys, when you are buying a house what is top of the list?

Is it location, finish or layout maybe?

Saw a house in no 1 location but needs work and layout not exactly how I would like it, then there is this other house gorgeous inside, excellent layout but not in top location

opinions please

High speed broadband.... It drove my wife nuts. Ironically, the perfect house we did find had 1/4 to 1/2 meg broadband, but was amazing in every other way. I had to get a mast mounted at the back for broadband with a local company. A year later and i now have 40meg fibre. All is well with the world.

But aside from broadband. Some things that were important to us:
i) Earning potential. ie. If we needed to, would the property be big enough to earn us income via lodgers.
ii) Location. I had to be on a certain edge of my city otherwise many of my journeys would add ten to twenty minutes on every day.
iii) Did it look totally awesome.

On all three points our house hit the spot!

heath480

Location.

South facing garden (my preference).

Armorica

enough bedrooms (5 or 6 ideally!)
location - trains into London
affordable

can't be too picky about much after that as that's already a pretty small set

Old_Git

price ( can I afford it )
location (do the drug dealers live next door )
layout
do I like it /could I like it when finished .

wrkactjob

Yards to pub.