How many houses did you view?

phoebe1989seb

When we were FTBs I think we viewed about three or four properties. We weren't bothered about parking spaces as neither of us drove, but we did want character and outside space - we ended up with a huge semi-basement Victorian flat opposite the seafront with a small courtyard garden, which was fine as we had no kids then and only stayed two years before trading up to a Victorian terrace. With that second purchase we viewed loads - about fifteen - but knew straight away it was *the one* as it had all its original fireplaces and original dividing doors between two of the three reception rooms, as well as a cellar and decent sized garden......still no parking though

We did buy a couple of large Victorian detached houses that had no parking. One was a complete PITA as it was on a main road, bus stop outside the front garden, traffic lights close by and double yellows on both sides of the road. We rented a garage opposite in a conversion block (former convent) which made life a little easier, but I hated every minute we lived there (five long years, lol!) and only accepted the lack of drive/parking at the next house because a) it was a *very* special house and b) we had residents' permit parking.

More recently (we're on property number seven now ), we've got more picky and go for the quirky, one-off houses! The last four purchases I think we've viewed no more than four each time. In fact there was one occasion when we viewed just the one - a private sale where we only sold our house in order to buy that particular one. We've both known as soon as we walked through the door - even though one was literally a wreck with no electric lights or kitchen - that they were the one we wanted to buy. Luckily we both appreciate the same things

Current house we only viewed one other as we knew that the style and type of house we wanted (arts & crafts) were thin on the ground at our price point. I'd have bought it without seeing inside tbh and I think we'd have withdrawn from our sale had we lost it.........

Gigervamp

glasgowdan wrote: »

I've not read everything, but a house without parking can have a driveway added surely?

Depends on whether the house has a front garden, or one that's big enough. A lot of terraced houses in the Midlands don't have any front garden.

marksoton wrote: »

One thing i would say is i think people underplay how hard it is buying as a couple.

Whilst it does mean you have two pairs of eyes it also complicates things. Most couples ( They probably won't admit it! ) are not perfectly alligned as to what they expect from a property.

You see that often on the house buying programmes. One half of the couple falls in love with a house, but the other hates it.


OP, why not consider, as a compromise, extending the age range of the houses? Most houses built up to the 60s have decent sized rooms and gardens, and have some character. My nan lived in a house built in the 30s and it was nice. Ok, the 3rd bedroom was a box room, but you could fit a single bed and a chest of drawers and some toy boxes in there.
You haven't even had kids yet, so it'll be a long while before you need all bedrooms to be big enough for a double bed. Even when they're in their teens, they don't need double beds.

Oh, and the only time I bought a house (with an ex), we put an offer in on the 1st house we saw, but pulled out after the survey scared ex! After that, we viewed 3 properties. The house we bought was a horrible 70s house, but it was in a nice pedestrianised cul-de-sac where all the kids played out together. Parking was around the edges of the cul-de-sac in bays, and we all had garages there too.

Rolandtheroadie

Emmazom wrote: »

Just wondered how many houses everyone viewed before purchasing their home? Hopefully this will encourage rather than dishearten me.

Technically two. We viewed another one across the road from it when it came up, but only to make our sellers think we might go with the second house.

That was as a FTB in 2000, we're still here, and will only move if one of our kids have a family one day and want it.

Cakeguts

Over 25 years ago about 5. Then gave up because we couldn't find what we wanted in an acceptable area and then found the one we bought by accident when looking in the paper.

Thrugelmir

Emmazom wrote: »

Rather than being told to not be picky, this is likely to be the largest purchase of my life, so of course I would like to get as many ticks in the boxes as possible for my budget.

Odds on you'll move. So treat your first property as a stepping stone.
A home is what you make it.

Mickygg

So if parking is that important, before viewing why don't you ask if there is a parking space? That would avoid wasting many people's time.

Emmazom

Mickygg wrote: »

So if parking is that important, before viewing why don't you ask if there is a parking space? That would avoid wasting many people's time.

as mentioned above, we did ask and the agent wasn't sure if there was rear access or not