Checklist when buying your next home?

kzzhar0

My partner and I are looking to sell our current home and move into somewhere bigger as we'd like to start a family. We have compiled a list of what is we are looking for but I was wondering what are your must-haves when looking for homes?
How many have you viewed? We have viewed one so far which we love but have been warned off jumping straight in.
I think its good to have other opinions of what to look for as it may bring up some ideas which we've not had so far.
We also need to think about how big our mortgage can be realistically which is difficult as a dream home requires a larger one...
Anyway, ideas would be much appreciated!
Thanks!

LandyAndy

My must haves could be totally different to yours so no point in me listing them.


However, The one thing every house I've bought has had is the feeling, within 30 seconds of walking in, that 'this is the house for me'.

kzzhar0

LandyAndy wrote: »

My must haves could be totally different to yours so no point in me listing them.


However, The one thing every house I've bought has had is the feeling, within 30 seconds of walking in, that 'this is the house for me'.

The whole point in this thread was to see if anybody else's thread could make us think of anything we may have forgotten. Especially if you have kids, as we don't but would like to start a family, there may be things that we haven't necessarily thought about which we need to.

Thanks anyway.

Bossypants

Next time I will try my very best not to compromise on plot size or location, they are the only true unchangeables. No kids here though.

LandyAndy

kzzhar0 wrote: »

The whole point in this thread was to see if anybody else's thread could make us think of anything we may have forgotten. Especially if you have kids, as we don't but would like to start a family, there may be things that we haven't necessarily thought about which we need to.

Thanks anyway.

Sharing what you've thought of already might help.

warehouse

Kids = garden, schools, open spaces and safety. How many are you going to have and is there enough space in the house or room to grow the house upwards or sideways?

Neighbours are vitally important. Never buy a house next door to an unkempt or rubbish strewn garden, if they don't care about themselves then what do you think they think of their neighbours?

Sunlight. South or south East facing garden is important to me.

Transport links. I bought a place very near a tube station and I'm so glad I did.

Chimney breasts are important for me as I like the option of a real fire/gas fire/wood burner.

But as someone above said already, when you walk in to the right one you'll know.

Rambosmum

None-negotiable for us were:
- area (good schools, local amenities, 'nice')
- Width of living room - no less than 3.7m.
- potential for improvement
- 4 bedrooms and 2 reception rooms or 3 bedrooms and 3 reception rooms (or plot size to build this).
- storage



We were very much looking for a 'fixer-upper' though, so our requirements were less about the specifics and more about space, location, potential and overall feel.

Wobblydeb

I'll play

For this move it was:

• 4 bedrooms or 3 + a separate study so grandparents have a room to stay when they visit. At the moment we have to move our toddler into our room when they visit. He also loses a lot of space to the double bed for them. It is a pain in the butt not having his clothes and toys to hand, and he will need a proper bed soon.
• South or West facing garden - I don't want to sit in the shadow of our house in the summer evenings
• Off street parking - we want to be able to charge our car at home.
• Kitchen diner or the ability to create one
• In the right school catchment if we moved before applying for schools and near to work so we don't have long commutes
• Preferably detached
• Separate utility room - washing machines are noisy, and at the moment I have to go outdoors to the garage to put stuff in the tumble dryer
• Not much work to do - full time job + toddler = not much time or energy left for DIY

In our area that is mostly large houses >£600k (the garden and off road parking are the features in short supply). So we did look at semi-detached but then jumped at a rare detached <£500k. The compromise is that it is modern so much smaller rooms than all the old Victorian housing stock.

trailingspouse

Back in the day when we were moving house with children, we chose the school first (and assuming you'll be staying a while, don't forget about the high schools as well as the primaries). Then we thought about the house.

We looked at the house we eventually bought on a lovely October day - there was a large grassed area in front, and you couldn't moved for kids and bikes - and I knew that this was the house for us.

I've always used a 'shopping list' when looking for a house, divided into 'must-haves' and 'would be nices'. So, for example - must have 3 bedrooms, 4 would be nice.

NaughtiusMaximus

warehouse wrote: »

Neighbours are vitally important. Never buy a house next door to an unkempt or rubbish strewn garden, if they don't care about themselves then what do you think they think of their neighbours?

I would extend that condition to at least 10 houses either side plus the same distance on the opposite side of the road. Nightmare neighbours don't just make the lives of those next door to them miserable.

RobertoMoir

I would say it varies but for us, this time round:

• Large Kitchen
• Good plot size - 4 bedrooms and a study.
• Good sized garage and/or driveway
• Decent garden.
• En-suite to master.
• No major renovation requirements (e.g. if it needs a new kitchen or an updated bathroom we'd consider it, if it needed both then not really likely).