What would put you off a house...?

jexygirl

Next to or near a school would be horrendous for us and a complete deal breaker!
Unable to get down your road or park for 30-45 minutes twice a day, and then every couple of hours kids yelling and screaming round a playground for half an hour or more! No thanks!


Location is key, nothing about the house would put me off workwise, if the location worked.

CarrieVS

Must not have the bathroom through the kitchen (downstairs loo not an issue.) If it's on more than one floor, bathroom downstairs at all is a major downside, but through the kitchen is a dealbreaker.

Must have some outside space (doesn't have to be much,) preferably a back garden with some grass but I can live with a paved yard. And must have some space to the front as well, even if it's just a yard or so of "town garden" (although more than that is ideal) so that I'm not stepping directly out of my door into the public street.

No conservatory. I just can't stand the things.

Must have a shower and a bath - shower is essential for day to day convenience, and while I can do without a bath I wouldn't want to for my long-term home. Of course if there's just a bath you can put in a shower over, but I'd really want a place to have the basic facilities already.

Must not be directly on a main road, or back onto a main road or railway line. More generally, must be somewhere I'd feel able to let a cat outside.

No shared entry. I would prefer a house but I will only consider a flat if it's maisonette-style with separate entrances front and back. Partly so I can put a cat-flap in the back door and also because I'm just not having leaving my own house be a potential social activity.

No leasehold on a house. On a flat it's one way to deal with the difficulties of two properties on the same land, but on a house it's purely someone's attempt to profiteer at the expense of the homeowner.


Plenty more things that I'd consider major downsides, but I think that's all my hard nos.

[Deleted User]

Interesting thread. Lots of people on here with long lists of must not's, some of which I never even thought about!

We only bought our first house 2 years ago and with our budget we couldn't afford to be picky! However there are a few things I enjoy about our house which I wouldn't want to change....

Having enjoyed a sun trap garden for the past two years I don't think I could move to a shady one.

Parking round our village is a nightmare and I wouldn't be without our driveway. Space for two cars - and off road - is a must.

An outside tap. Random I know but believe it or not the place we lived before had no outside tap so we couldn't even wash our cars.

Must have a dining area separate to the lounge - either a kitchen/diner or a separate dining room. I hate these houses where the dining table is squeezed into a corner of the lounge. I've noticed a lot of new builds tend to do this.

Davesnave

Deleted_User wrote: »

Interesting thread. Lots of people on here with long lists of must not's, some of which I never even thought about!

But many of them aren't immutable, so perhaps they haven't really thought that hard.


Then there are those for whom it's still theoretical...

Murphybear

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

What's wrong with bungalows????

We bought a bungalow surrounded by gardens. It was our favourite property ever:D

Sapphire

Nothing when it comes to decor or layout (providing the latter is fixable if necessary; I would like at least one room with tall ceiling). I prefer to decide on decor especially myself, so wouldn't care if a kitchen was a standard generic modern one. I would change it. Fixable structural issues would be OK, provided they weren't massive, like dry rot.

Same with garden. I hate those plastic lawns, for instance, but they are easily removed and the garden can then be planted up.

I wouldn't like:

Rough, scruffy, run-down neighbourhood (soul-destroying and wouldn't feel safe in such).
Too big a garden (a huge amount of work, experienced before), though must have a garden.
New build of any kind.
Anything potentially very noisy, for whatever reason.
Difficult access to shops (must be on foot for most things), and lack of other amenities.
Property too dark.
Lack of period details a minus for me.
Close to school.
Overlooked by other properties.