What would put you off a house...?

Mahsroh

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Cat - okay...I like cats...but I'm not sure whether I'll ever actually get one personally....so don't have to take that into account (can fully understand if Puss is a member of the family....).

We've had two new additions to the family recently, and I must admit, it does add an extra dimension when looking at properties. I do find myself saying "it's too close to a main road" but then even "could we fit a catflap in that door" :rotfl:

moneyistooshorttomention

Akahotpot wrote: »

Still waiting to move in to my new house but

My search criteria changed quite a lot as I viewed different properties
Stated off wanting a couch house or 2 bed flat with garage very low maintenance inc outside
I,m a widowed man with motorbikes so I need a garage/workshop shed or the space to build one
I,ve ended up buying a semi detached 1997 2 bed house
The things that I realised I actually wanted was
Freehold
A driveway
A conservatory
A rear garden that can host both a garage and a seating area

..and the thing one shouldn't even have to bother to specify because "Of course that's how things are - obviously" here being freehold...

and the other blindingly obvious one being "Of course the Council deal with their responsibilities - ie the road and communal areas are adopted of course - and it's down to them".

[Deleted User]

I have seen a stunning build today but the garden was small with a poor orientation and not enough room for my workshop tools. The deal breaker was when I saw that the obviously disgruntled neighbour had planted a complete row of leylandii right up against her rickety fence, right on the boundary. I walked away

Tootling

Interesting replies coming from people.

For me I think what put us off houses were...

On main road. Too noisy!

Too isolated... I don't drive so although i wouldn't mind living somewhere remote i would be trapped. It has limited us which has been annoying.

In need of too much updating or too much work. We wouldn't be able to afford it or have patience. I don't mean simply not looking the kitchen...

Gaudy wallpaper such as I've seen. Yuck. I guess if the rest of the house was perfect and nothing else compared... I would not let that put me off. But if the choice was between horrid wallpaper and less offensive decor I'd go for the least offensive.

Door that leads straight onto living room as people have said. Feels insecure.

No gas. I like cooking on gas. Although i guess that is something i could have overcome.

Septic tanks or oil heating.

Wood burners.

Open plans.

No off street parking

Terraced

Too much social housing.

And i know this shouldn't put me off.. but going into a house that doesn't feel like a home. With barely any furnishings or old tat that looks like they've just been bought from a charity shop. It makes me wonder if they actually enjoyed living there.

I don't mind a room which is used for an odd purpose but i also hate seeing things given away to junk with stuff just thrown in. Just get rid of it!

AdrianC

Tootling wrote: »

Too isolated... I don't drive so although i wouldn't mind living somewhere remote i would be trapped. It has limited us which has been annoying.

Assuming it's not a medical restriction, that one's easy to address.

Akahotpot

..and the thing one shouldn't even have to bother to specify because "Of course that's how things are - obviously" here being freehold...

It my part of world NW its not that easy to avoid leasehold property's if fact the house I sold was leasehold but 999 years £5 a year with a absent landlord so until my buying journey and being on this forum I didn't think leasehold was an issue ...but there are leaseholds and there are leaseholds

new_owner

Nothing shared...So No

Terrace
Semi
access
leasehold

Bedrooms that are all double and I mean you can get off the bed on all sides and not a double bed thats been wedged into a room.

Separate rooms ... No Open Plan from lounge to kitchen.
Proper Usable Ensuites

Correct number of bedrooms .. Not turning part of the living space into a something/bedroom
Garage I can get my car into and not just use for storage
Driveway for 2-3
No Flood Zone
No Fake grass
No serious crime
No tiny gardens with mostly paved areas
No big shops nearby
No pubs/cafes/etc nearby
No main roads outside the house/garden

Has to be in close walking of - river/canal or sea and woods etc

moneyistooshorttomention

Akahotpot wrote: »

It my part of world NW its not that easy to avoid leasehold property's if fact the house I sold was leasehold but 999 years £5 a year with a absent landlord so until my buying journey and being on this forum I didn't think leasehold was an issue ...but there are leaseholds and there are leaseholds

Indeed - there are "leaseholds in theory" and "leaseholds in practice (ie the exploitative modern-day version)".

Admits I'd stop and hesitate a bit about the old style version - as this isn't something we are familiar with in my part of the country (ie I'd never heard of it until this forum). I would refuse pointblank to buy a house with the modern-day version.

kylej64

I am about to try and sell my flat and purchase a house in a few weeks, and I've actually been thinking about this for quite a while. For me the deal breakers would be:

No off-road parking (I don't want to come home after a long day at work and then have to waste time trying find somewhere to park). Though loads of cars parked on the road in the evenings and weekends would also put me off but not a definite deal breaker.

No upstairs toilet. I could live with the bathroom being downstairs but navigating stairs in the middle of the night if I need to pee would be a definite NO!

Small garden with no direct sunlight. Orientation isn't the relevant factor as a long North facing garden where the back half has direct sun would be ok. A medium south facing garden where large trees to the south are cutting of all/most of the light would rule a house out.

Bad speed bumps. The three going across the road are fine, the ones that run the entire width of the road are usually only a little irritating but some of those are just too big. Last time I was looking to buy I spent a day driving round places I'd seen on Rightmove to deciding what I wanted to view. One of the places (small 2 bed house) had a horrendous bump that scrapped my car as I drove over it. On the way back I took it at 10 mph and still scrapped my exhaust. I wouldn't have bought that even if they had halved the price.

I have a massive list of negative things that would make me less inclined but the top few are:

Conservatories, I just don't get putting a glass room that is cold and unusable for half the year unless you spend a fortune heating it at the back of your house. Also, I'd rather have the space in the garden.

Near a school, not for the school itself, I have lived near them before and they don't bother me. What I hate is the army of parents parking everywhere making the roads impassable twice a day.

[FONT=&quot]On a major road, as I want to be able to sit and relax in my garden for the 7-14 days of the British summer.[/FONT]

Davesnave

kylej64 wrote: »

Conservatories, I just don't get putting a glass room that is cold and unusable for half the year unless you spend a fortune heating it at the back of your house. .

There are conservatories and conservatories.

Ours is better built than most, so today it was heating the house.

Even last week, when it was -6c outside and blowing a gale, we were working in the conservatory, kept at a reasonable 19c by the wood burner in the living room. Admittedly our fuel for that's mostly free, but we were slightly amazed by the ease in which we were able to use the conservatory in such inclement conditions.

Christmas dinner was in there too, so I'm not sure when these unusable months are? Maybe in the evenings of winter, because we wouldn't heat then, when there are other warm rooms.