Did your purchase match your original criteria?

Thrugelmir

The perfect property most certainly exists. However somebody else already owns it. Been fortunate to visit some some stunning properties over the years. Including friends who wanted the London life but also a large garden. In the end they bought a property on a one acre plot backing onto Wimbledon Common.  With a listed ice house in the garden. 

comeandgo

Bought our forever house 15 years ago, no compromises needed, it ticked all the boxes and still love it.  Was not even looking to move until it came on the market and bought it off plan so was able to tweak bits.  

jazzyja

My wants were realistic....my dreams will come further down the line. 
I had children young so life hasnt gone the way I perhaps hoped for....lived in a run down rental far too long. I'm just grateful to have a nice kitchen, 3 bedrooms, walking distance to my children's school and an affordable mortgage. That's literally all I wanted.....for now. Ideally I'd like to live in the countryside surrounded by beautiful views and meadows for my children to run free.....maybe one day 😂

Nikkilou86

We were looking for 

3 bed detached

not on a corner plot 
same town we lived in 
room downstairs for home office/or garden office 
decent sized garden 
kitchen/diner at back 
downstairs loo
garage
parking 
I wanted period/hubby wanted modern
I wanted project/hubby wanted move in condition  

We bought
4 bed semi
on a corner plot 
min next village to where we were 
box room is home office - will eventually have garden office but not built yet 
garden smaller than we’d have liked but adequate 
kitchen/diner at back but garden at side so sort of defeated reason we wanted it at back 
no downstairs loo but has en-suite
no garage
large driveway 
1950s so neither period or modern
looked move in condition but turned I right project 

Wouldn’t change it though!!! 

staffie1

Where’s the criteria for budget..?

Bluebell1000

We wanted detached, 3 or 4 bed, quiet road, lots of outdoor space.
We ended up with a 3 bed semi on a busy road, with reasonable outside space. We were about to stop looking, but this house caught my eye and we said we'd see. It wasn't what we were initially after really, but we fell in love with it. It's definitely our home until retirement, though I'd quite like to be closer to the coast when I'm not working any more.

fishfingerbutties

Quiet and private are the two most important things to me, so detached and not overlooked were key. This house I'm in has all of that, and the house itself is okay but nothing special. But that was my compromise - the house to me is less important than its surroundings.

Currently buying and that house is the same, quiet area and not overlooked. Whether my sellers ever find anything and I have to look for another place though is another matter...

RelievedSheff

We hadn't even planned on moving when we bought this house a couple of years ago so we didn't even have a wish list as such although we knew we wanted detached and we needed a garage and two off road parking spaces.

We were just driving past a new build development and decided to call in and have a nosey. 3.5 weeks later and we were moving into our new 3 bed detached house after part exchanging our old house against an already completed plot. The house just felt right when we walked through the front door and still does. I don't think we will move from here for a long time.

SameOldRoundabout

Our tick list vs reality:-

Location - tick, west end of particular town, close to beach and parks. 

Large period house - tick. When we left the first viewing my OH said he had visions of our sons running down the halls wearing Victorian costumes. Odd, being as 3 out of 4 are teenage boys but it’s definitely got that period feel with wide hall and stairs etc. 

Off street parking - no. We did get a nice sunny front veranda with good privacy but we have on street parking in competition with a nearby train station 

Big garden - no. Couldn’t afford it, we have a reasonably small but loveable garden. 

5 bedrooms - tick. 

Potential - well, tick, but we certainly underestimated the cost and time it’d take to do up a very very neglected 120 year old house. Especially moving in the week before the first lockdown and the following shortages etc. 

We wouldn’t change it for the world, but by golly the challenges it brings are hard to swallow. We did not take enough equity from the sale to get this place even 50% finished. Hindsight hey. 

SallyDucati

When I was looking my only real musts were-

Definitely not a new build
Must have a garage
Driveway for 2 cars
3 beds

Through a good turn of events where I got more for my flat than I was expecting and a house in the village I've always wanted to live came down in price I've ended up with -

New build
No garage
Parking for 2 cars at back of house
3 bedrooms all smaller than I'd like.

As they say - Location, location, location was the overriding factor.