Did your purchase match your original criteria?

Skiddaw1

Thrugelmir said:

The perfect property most certainly exists. However somebody else already owns it. 

Yep- we do!! Seriously, we bought a house that ticked every single one of our wish-list boxes and we couldn't be happier. I pinch myself every day.

kkcoco

I'm in the process of purchasing but the house I'm buying in many ways was a complete wild card vs what I originally thought I wanted and I couldn't be happier with the choice - it trumps absolutely everything else I ever viewed! If I could go back and offer past me any advice it would be to be more open minded and view anything that grabs your attention.

GaleSF63

I started out with 2 conditions - suitable public transport and safe for my/our cats and dog. Other than that I just looked at everything within my budget and didn't have any other preconceived ideas or wishes. As the last time I bought was the 1990s, it was still in the times of an A4 sheet from the EA with a fuzzy black and white photo of the outside, and a few measurements so you really had to see places to get any idea (I think of that when I see some of the criticisms of details on some Rightmove entries)!

Tiddleshalifax

When we put our house on the market, the conditions we had were parking (we have two cars and I’m a shift worker) and no stairs in the lounge. We also had desirables of detached/semi detached but to us the area was priority. 

We’ve actually bought (well we are in the process of) a house which is an end terrace 3 story town house. The stairs and parking didn’t have to be compromised but other desirables were massively compromised! 

But you know when it just feels right.

kkcoco

Tiddleshalifax said:

But you know when it just feels right.

I'd massively second that. I looked at many that were perfectly nice, in hindsight would have worked for me, but the one I'm purchasing just felt absolutely right from just minutes of stepping inside.

I've definitely made compromises on certain things too though, but I genuinely think they sort of fade into the background when you find the right one.

purplebutterfly

Within budget leaving enough to make alterations - NO  it's overbudget but doesn't need as much doing immediately as other properties so works out about the same total cost and we can borrow extra from family

In local area with the hub for public transport - NO  about 3 miles outside original search area and with only 1 bus and 1 tram (currently live at the intersection of 9 bus routes) 

In current GP surgery catchment area - NO but they've agreed to keep me on their books because I'm complicated 

2 or 3 bedroom semi-detached - NO ended up with a 4 bedroom semi

Living room and main bedroom having no adjoining walls with neighbours  YES it is a double-fronted house with staircase in the centre of it

Living room and dining room separate - YES 

Kitchen separate and has own door - YES

Big garden for the next time I spend 12 months shielding - YES

2nd toilet downstairs - YES but it is in an outbuilding with a covered area linking it to house

Utility area - YES  again in an outbuilding which is perfect as we won't hear the washing machine

Room for fridge freezer in kitchen - NO only space for an undercounter fridge which is tricky with the state of my spine but the fridge freezer will go in the utility room

Nice size bathroom with walk-in shower and separate toilet NO it has the smallest bathroom we've seen in any property with a toilet sink and bath squeezed in so tight that the toilet roll holder is attached to the back of the door 

In some ways it is the property of our dreams except that we never dreamed we'd be able to get something like this.  In other ways we might end up feeling it is an albatross around our neck in terms of maintenance and repairs. 

We're buying it as a forever home as there is room to make the downstairs into a bedroom and living space if I eventually can't manage stairs.  There's also space for family to stay and for my mum if she ever needs to live with us (which is her worst nightmare but you never know!).

We're currently ridiculously in love with the house and feeling all sorts of bizarre attachment emotions that we never expected to feel.  So, after 12 months and 30 houses, I think we've finally picked the right one. 

Drawingaline

Our musts were

Parking

Four bedrooms

Separate office/hobby room

Our wants were 
Close to train station so hubby could walk there

Semi/detached

Didn't want

New build

A townhouse

To live too far out from town

We got our musts but ended up compromising on our wants.

We are mid terrace

We have a townhouse

We live much further from the train station than planned. However seeing as hubby has been working from home for over a year this became less of an issue.

But this house is huge. The office/hobby room is a proper size enough room for all the stuff. And I have a utility room, my sister is very jealous as she had to compromise on that want when moving! 

Nothing else came on even close to this the entire year we were looking/actually moving. And the terrace aspect has been fine, never hear the neighbours.

ele_91

Our musts were:

Minimum 3 bedrooms plus potential office space or 4 bedrooms
Parking
Storage space for hobby equipment
Commutable to work city 2 days per week

Wants were:

Garage
Utility room
Garden
Rural location
Fairly new construction


We’ve mainly ended up compromising on location as the house, although very rural out the back, is on a fairly busy road. The garden is also smaller than we would have liked but has lots of potential. To be honest we’ve mainly compromised on condition as it does need work and also price, as we ended up increasing our budget! IMO there’s no such thing as a perfect house and just as well, as since we started the process in October 4 purchases have fallen through for us.

GaleSF63

Tiddleshalifax said:

But you know when it just feels right.

Definitely!

phoebe1989seb

This place didn't feel right at all 😮

Not because it was a repo, as we've never bought a house that didn't need loads of work (we're competent DIYers), but I think mainly because our last four houses were always going to be hard - if not impossible - to beat!

For me it didn't even feel as though it had potential.... except the garden and I don't deny that alone was well worth purchasing the property for 😉

Now the changes inside are 2/3 of the way there, I can kind of see what DH saw in the place....but, tbh it's more about what we've done and the location rather than the cottage itself.