Did your purchase match your original criteria?

bolwin1

We were looking for ;

min 5 bedrooms

2 distinct living rooms (one for the mother-in-law)

Separate space for the grown up daughter & boyfriend

Somewhere with character 

Fully enclosed garden for the dogs

Walking distance to bus routes to the city centre

Walking distance to local shops

Kitchen diner

Off road parking for at least 2 cars

Preferably detached

Downstairs loo

Min 2 bathrooms

Within a few miles of my wife's workplace. 

Quite a few of those were non-negotiable, especially around separate living areas for the extended family & needing access to shops / bus routes for my daughter. It makes thing a bit more complicated when there are 5 adults involved in the decision making process !  

We got most of what we were looking for, however had to compromise on the following points

Got a semi detached instead of a detached property. 

only space for one car off road parking (unless we use the garage). 

The bathrooms need replacing & I'm steadily working through the place decorating & tidying up the garden.

Out of interest, I continued to look at houses coming on the market since we first committed to buy this one almost a year ago & I've still not seen one that suits our needs as well, for our budget.  

NameUnavailable

I'm proceeding on a 1 bed flat when I ideally wanted a 2 bed house or a maisonette with outside space. I also wanted parking (off or on road) for 3 cars.

What changed for me is that due to some changes at work I could look for something further out, either a cheaper area or a nicer area/smaller property. I chose the latter - went to view it and just really liked the location more than anything.

What I didn't compromise on was having a long lease, no ground rent and shared freehold, and something that I could add value to. I keep wondering what I'm doing but it feels 'right' when lots of other places I looked at didn't.

ceh209

We knew we wanted something older than our 5 year old new build and a bit more character - didn't know we'd end up with an 1840s cottage+barn conversion

Maximum 10 miles and preferably less from OH's work as he cycles - went for 11 miles because it has easy access to the cycle path. Glad we did as both now working from home and OH is unlikely to ever go back to the office

Move in condition - well yes it was, but it's surprising how many things you find need doing regardless

Large rooms, especially reception room as we have a dining table/pool table - this could absolutely not be a compromise. Would take less large rooms over lots of small rooms any day.

Not on a main road because of the cats - we're on a B road. Now campaigning for a local bypass to be built  When we said it was a shame it was on a busy road to the estate agent, he said 'Yes but if it wasn't, it would be £50k more and out of your budget' and he wasn't wrong!

ss2020jd

It’s really interesting reading this thread. I am currently looking but realise I need to compromise. I have my heart set on somewhere with a bit of character but it seems to be hard to find somewhere like that that is detached, with a little bit of a buffer from the neighbours and semi-rural. All those properties seem to either be huge 5 bed+ or tiny terraced cottage. We only need a 2-3 bed. 

I have just seen somewhere online that seems to be exactly the right layout, but it is really modern inside. The kitchen is the exact opposite of what I would choose/like. I know things can be changed but it would seem a shame to do that to what looks like a relatively new and expensive kitchen. Also there are a lot of fitted wardrobes that again we would not need. Everything else seems to be what we would need but wondering if that’s a compromise too far! Or am I being too picky (highly likely haha). 

maisie_cat

We wanted no near neighbours, decent sized plot and rural. We got neighbours 100 metres away and we occupy an acre plot. Although we look over fields and the sea we are on a busy route hidden by trees. That was our compromise, especially in the summer and school holidays. No regrets though.

dramaticat

I've sold my house but yet to find something to buy. I'm looking for a 3/4-bedroomed house or bungalow with off-road parking and a walk-in shower (or space to install one). The big constraints are that I want to buy in the same village where I currently live and that the layout needs to suit how I want to use the rooms.

The initial plan was to downsize and release equity to enable me to make any alterations I want to do straight away. However, there aren't many 3-bed houses in the village. Most of them are also a lot smaller than my current house, and although I've decluttered big time, I've struggled to see myself fitting into some of the space and enjoying living there.

So I'm now looking at houses around with asking prices £100,000 over what I've sold this house for!!! I'm lucky that I won't need a mortgage to do so. There seems to be nothing in the middle ground at the moment.

I'm starting to panic about never finding a house to suit because of my small search area – I'll be lodging with a friend in the interim, but I doubt either of us want this to turn into a permanent arrangement :-) But I'm also worried about sinking most of my available funds into property, and in a property that in the longer term may become a problem to deal with as I get older.

Compared to many people, I have good dilemmas to deal with, but I am very confused and don't know what to do for the best and am worried about making a knee-jerk decision. Going for a second viewing of an expensive house at the weekend with my friend, who has done viewings with me before and has a good idea of what I'm looking for. I hope she'll have some sensible things to say.

newbuildbudget

We are FTB. We wanted a WC downstairs but bathroom upstairs (I have elderly relatives and a disabled relative who won’t ever stay over but will definitely visit), a reasonably garden, off road parking, minimum 3 bedrooms, walking distance to a local shop, a garage, and under 260k if possible

Got it all other than the last two. We weren’t expecting a garage to be fair as we were looking at a lot of 1930s semis but it was more if it was a smaller house there was scope for an easy extension. Moving to a new build that doesn’t have one but we are happier with the area than any we saw with a garage which for us was more important. We’re paying 269k so a little bit over but it wasn’t about affordability as we knew we could afford it, it was just the difference between a 15% and 20% deposit. The walking to the shop thing is a decent walk at the minute (15 mins, so not ridiculous) but they are due to build a closer one in the next couple of years. 

trance_abbey

I'm a FTB in London with a relatively healthy budget. I didn't mind a flat or a house or a whatever really... I was initially looking around the area I live now (SW19)

My non negotiables were:

3 bedrooms

Less than 10 minutes walk to tube and supermarket

If not all on one level then there needed to be a downstairs toilet

If a flat I'd prefer to be downstairs unless there was a lift

Outdoor space that's safe and enclosed for the cat

Room in the kitchen for a dishwasher

Prefer move-in ready

What I got is a glorious 4 bedroom maisonette in Limehouse (E1!) that's ex-council with a massive (for London) garden that needs rather a lot of work... it's super central to absolutely everything - I think it's about 20 minutes walk from the Tower of London!

I did go a bit over budget, but that's because I got sucked into a bidding war. Looking forward to completing soon