What compromise did you make when you bought your house?

[Napqueen1234]

House hunting and interested to see where you compromised. We live in a city suburb so outside space is a premium. We have two young kids. Found a BEAUTIFUL huge house which is perfect but the garden is small. Can fit a seating area BBQ swing set and a bit of (fake currently) grass but certainly not kick a ball about levels. Close to parks though. Otherwise for similar price a slightly ugly house needing a lot of updating but an enormous long garden. DH likes planting veg but the first has an enormous drive which we wouldn’t need so could put planters down each side for vegetables (south facing) but the the back wouldn’t be super sunny. We currently have a tiny yard we use very little so I’ve never experienced a big garden. Is it a compromise you’d make? We like in NW so have loooong autumn winters inside anywayb

We compromised a bit on the house for location which is perfect for us. We have no en-suite and the house has a slightly odd layout with a small kitchen. Eventually we’ll extend (have large garden) but that will take time as we can’t afford to do it.I think everyone compromises on something.

DH and I both dream about a beach house but live in land locked county and tied to area for work for at least 8 more years as retiring early. We bought current house k owing it had to do us for 23 years. Only real compromise is it only has single garage. We would have liked a couple more bedrooms do we did loft conversion. We do have a very good sized garden and south facing at back of house. Too much garden on side of house but we just grass that over.

OP there must be more than 2 houses out there up for sale. I would wait for one you really like with a garden. I am setting up a cricket cage with bowling machine in our garden for DC Xmas present. My 14 year old still loves playing in garden. Older DC have friends over on decked area with bamboo shielded planting around in summer. This year it has been a God send. We have sat out in garden through summer as no holiday this year.

Small lounge, big mistake but the house is in a nice area and rest of house fine.

Our compromise was schools. In fairness we had been TTC for 8 years at that point so we moved to an area with poor schools and good commute. House has everything we wanted.

Now with a DC at the only good primary in the area we will have to move or go private for secondary. Probably move as a townhouse on 3 floors is a PITA with DC.

Parking and garden size. The parking was a big mistake.

We compromised on the house for the garden. This house needs a massive overhaul. But I walked in and saw the garden and I could see no further. DH could see how badly the house has been done and the problems underneath and I didn’t care!
Contrary to what PP are saying I think a big garden needs less not more maintenance! We have a wild bit at the bottom with trees where everything is largely left alone. And a big garden has enough room to be more unkempt and still be beautiful. We did put work into making veggie patches this year and lived off some of the produce. We moved in the winter before the best summer ever and ate outside for months. And it’s been amazing during lockdown - the DC have a trampoline, swings etc - it didn’t bother us that much when the parks were closed. Lockdown was tough juggling children and work. I felt incredibly lucky that we weren’t one of the families that were doing it in a flat with no immediate outdoor access.
But everyone’s different. Now winters setting in everyone with their nice dry insulated houses has it better! Personally I wouldn’t swap but I get that everyone wants different things.

Definitely the Edwardian house. It's gorgeous. You have some outside space and as you suggested, you can put planters out on the front drive.
The garden in the second house, in my opinion, is too big.
Good luck OP! They are both nice houses.

Small kitchen which is usually a no in most people eyes but it ticked every other box, particularly area.

Then we extended. Problem solved. Took out a loan for five years so tight initially but will be worth it in the end.

House 1.....House 2 is really nice but the garden would put me off...i think ot has more potential as well..
We compromised on size of garden and although its not the end of the world it meant no trampoline/minimal play things and we always had to go out..especially with lockdiwn that space would be great..

I did the allotment thing but its more of a faff ..so stopped after a couple of years the garden at house 1 would be ideal for a beginner

We compromised on smaller bedrooms but two extensions downstairs to give much more downstairs space than we would have got anywhere else.

Just off a busy road so road noise was my compromise

We have a downstairs bathroom which I hate, but apart from that our house felt like home the second we walked in. We have a large garden which has been a sanity saver over lockdown.
We are considering moving- we'd get an upstairs bathroom but a postage stamp of a garden.
Just need to win 50k and no compromises needed

I always had visions of living in a beautiful Victorian house with bay windows, but have ended up in a very ugly, rendered semi. But, it's in a great location, surrounded by fields, fantastic views, short walk for the school run, and plenty of space inside. And it was at least £50k cheaper than the more attractive houses on our street.

A semi over detatched to get the right area.
And a school parking road.

When we moved in, our neighbours were so noisy. We'd been in a detatched previously. DH built a stud wall. It didn't work as we still heard the screaming toddlers. Luckily we have new neighbours and barely hear them.

I love my house though and even with the school run parking, the sacrifice was worth it.

Location, I ended up buying next to a main road. But then I ended up with a 4 bed house, garden and garage. No other house in the town could offer all that away from the main road, and in actual fact the main road is barely noticeable since the parking and garage is round the back of our terrace (only the postman uses the front door!) and I paid for sound proofing double glazing too.