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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to ask what you would not choose again if moving house

365 replies

chaletdays · 11/05/2015 16:56

Just been reading the open plan thread. When I move again I would definitely not choose an open plan layout, or to buy a place right beside a green or any other communal area where children and teenagers will gather 24/7.

What would be your no nos if moving again?

OP posts:
kippersmum · 11/05/2015 22:02

Microbore piping for radiators. If the pipe to your radiator is less than 1.5cm wide run a fucking mile & don't stop. Annoyingly I made the same mistake twice.

However I was 8mo PG with a just 1yo old for the 2nd time, so full of hormones & no common sense... plus I needed a roof over my head.

Hottypotty · 11/05/2015 22:02

There are lots of great things about my house but next time I would avoid:
Fugliness
Artex (everywhere!)
Only 3 bedrooms (we have a lot of visitors)

SpecificOcean · 11/05/2015 22:04

First house had no parking plus loads of work needed doing to it- wouldn't buy a house with either of those issues ever again.

Teacuptravells · 11/05/2015 22:08

Ah the artex. I think we're doomed. I try to ignore it and not look up!

Theres a lovely wish list I have for next time but to be honest a lot is down to budget and I just cant afford 2 loos, bigger rooms....

unbreakablemum · 11/05/2015 22:11

I would never live next door to an old person again.
I have had several moves and have never had the sweet old neighbourly person who is cheery and bakes cakes for everyone.

This is my opinion but old people tend to have more issues than other people as they don't have anything else to occupy their time.
They forget they were young once and don't like children playing and they are more likely to complain.

I would rather live next door to a family than a old person.

Duckdeamon · 11/05/2015 22:49

Hmm how weird, artex, parking, downstairs loos! then.....age prejudice!

googlenut · 11/05/2015 22:59

Dark kitchen floor tiles - never seem to stay clean and can see every crumb.
Back garden that doesn't get the sun
Living room with diner - just felt like we were living in one room.
If garage make sure access from house

Fizrim · 11/05/2015 23:29

Avoid anywhere near a school. Especially if it is the largest in the area with a four-form entry. If we wanted to leave the house after 8.15am we had to park outside on the road as we wouldn't get out of the drive.

Easily staining composite sinks.

Kitchen at the front of the house.

Anywhere near a business park as your roads are clogged by poorly-parking workers.

TapDancingMollusc · 11/05/2015 23:29

Galley kitchen. Don't want people being able to walk through while I'm cooking. My husband is a great one for taking a pan off the stove, I turn round to get it having dished up the rest of the meal and he's over by the door holding it saying "there's still some potatoes in this pan" YES that's because I didn't put them on the plates yet...

Also an outside tap & sink is essential so grotty plant pots needing washing do not get in the kitchen. I'll walk into my clean kitchen and find the full draining rack shoved anyhow across the counter top and murky plant pots soaking in the sink (and the counter top is wet from where the drying crockery has dripped)

Or maybe I should get a house by myself. Grin

yummumto3girls · 11/05/2015 23:37

Somewhere rural with three kids, mums taxi service is non stop! DD's are completely reliant on us, no buses or way of walking to/from nearest town!

SlatternIsMyMiddleName · 11/05/2015 23:43

I'm Confused at the dislike for shared access. I've been in my house 8 years and share a long driveway with my neighbour, I haven't had a single problem.

I always thought I wanted a conservatory. I now have one and it is the most underused space in the house. The cats like it though.

Be realistic about how much gardening you want to do. I like having a garden but really struggle with the obligation of hard work that comes with it.

GiddyOnZackHunt · 11/05/2015 23:53

We had a big shared driveway at the front of our old house and never had a problem with our neighbours in years and years. Probably different in a lot of smaller shared access though.
I'd agree about conservatories and gardening as Slattern said too.

howabout · 12/05/2015 00:04

Fully fitted kitchen units - I want to be able to choose my appliances not replace with the only one that fits.
Nearly moved last year but so glad we stayed 5 minutes from secondary school and 10 from town centre. Also live on bus route to city centre. I am not a taxi service and older DC have much more freedom and time than if we had moved to a bigger house on the outskirts.
We have no garden other than communal professionally gardened area and it is liberating.
I have mixed feelings about en suite and would never have more than 2 bathrooms.
Grateful every day that I have private off street parking.
Tried house living once but much prefer flats.

Eigg · 12/05/2015 00:18

Posting in defence of three storey homes!!

We love ours although to be fair it did take time to get used to the extra set of stairs. You quickly get very good and not forgetting stuff on the top floor!

I also love having an en suite bathroom.

I'd never put down while tiles again - they look gorgeous for about 30 seconds after you've scrubbed them on your hands and knees.

Ruhrpott · 12/05/2015 00:42

A private unadopted road. I naively thought I could sort out a neighbourhood joint saving scheme to get tarmac laid...ha ha. The neighbours all think the other neighbours should pay for it and the potholes are horrendous and getting bigger everyday. Other than that I love the house and have almost managed to get rid of most of the Artex.

HellKitty · 12/05/2015 08:07

Corner houses. I always imagine that if the street was to be burglaries they'd be targeted first. And you get the road debris (MaccyDee packets) and various empty bottles of WKD on the grass outside your garden. Noticed this on one we went to view. No to Victorian terraces, the walls were paper thin and the plumbing ancient. Also a yes to needing a bit of sun in the garden. Ours is a rental and the neighbours house and conservatory blocks out most of the sun, I get a 2m square patch every summer that moves with the sun. And a big fat NO to street parking, useless. Especially when your terraced neighbours children grow and have a car each.

Dunkling · 12/05/2015 08:24

Shared drive and downstairs cloakroom.

Neighbours are a pita with regard to acknowledging it is shared. And no one needs 3 loos. Just extra cleaning for me!

Mistigri · 12/05/2015 08:25

We live in a house where the kitchen and living/dining area have been knocked into a single room and I wouldn't choose this again, as using the oven for cooking in summer results in an overheated living area.

Our house is built on what used to be a flood plain (before rerouting of the river through town), and all the houses in our road have their main living space upstairs. I have got used to it but would probably avoid it next time.

treaclesoda · 12/05/2015 08:29

The only thing about my house that I wish was different is that it faces the wrong way to get the best of the sunlight in the back garden - we get the early morning sun but by mid afternoon it's gone.

But tbh the weather is so crap where I live that it makes little difference overall.

DisappointedOne · 12/05/2015 09:03

no-one needs 3 loos

Speak for yourself! (We have 4 Grin)

echt · 12/05/2015 09:15

We have our kitchen at the front - it's lovely, though to be fair the view's a good onto the front and side gardens, and a tree-lined quiet street.

mateysmum · 12/05/2015 09:22

Another one who wouldn't buy a 3 storey house again - especially when the kitchen and living room are on different levels.

Have to have at least 1 en-suite - preferably 2

I would now never buy "old and cold" however beautiful the period features. I am past the age of wanting to sit in a draft or wear bed socks just for the delight of georgian windows. I live in a converted barn which is the perfect combo of old and new.

TheAssassinsGuild · 12/05/2015 09:29

Think carefully about windows, french doors, and general expanses of glass.

Nothing with too much glass. We renovated our house and DH decided he wanted loads of full length glass at the back of the house where the kitchen is. Great. Except it has been a bugger to find blinds for and gets really hot in the summer.
He also wanted some fancy schmancy complicated folding French door tye contraption for the living room (again at the back of the house). Again problems with heat, no other windows to open and you don't always want to have to open the doors for ventilation, and an utter bugger to find blinds for - so far we haven't.

If you see somewhere with windows that look a bit different from the norm - whether it is size, how they open, frame depth, frame size, position (i.e. leave little room before you get to the ceiling), expect it to be an expensive nightmare to get curtains/blinds.

More bathrooms is not necessarily better. You just have more of the fuckers to clean.

VacantExpression · 12/05/2015 09:40

I LOVE having three toilets! Have two downstairs saves so much time when we're leaving the house and everyone needs their last wee (3 DC's).

I've learned not to ignore or gloss over the survey because you just love the house so much. and off road parking a must for me.

Original poster
chaletdays · 12/05/2015 10:03

I would not want a neighbour like Unbreakable Grin

Seriously, I second the issue about not buying beside any kind of commercial premise. Most of the owners don't give a damn about the neighbours or whether they annoy them or not, because they don't actually have to live or socialise there. It's just a workplace to them!

OP posts: