house hunting - what's on your must have list!

[autumnin2winter]

Currently looking for a new house and finding it so hard. I started with a 'must have' list of about 10 things (which i now laugh at!) and it's slowly whittled down because a) i can't find anything in the teeny tiny self imposed area of the map I am looking on or b) DH has veto'd it.

Essentials currently are - a drive and a downstairs toilet.

Tell me your MUST HAVES?

my budget wasnt that vast to be particularly picky, but the one thing i couldn't deal with was no bathroom upstairs.

Not overlooked garden. Meaning no houses directly behind it. That was so important to me we actually went into a different area we originally wanted to. Now even DH agrees it was the best thing ever when we are having bbqs.

Ours was:-

Space for home office
Playroom
Bathrooms up and down
Off road parking.

2 reception rooms
Off road parking
Bigger garden than we've got now

Must haves: Southfacing garden. Upstairs family bathroom. Wants: garage or large shed, Utility room.

Ideally a utility room and at least two toilets

most of yours were in my original 10 (apart from playroom)

maybe i need to widen my search area???

Southfacing garden, off street parking, garden, two reception rooms, excellent public transport connections. I thought upstairs bathroom is a given actually we did look at a house that had a bathroom only in the cellar. We would have added one and sacrified a bedroom.

Ideal: two family rooms, big kitchen with dining area, downstairs toilet, utility room, four beds, a small study, en suite and dressing room to master bedroom, biggish garden that isn't overlooked, parking for a few cars, ideally detached, close to local amenities, secure and, importantly, not what I would call a "spider house"!! God knows if we'll ever find it, but, hey, I can dream!

In reality off street parking and not on a busy road were the only must haves. Those two would have been immediate deal breakers without.

The wants were

En suite for our daughter,
Two reception rooms.
Space for a home office/study
Big garden.
Space for a home gym

But all those were negotiable.

Must: off road parking, big kitchen, space for dining room table, upstairs bathroom, no stairs in living room

Wants: downstairs loo

We didn’t get our want 😂

Drive
Garden
Utility room
Downstairs toilet
master bedroom with En suite that has a shower

ideally:
a sitting room and a separate snug room
induction hob
garage

South or west facing garden
Not overlooked
2 toilets
2 reception rooms + kitchen diner

Min 4 bed, detached, rural

A drive, with room for side-by-side parking, so we wouldn't haven't to play musical cars when one of us left for work!

I also really wanted a utility room, which I didn't get!

Surely this has budgetary constraints? I’d like a gym and an indoor pool plus a giant garden, but you don’t get that for 350k in the SE. Where I live, my budget wouldn’t get you a study/4 bedrooms - & you’d only get a driveway if you had a smaller house. Can you afford all the wishlist things?! Good luck anyway, it’s bloody hard work buying a house.

Must haves for me have been a sunny garden, a kitchen with a back door and a downstairs loo.
Also not a fan of on block garages.
If I liked the look of a house but it didn't have all my must haves, I'd still view. My house doesn't have a downstairs loo, and this was always a must have for me.
Never say never I suppose!

We are looking to buy soon and our must haves are -
At least 3 bedrooms
Large garden fenced in or able to be fenced in fairly easily
Freehold
Garage
Must be structurally sound
Must be within 25m drive to work for both of us (we work not far from each other)

We are pretty flexible on almost everything else including area if it meets all other criteria.

Adopted road
No access arrangements
No shared driveway
Detached.

Can you tell I don't like people

Surely this has budgetary constraints

Yes of course. We achieved all ours but our wants were all within our budget. Otherwise there would be no real point in them being things we wanted in a property.

For our last home it was , driveway for at least 2 cars, utility room, at least one ensuite, good sized bedrooms, large garden , 3 reception rooms or scope to extend. Wasn't worried about it being dated as I prefer that it is so I can justify ripping everything out.

If the budget can't be changed, are can (a little).

@autumnin2winter certainly widen your search. Postcode does wonders. House on one street can be 100k 2 streets away, still lovely, 80k.

I thought upstairs bathroom is a given nope. A lot of the Victorian houses I saw within my budget had the bathroom off the kitchen. Opted for a non-period property in the end to get the upstairs bathroom and a third bedroom.

*area can 🙄

@OnlyFoolsnMothers saw it on 30s semi too few times. Odd