To ask what your priorities in buying a house would be?

[Bells3032]

If you were buying what would be your non negotiable.... And how far from a station/high street would you be willing to live?

Garden, parking (not necessarily drive but at least a space outside the house), nearby houses that look well looked after aka no neighbours with houses that are dropping to bits or gardens like steptoe's yard - been there done that and it really annoyed me coming home to it each day, no further from highstreet than 10/15 minute drive.

Oh and local shop nearby and train station is low on my list of requirements.

We live about 1 mile away from the station which is a 20-30 minute walk. I don't think I'd want to be much further than that.

Parking - we don't have off road parking or residents permits, but we can find a space relatively easily.

A decent size for a garden for me is to be able to have several people around a table comfortably and which fits a shed. I don't personally need space for running around as no children.

Not all open plan downstairs. I want rooms, not a barn.
Decent sized kitchen.
Decent sized windows. A house I loved on paper left me feeling quite despondent because it had poky little windows and was so bloody dark, inside.
Walking distance of shops and amenities.
Good bus service.

@Fairenuff

What size do people call a 'decent' garden?

Ours at the moment is about 30ftx90ft. I’d want bigger if we were moving.

Essential
A view!! Must have a decent view!
Parking on driveway.
No pub nearby. I had a house near a pub once, horrible, never again.

Desirable
South facing garden

That's it. Blimey, I'm not that fussy. However trying to find a house with a view .....

Detached (neighbours not too close)
Double garage
Drive enough for at least 3/4 cars
Medium size secluded garden
Downstairs toilet
4 bedrooms
Quiet road/close

Sound structure and roof.
No dodgy D.I.Y.
Rewired during last decade.
Built before 1970.
South facing enclosed rear garden.
Driveway.
Looked after.
Good neighbours.

Currently looking to buy our 'until the kids grow up' house. Our requirements...

Catchment of a suitable Secondary school for DD1
3/4 bedrooms
Two seperate reception areas (but pref seperate living room/dining room/kitchen)
Garage for motorbike
Reasonable size garden
Good access to A1 or M1, good access to train station direct to London
Hopefully near to friends (as in 30mins or so)
NOT new build

Structure, roof and driveway are the priorities though.

Plus good public transport to allow teenagers freedom.

Parking for at least two cars parallel; not tandem. I did not fancy playing musical cars first thing in the morning.

I wish I had a utility room.

Village location
Good schools
Good size garden
4 bedroom
Utility room

Our absolute musts for the house when we bought were a quiet street where the kids could play out, 3 OK size bedrooms (no box room), driveway, garden, space for a dining table and a room to be used as an extra living room/playroom or with a garage to convert (which we did) . We live no where near a high street and about 2. 5miles from the station, which is fine as we don't use trains much and we have a bus regular on the estate.

The only thing we compromised on is, although we have a garden it is small (not really big enough for the kids to play ball games and is overlooked) but I was happy to compromise on that

Not on a busy road - we bought ours in the winter so all windows were shut, as soon as winter ended it became unbearably noisy in our garden which backs on to the road.
Not with windows that are at right angles to a road or on a turning circle. At night the headlights shine straight in.

Off road parking
Separate kitchen and dining room
Period property
Outside space
Downstairs loo

Detached
Garage
All bedrooms on same floor
Open plan living, kitchen, dining area
Gas cooker

Outside space
Garage
Good school catchment / area ( if I had I was planning in having children )
I'd look for houses that were on a tidy looking street...ie other houses were looking cared for.
Down stairs loo ( esp if only one other bathroom in the house )

Oh and lots of natural light. I hate small pokey windows that make rooms dark in the middle of the day

Location for me. We compromised on the house as we would not live in the suburbs or a village where the only school is a faith school.

Garden. Also one that has garden beds and real grass as we are renting and ours is just concrete.
Near a bus stop as I can't walk distances.
Bright rooms as am living with a north facing kitchen at the moment and it is awful.

Detached with good sized rooms.
At least 3 bedrooms
Decent driveway for 2 parallel cars
Decent rear garden
Not within sight /sound of train lines/motorways or A roads and not under a flight path.
Good clear boundaries-fences/walls.

Garden, drive way. At least 2 bedrooms and at least 2 rooms downstairs, other than the kitchen. Near a good school. And not a terrace. We are just looking at the moment, but dependant on price we may have to not have some of these. Garden is the most essential , followed by school.

4 bedrooms
2 bathrooms
Large kitchen diner
Separate play room/conservatory
Large living room
Utility/boot room
Downstairs loo
Large low maintenance garden

I can only dream, we are all packed into a small 3 bed 1 bath currently.