New home MUST HAVES....

[coffeestains]

DH and I are looking for a (3 bed max) house to buy finally!! What are the things that you think are must haves...I'm not talking about luxuries such as a swimming pool or gym but rather things like near a high street, near a park, a gym, or maybe a tiny garden, a study area, separate kitchen as opposed to an open plan etc
What has made you really happy (or unhappy) about your home?
TIA!

Parking, parking, parking.

Detached house.
More parking than you think you want.

Decent kitchen and parking

Decent size kitchen

A driveway is a must for me, I've lived in a street with only on street parking before and it's a pain. The main reason we moved the last time was to get an extra bathroom, only having one wasn't working for us with everyone on top of each other getting ready in the morning.

A separate kitchen or area of open plan kitchen that is hidden from view of the dining table. It would annoy me when entertaining if there was no where to pile used dishes out of site for the rest of the evening.
If you have a dog, I’d try and put some priority into finding somewhere that the back garden didn’t lead straight onto carpet or into the living room. A pain in the arse in the wetter months to keep clean.

Massive garden - not for the plants but the proximity to neighbours (and their noise)

Bathroom(s) must have a large walk in shower. Don't care if there is a bath in the house - it will never get used.

Drawers not cupboards in the kitchen.

Storage by the front door for coats & shoes

Storage or the space for storage - no house has enough space for all your stuff.

I live in a house with on street parking and honestly it isn’t an issue at all. I thought it would piss me off. It doesn’t.
walkable to at least one shop would be one for me, plus easy access to your hobbies if possible. Though mine are bloody miles away and it still doesn’t bother me.
My only non-negotiable is an upstairs bathroom.

We recently moved - we wanted (and got):
Walking distance from shops and post office
Kitchen big enough for at least a small table, I hate kitchens where you can only stand
No gas cooker, I hate them (am in a minority I’m sure)
No open plan
Non-south-facing rooms to WFH
Garden not too big and not south-facing
Parking

Which is probably different to what many others would say.

We are currently looking and our must haves are:

Detached
Big garden (2 boys who love to run, play football and nerf wars. Partner and I both garden so would want a large greenhouse)
Parking for at least 3 cars (off-road) and room for a horse box or trailer
Decent size kitchen (daughter loves baking and cooking)
Garage for storage (bikes, paddle boards, horsey stuff, sailing stuff, camping stuff etc)

Er are struggling to find what we need if I am honest, and are willing to comprise in anything but the above!

Our location is small too (same village as now) to ensure kids can all stay at their current schools

I'm finally getting a separate stand alone living room in our new house and I could not be more thrilled.
First house has the stairs in the living room which was a pain (heat, noise, food smells all traveled freely up to the bedrooms) although I did enjoy decorating them at Christmas time 😉
Current house the living room is the only route through the house so people (beloved family members I mean !!) traipsing past on the way to the kitchen is a pest and also has caused lots of layout issues in terms of sofa placement etc. it's a decent sized room but can't be used to it's full potential.
I'd also never freely choose to live in a house with only one bathroom again. Family of five, run in with the Noro, leave it at that.
And also parking. I have friends who live in places where parking is a nightmare and I get stressed just visiting never mind having to deal every night after work or with a boot full of shopping!

Driveway
Upstairs bathroom
Enter via a hall not via the living room
Space for coats/ bags/ shoes by front door
Central heating

You don’t mention whether you have or are planning DC which would make quite a difference to bathroom needs etc.
However, one of my top requirements for any home is a dishwasher (or room for one); It just makes life so much easier!

-Detached
-Parking
-Not near a busy road
-Downstairs loo
-Not open plan
-Kitchen with room for a table
-Utility room

Walking distance to a village or town centre and countryside (I live in a very built up area).

Walkable to a train station, even though I drive most places still useful for places like Birmingham City Centre

Parking

I would want 2 toilets if I was looking now, I was single when I bought my house

Apart from the WFH I agree with all of these!

Kitchen you can eat in.
Separate dining room.
Detached.
Bedroom for each child.
Fireplace in living room.
Large level garden, not overlooked, with tall mature trees.
Garage accessible directly from house.
Drive with parking for at least 2 cars.
Not on busy road.
2 bathrooms plus downstairs loo.
As few neighbours as possible.
A room to use as a study.

Those were my absolute non-negotiables when buying my house, didn't mind about things like a utility room for example. Managed to find a house with what I wanted and have been here almost 30 years.

Another non negotiable for me - a good dining pub within 30 minutes walk.

Decent Area. Detached, driveway and garage. Room for full-size dishwasher in kitchen. Second toilet. Quiet road. Excellent broadband and mobile signal. Not at risk of flooding. No sources of nuisance nearby (pubs, shops, schools...)

A utility and second bathroom would be nice too.

I seem to have quite a few requirements don't I?

Well, I think it all depends on where you're at in life.

but currently (post divorce & changing to doing a vocation rather than continuing with my career earning good money (read not well paid!!). Being 55 & not having children at home... I'm not moving from here unless it has a driveway (or at a push private allocated parking at a push) and a garden. Does not need to be Kew, but needs to be bigger than a postage stamp!!

in my 30's my life was very different & so were my MUST haves (along with our budget & life!)

As a general rule I'd say square footage, you can move walls etc.but it's expensive (& hard bloody work now) to extend.

definitely a downstairs toilet or the space where you can put one. Had I not had one, I'd have been stuck trying to get home after my accident, I'd have needed to stay elsewhere for weeks! (Again not something I'd have considered in my 30's, but my accident could have just as easily happened in my 30's)

Off road parking

More than one toilet, preferably one downstairs for visitors.
Garage
Preferably not overlooked at the back
No open plan stairs
En suite, although I could live without this if I didn't have DC who constantly occupy the main bathroom!

Our must haves were (1) ease of location for the various places we have to get to regularly subject to budget (2) parking available and (3) safe for the cat.

As it turns out I benefit from being within cyclable distance of one place and near a bus stop which means I have saved a fortune in travel costs. Also benefit from a pantry that is right next to back door and is now used for coats and boots. Would like an even bigger one!

The disadvantage is we have one horrible immediate neighbour, though plenty of nice ones. The horrible one arrived after us.

A side entrance so semi-d or end of terrace.

Obviously it is going to depend on your stage of life, and if you work / your work pattern, and things like if you like gardening, if you have dc, how many cars you have.
For my next house, I'm thinking about future proofing, as I am hoping that will be my last house, so I want detached, downstairs toilet, parking, small garden / outdoor area, close to shop(s), close to public transport for when I give up driving, a separate room should the need come for a downstairs bedroom (ie, not open plan and not where you have to walk through the living room to get anywhere), but still space to have family round, either no steps to front door or room to add a sensible ramp
BUT
when we were looking for this house, we were looking for school catchment area first and foremost, big garden, plenty of rooms, etc - generally, all the things I am looking to lose from my next home.

Some people will need space to wfh, others need space for close family to come and stay, others need to be close to the station for their commute.

There is no universal 'best house'.