To ask what you'd look for when buying a home?

[MoverNotShaker]

We're planning to renovate our house. It's currently just under 2500 sq ft, but we'd like to extend to add a bit more space and re-design the layout inside to make it better suited for our family.

We'd like to 'future proof' our house, do taking lots into consideration including selling potential should we need to down the road.

AIBU to ask what you love about your current home or wish you had?

Eg: A larger ensuite, a dressing room / walk in wardrobe, a play room, a walk in pantry, open plan kitchen or perhaps not? Bifold doors, glass extension, easy access to a patio, or maybe a brick extension with an orangery style glass roof. A hot tub? Outside garden storage, or an office room at the end of the garden?

Basically, what would you like in your dream home?

Decent and similar sized bedrooms.

Good storage.

Separate laundry

Downstairs toilet

Utility/boot room with separate door to outside
Established garden with trees
Paved patio area not decking
Double sink
Hot tap
Plate rack - country style kitchen - not gloss
Underfloor heating
Double glazing
Electric gate - parking for at least one car
Fireplace
Neutral decor, not too grey
Second living space for kids hang out area or a not open plan cosy area
Bathroom with bath and walk in shower
En-suite shower room
Very few or no spot lights

This is what I’m working towards at mine

No to en suites, dressing rooms,walk in wardrobes. Equal size bedrooms yes. Nice bathroom and perhaps separate shower room. Open plan kitchen with bi fold doors, maybe some kind of sun room or roof light windows to get light from above. Level access to a patio. Nooooo hot tub !
I currently have a pergola outside which I’m growing plants up, we’ve put a kind of sail awning over it and I’m sitting out there now in sunshine and showers ! Bliss!

It has to have a large utility room / boot room ( bonus points for outside direct access )

a spacious hallway with loads of storage ( we have two huge cupboards ) I hate it when you’re all on top of each other trying to leave the house!!

huge open plan kitchen/ dining / living room. The kitchen should have at least two ovens ( I’d also have two dishwashers if I could - one possibly in utility ) Two further reception rooms ( we use one as office and one as living room) for flexible living space.

master bedroom to have dressing room and large en-suite ( with bath and double sinks ideallly) if I built my own house I’d have his and hers dressing rooms from either side of the master , meeting back round to the en-suite. I’d like our dressing room to be larger where we are now

I love our bi-folds doors , though we have bifolds, some wall and then french doors and eventually I’d like to bifold the whole lot. Kitchens sound be able to be open to the garden - I’ve no interest in any houses where the kitchen is at the front!

id never , ever buy a house without a garage , bonus points for double but single is fine as long as there is off-road parking for three cars.

we have an outside bar which is cool, i have my office in the house - I sometimes go outside in the summer but I wouldn’t want that as the only office space in the winter! Hot tub I wouldn’t really be bothered about, just a nice place to sit ( where the sun hits) possibly an outside kitchen if there is space. I really like raised planters too.

I like large windows, bonus if you can get a balcony off the master bedroom!!

you don’t say about your family but for me , as my kids are all teenagers I’d probably do all large double rooms with en-suites. As it is now we have 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms ( plus downstairs toilet ) downside is loads to clean!

sounds so exciting! Instagram is great for following renos / builds.

A dressing room/ walk in wardrobe
A utility room
A pantry
Large kitchen/living/ dining room with at least one other reception room.
Depends on the number of bedrooms, but at least one en suite and family bathroom with bath and walk in shower. Plus cloakroom.
Office either in the house or in the garden if large enough.
Storage.

I wish the previous owners of our house had put velux windows in the roof of the extension as the room it was extending is now very dark and we regularly have to have the ceiling lights on - even in summer.

The ability to have a vented tumble drier would be my number one (we’ve a. Condenser that hates me!),

windows in any bathrooms,

a downstairs bedroom and bathroom (my mum and dh’s mum struggle with stairs and I’d assume we’ll go the same way!),

a cream matte tiled bathroom (our black gloss floor tiles show up everything).

A window seat for reading (drools!)

Oh and I love having a porch with doors as if our cat wanders she still has shelter. Enjoy op!

Utility room and lots of storage. A garden room is lovely if the garden is huge.
Lots of light and space. I personally don't like open plan.
A downstairs loo and not too many other bathrooms to clean. A fantastic size walk in shower. If money was no object I'd also have an ofuro. Oriel windows so I could have window seats. A breakfast nook with bench seating around a bay window. A study door masquerading as a bookcase. Rain water storage tanks sunk into the ground, maybe a borehole. Solar panels and massive batteries. Insulation.
Zero grey in the decor. Underfloor heating on the bathroom and one of those switches to turn on the shower before you step in. A double vanity. Maybe underfloor heating everywhere actually. A sauna. More than 1 reception room.
A hot tub would put me off.
Parking for 3 cars, large garage, quiet street. Lots of trees and plants in the garden. Paving, no decking.

Bet you’re confused now OP, we all want something different!

Enough bathrooms/showers to balance the number of bedrooms (one shower to every two bedrooms ideally).

A utility room!

Storage cupboards.

Energy efficient features.

Parking is really important for us.

A nice garden, and lots of storage, plus the kitchen/diner as a family space.

More than one loo.

Ooh I know what else, an electric car charger and solar panels ! 😬

Dear lord you don’t all ask for half much 😆. I guess my house is never selling 😭

I like underfloor heating and wooden floors downstairs, radiators and carpet - no grey- upstairs as we don’t like much heat in the bedroom and find it easier to be able to switch off a radiator.
Actually what I really like is a barn or period property very sympathetically modernised with a lovely garden and outside sitting space, a pergola as above !
If that could be arranged please!

For me a dream home is more about location. I would never buy a house near a bus stop, near a bench, near a school, near a kids playground. You can change what’s in a house but you can’t change those things.

A good area. Sense of community and neighbourliness without interference.
Access to the countryside or parks if in a city.

Doors.
I cant stand open planed.
Also cant stand underfloor heating.
I have hot feet syndrome so it would be hell for me.

No to most of things in opening post.
Yes to everything in first reply.

I don't like en-suites. Makes FAR more sense for a 2nd bathroom to go off a landing.
I don't like bifold doors.
I don't like hot tubs
I don't like conservatories.
I don't like islands
I don't like open plan.

I do like decent sized bedrooms, and all to be decent sized, except a study / office.
I think a downstairs toilet is essential.
Separate utility.
A kitchen big enough to put a table in it.
One larger space - be that the main living room or a large kitchen diner space.
Space somewhere for an office (be that upstairs or down).
Separate living spaces / 2nd reception room.
Double (side by side) driveway.
Decent sized patio / outdoor seating area
I would LOVE to be able to set heating separately for different times in different rooms - not just the thermostat on the radiator, but for example I don't need the heating on in the living room in the mornings, but do in the evenings and don't need heating all evening in the bedroom, but want it on there before I get out of bed.

Bonus points for:

south-facing garden (or near enough)
3 decent sized bedrooms
2 toilets, one up one down
good view
average-sized garden (big enough to enjoy but not with huge maintenance)
decent storage, or space to put free-standing storage where I want it
interesting house (if a period house, then period features please; if not, I'd prefer it not to be plain and square)
boot room would be nice, though I've never had one
nearby walks and shops

Don't want:
open plan
under floor heating
conservatory
plastic grass or paved-over garden
hot tub
neighbours with obvious problems, e.g. front garden full of crap
main road, bus stop outside, view of factory, etc.

Don't care:
en-suite
parking (I'm probably the only one on here!)
double-glazing

Obviously some of these are things you can't change.

I would LOVE to be able to set heating separately for different times in different rooms - not just the thermostat on the radiator, but for example I don't need the heating on in the living room in the mornings, but do in the evenings and don't need heating all evening in the bedroom, but want it on there before I get out of bed.

Yes to that!

No with the new underfloor heating. I have the same as you, and I love my underfloor heating (we have a water to heat pump).

the most important when buying a house is yo look at the bones of the house. You can change whats in it. So location and a good house.

• insulation in the walls, roof and floors
• dpuble glazing windows
• BER rating
• type of heating
• age of house
• who built it of modern

if the above isnt suitable then I decide if I am buying a project. But then I always go back to bones of the house.
and it will need to be suitably priced given the amount of works, the location and its desirability.

you shouldnt buy a house just for the amenities. That can be changed in time. If you have to repair the bones thats called a money pit so you need which is fine if you re buying a good project, not if you re buying a look

Come on OP. Like most people I'd be thrilled with 2,500ft.

I can promise you that by the end of this thread you'll have so many differing opinions about what is important that you'll be worse off than you were when you started this thread.

Honestly - your doing the renovations for the benefit of your family. make it right for them - and the chances are it will suit a lot of family's in the future - should you choose to sell.

Lots of storage space (main priority!)
Downstairs loo
Utility room
Well placed sockets/power points
Decent sized master bedroom, kitchen and living rooms
Shower and bath
At least one separate reception room downstairs (i.e. not one big open plan downstairs space)
Real garden
Garage?

OP as you can see people are different and want different things!

So my advice would be do what suits you and your family for the home that you live in, there is no way to please everyone and no way to future proof.

A downstairs loo is about the only thing I can think of which seems a pretty universal want.

I work in a small estate agents and even between us we all disagree on what are the best selling points of the properties we take on😆