Property buying - what have you compromised on?

[QueenRunningGeekMum]

Dh and I are looking to buy our 'family home' iyswim. We have a deadline of wanting to move this summer, so plenty of time yet.

The one we looked at yesterday was perfect in all ways except one. It had the good location, plot size, garden, house size, potential to extend and add value, and came in about 25,000k under our top budget. I completely fell in love with it and was fully expecting DH to do so as well.

But the exception was that it was not a period property - it was a 1960s build - and that is apparently enough to send DH running. DH does not want to compromise on his 'ideal property' list.

Now I know that the house has to be just right for both of us so this one glitch means we won't be buying this house. But I would like to hear if any MNetters have compromised on anything from their 'ideal property' list and whether you have overcome it or come to regret it?

We compromised on the size of the kitchen, no utility room, no extra loo etc to get the location we wanted, without needing lots of work, for our budget and no regrets 4 months in! We weren't too fussed on period although didn't want an 'ugly' house.

It was important to us that anything we were compromising on we could change in the future if we have more money. So we have space to extend downstairs and upstairs if and when we ever find some more money to do it. We're planning to stay here for a long time.

I'd say that if period is important to you then you could (or your DH could) regret the purchase as there's not much you can do to change that, however much you like the space/locatione etc.

Good luck, I know how stressful house hunting can be!

We compromised on area in order to get a house we fell in love with that had the garden of my dreams. I wouldn't want to make this mistake again. Five years on, I still love the house but my local high street depresses me every time I walk down it, and I'm dying to move. That said, it was in a bad state, we got it for a very good price and endured renovation hell, and as a result of that have made a killing surprisingly good profit on it which means that when we do move, we will have the budget to seriously upgrade. So in the scheme of things it's hard to consider it a mistake.

My friend bought a 70s house in a road I would not have even thought to look at while we were all buying period houses. She completely gutted it, spent a fortune on it, and it is amazing. Light, spacious, like something from california. If you have the vision you might be on to a winner.

Also think it complete rubbish about holding off on buying property - if you see a house in a good area, near good schools it will always sell well. Not the case for some new builds in over developed areas. Good houses round here sell in a week, others dont sell for 4 months. The problem is if this isnt a dream house for you then I guess dont do it

Honestly Newgirl, it's not the case that a house in a good area, near good schools will always sell well.
I can see how it ought to be and I can well believe it is the case in the south east and other areas where there is pressure on housing and competition to get into the good schools, but in the areas where I am looking (Yorkshire, areas mainly defined by having good schools) there is a lot of stuff that just isn't selling because not enough people in the area currently have the money to buy that sort of house. The prices are slowly coming down to reflect that, but of the stuff that has been on the market for several years, some is obviously overpriced but some is not. When the market is in the doldrums stuff that you would expect to shift doesn't.

We have bought a 70's house in all its original decorative splendour. Prime location (we have waited over a year for a suitable house to come up for sale on this road!), large plot size, backs onto a beautiful heath, decent footprint and under budget. However, we do need to undertake a major refurb on it - who fancies retro avocado/orange/sky blue sanitaryware? In for a penny, in for a pound - we've decided to plump for a big extension at the same time. We saw it on the second day that it came on the market when it already had 3 offers from the first day of viewing alone! The compromise is that we are spending another 25% of its purchase price to modernise it to our taste. (Woodchip walls and artexed ceilings anyone?)

(also, am quite struck by your 'Good houses round here sell in a week, others dont sell for 4 months'. Round here if a house went in 4 months I would describe that as it having been snapped up! It's a different world.)

apologies - 'complete rubbish' sounded bit extreme! we were trying to buy for about six months and good ones sold very quickly with lots of people interested. The ones we didnt buy all had something quite odd going on. it is a good thing though if people are more cautious and dont get into negative equity - i hope the general market has become a bit calmer than ten years ago

that's ok Newgirl! Are you in t'south? All the evidence suggests that the markets in north and south are diverging more and more, so I can see how the stuff I am saying that makes sense in East Yorkshire would seem completely loony if you are somewhere that prices are still buoyant and the good stuff is going fast. If I was in London I would have no clue which way things were going to go.

I'm in one of the areas of the country where property houses are increasing in value at the fastest rate, the property market seems to be moving quickly here in London-commuter-ville, in leafy Surrey. It's quite depressing when we occasionally have a peek at what we could afford outside of the southeast. Not really possible with dh's job though.

We have a nineties build with artexed ceilings. It also has massive rooms, a lovely garden, in a village near a brilliant school and is closer to dh's work. The farm we spend a lot of time at is a mile away and there are fantastic dog walks.

The compromise is that it has absolutely no view. We have a house behind ours and massive trees all around us. That for me is a constant source of irritation. I need a lovely view and the next house will definitely have it.

We've been looking for a while to move nearer to the DCs school however the other week I realised that in order to be slightly closer we were compromising on everything else. There are almost no houses for sale in the area so the ones we could afford needed lots of work, had no garden or parking, on busy streets etc. We've realised the school drive is transient - in a couple of years the DCs could get the bus or cycle- but we'd be stuck with no outdoor space etc. So I think the upshot is that we'll stay here but extend into the loft.

www.podesta.uk.com/pdf/Ideal_Home_1011.pdf

www.homebuilding.co.uk/your-projects/1970s-box-house-transformed

This house is a great example of what you can do to a modern boxy house to turn it into your period dream

I would love to live in a fabulous 1960s house. Have had my fill of Victorians and Edwardians.

I'm compromising on garden size and the fact it's a new build. DH is having to suck up the south facing garden which he could not give a shit about and a dog. Those were my terms

To be honest the look of your house can be changed but what can't be changed is the plot size, orientation and location. So i would compromise on what can be changed but not what can't. there are companies who specialise in giving ugly looking houses a makeover and some of them do end up looking quite period.

Fabulous location, size of a postage stamp. Enough said I think.

The house I wanted is now under offer - having been on the market for three days!

Lost opportunity I feel but a big ask to get DH to compromise on his dream of a period house.

Thanks for the links Elliephant - will be showing them to DH!

And thanks for all your viewpoints, have been sharing them with DH as a good discussion tool on what we need versus want! (and can afford!)

queenrunninggeekmum not stalking you (well clearly am) don't forget c25k strand. Your children are graduating and need you!!

I got: a great part of town, lots of rooms, big garden. But it was an ugly, ugly house: 30s semi unsympathetically modernised, all original features ripped out, small rooms with low ceilings, horribly decorated.

I do still daydream of a house with big rooms and high ceilings, of a lovely big hallway and no uPVC. But I don't regret the compromise. We have big windows: the house is full of sunshine and light. It was easy to redo the decor. We have all the rooms we need (if we'd bought a period property it would have meant the dc sharing a room or dp - who works from home - not having a study). Our small rooms are cheaper to heat. We are near shops and buses and brilliant schools. Above all, I have quite enjoyed the continuing challenge of making the house prettier. If we'd moved into a Victorian terrace with a F&B shaker kitchen it would only have looked worse after we had been in it a few months. As it is, I can look back with pride at how we have improved our place.

Devora you sound like you're willing to make the same compromises as me!

Location and large plot size are really important for me, as you say the house can be made prettier with a bit of effort and vision.

Still seething a bit at missing the opportunity on the house, but the one good thing about it is I think DH has now accepted that it would have been ideal and was desirable despite not being period! (The fact it went so quickly made him realise this!) Perhaps we won't be slow off the mark next time - and who knows, maybe we won't have to compromise on anything [wishful thinking emoticon]

We compromised on kitchen size but already have planning to extend.

We bought a newish build, 12 ish years old, but I don't have tiny poky rooms, yes some new builds are small but then couldn't the same be said for period properties? My lounge is 4.5m square, I have a dining room, a cloakroom and we converted the double garage into a massive playroom for the boys. Upstairs all 4 bedrooms are doubles. The kitchen is totally out of proportion to the rest of the house. We knew that we could get permission to extend so bought the property knowing we could change what we didn't like decor wise and kitchen wise.

My sister has a beautiful 1950's semi, but teeny tiny 3rd bedroom, every time they want to decorate it reveals a whole heap of work to be done, and it costs a bomb to heat it. Where I live there are no lovely period properties on tree lined roads. Just ones on main roads.

I subscribe to Home Building and Renovation Magazine and they have 20 best before and after houses where people have completely changed the outside see this it will only show a few but it does show what you can do if you were so inclined.

Thanks for thoughts and link Fizzy - will look into it!