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Property/DIY

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Original poster

is going from detached to a semi a backwards step?

44 replies

dizzybiatch · 26/08/2012 22:49

We have a detached house. Past 2 houses have been detached. We have 3 young kids. Looking to move and not finding much in our price range that is detached.

Would buying a semi be a backwards step? My father seems to think so.

OP posts:

likeatonneofbricks · 26/08/2012 23:39

not if the new area is better!

tribpot · 26/08/2012 23:51

Backwards how? (I think I know what your dad is getting at but it's a rather ludicrous keeping-up-with-the-Joneses kind of argument).

Detached houses are more expensive because they come with certain benefits, like (generally) less noise from neighbours

SoozleQ · 26/08/2012 23:57

In my area the semis tend to be bigger, older victorian/Edwardian houses with bigger gardens than the proxy, paper thin walled, tiny roomed detached houses thrown up in new estates. I think it depends very much on the house itself.

Original poster

dizzybiatch · 27/08/2012 00:00

Best bit is he lives in a semi!! But he wants me to benefit from his experience

I do know what he means. Here we have no immediate neighbours and no worries about how loud the kids are! But if we want to move closer to civilisation then i don't think the equivalent of what he have is in our price range... unless its a semi!

My biggest worry is now buying a semi and have a hellish neighbour and my dad having that smug look of 'i told you so'

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tribpot · 27/08/2012 00:01

Well, it's a problem. But what solution does he propose? You can't make extra money grow on trees.

Original poster

dizzybiatch · 27/08/2012 00:06

We would never buy a detached house in an estate, ever, anywhere. We just are not that type. We are more like the Clampetts! Think naked children running round the garden, parents chopping wood and chewing tobacco... (ok well the tobacco chewing is an exaggeration but the rest if fairly accurate )

We live currently in the middle of nowhere in an old cottage which we have made home. It is a lovely area, good schools, low crime and very beautiful. We would be moving closer to a city to be nearer parents/grandparents.

OP posts:

rubyrubyruby · 27/08/2012 00:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

dizzybiatch · 27/08/2012 00:11

trib his answer is if we cant find a detached house in the right spot just stay where we are. The problem with that is that we actually want to move!
It is hard to beat where we are and in fairness to my Dad he is the one who has done most of the work on our cottage to turn it into our lovely home.
When we first moved here my Dad thought we were mad moving to the 'middle of nowhere' and my mum constantly called our cottage a 'pig in a poke' (whatever that means ) but now they can see all it has to offer its a different story.

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tribpot · 27/08/2012 00:13

I have to say, based on your previous post, I wouldn't move either. How is it affecting you to be further away from grandparents? You obviously see your own parents quite a bit anyway?

Parents have a habit of having their own lives and are quite happy seeing children/grandchildren when it suits them and not the other way around!

Original poster

dizzybiatch · 27/08/2012 00:17

It does depend on the house ruby absolutely. We currently have a 3 bed detached cottage with 0.3 acres of garden at the foot of the forest in the middle of nowhere 4 hours from my parents. I have found a semi detached 3 bed cottage with 1 acre garden very similar to ours in the middle of nowhere an hours from parents.

So for me i will have a bigger garden (oh the joy of mowing the feckin lawn) and be closer to my folks the down side is i will have a neighbour through the wall which means considering them when my kids kick off, or when i kick off or when we do any diy that involves noise. Its weighing up the pros and cons innit?

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Original poster

dizzybiatch · 27/08/2012 00:24

trib moving for many reasons not just being closer to grandparents. Living in a small rural community has many advantages tis true but it is not easy. The further away from big cities you get the more insular people become and unless generations of your family have been born and bred there you are never truely accepted into the community. There are few people and so it is one circle of friends so you'd better hope all is well in the circle because if not there is no where to go!

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Springforward · 27/08/2012 00:29

It wouldn't worry me, personally.

ninah · 27/08/2012 00:30

I love the sound of your present house tbh
wanna swap for my semi?
Seriously, I think you have to judge each house on its own merits. As you say, your df advised you against the current one to begin with!

Original poster

dizzybiatch · 27/08/2012 00:33

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33450061.html?premiumA=true

Not sure if that worked but should be a link to the semi i found that i like the look of and am going to view this weekend.

I think it looks lovely.

OP posts:

MaryMotherOfCheeses · 27/08/2012 00:34

Too many variables to object to basic premise of going from a detached to a semi.

tribpot · 27/08/2012 00:36

It does look lovely but the bedrooms look quite small. Can you compare the square metres with your current property? You might be surprised ...

Original poster

dizzybiatch · 27/08/2012 00:46

In terms of bedroom sizes the sizes are stated in the description and are all fairly big. My ds currently has the smallest bedrrom and his is quite a bit smaller than the smallest one. My cottage is bigger but not by much. My only gripe would be losing a second loo. We have a cloakroom wc and a bathroom. Also we have a utility room. We also (feel like i am boasting here have a lovely new attic rm that we use as a playrm/tv rm/spare bedroom but we could easily do the same with the attic in this house as some of the others in the row have done this. Oh and one last boast, we also have a conservatory but I hate it, its upvc and its ugly but it does give us useable space. This house is below budget by quite a bit so it does give us the option of adding perhaps another loo etc. As mary says 'too many variables'

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lazydog · 27/08/2012 01:02

I'd never do it if I had a choice. Our first two houses were semi detached and we had noisy neighbours in both. In the second property the neighbours were utterly mental too. At least in our first house it was just noise; we were not living somewhere attached to a family of nut-jobs! We've got space around us now and I'd be very nervous at the thought of losing that, personally!

Original poster

dizzybiatch · 27/08/2012 01:07

Good points lazydog. I struggle to share a village with the nut-jobs here, last thing I want is to have one thru the wall

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Devora · 27/08/2012 01:40

We live in a semi and our neighbours are a complete joy. The kids hop over the garden fence to play in each others' gardens. We often take turns to feed the kids

But then, this is my first house. I have always lived in flats before, my whole life. So I've got no experience of being able to avoid dealing with neighbours. I think you have to check out neighbours carefully. But then, it sounds like you currently have very little in the way of neighbours and that sounds like an extreme solution to a potential problem

I know some people who would definitely agree with your dad, but for me it would come down to which semi versus which detached. Other factors may well outweigh the shared wall issue.

Original poster

dizzybiatch · 27/08/2012 07:53

I would definitely check out the neighbours before buying a semi but that doesn't mean they will always live there! Id want to carry out a full interview! 'So how many years have you lived here?' 'Any plans to move? ever?'
I am going for a look at weekend so will see what that brings.

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doblet · 27/08/2012 08:30

Our neighbours are lovely but I lust after a detached house. I think you may regret it, especially as you are living in a quiet area. If you were currently on a noisy estate then it wouldn't be too much of a shock.
Privacy and peace are high on most people's priority lists

LadyLetch · 27/08/2012 08:48

We moved from a large detached house to a much smaller end terraced one so that we would be in the right catchment area for secondary schools etc. Although our move meant we had to downsize, I lost the playroom, the bedrooms are all a lot smaller (they were all doubles) I don't regret it for a second because of the old adage "location, location, location". Where we live now is so nice it's worth the extra mortgage and smaller house!

For us, we moved from / to similar style locations and age of houses. We've not found our adjoined neighbour a problem at all, never hear them. The neighbour on the detached side though is much noiser. He plays a lot of music (professionally) and so we can often hear him practise, thankfully he's good so I don't mind .

That said, I don't think I'd want to buy a really new semi house, as the walls are too thin. I do at least have good solid brick walls separating me from my neighbours, so I never hear them. Good layout design of the two houses also helps this (our living rooms, stairs and kitchens are not next to each other iyswim).

Waspie · 27/08/2012 08:57

When I lived in a flat I could hear the upstairs neighbour, didn't like it much. My first house was a 1960's semi and the neighbours were lovely but they had three small children and I could hear them, particularly first thing in the morning in their bedrooms. Next house was link detached. Much better in terms of noise.

Our current house is detached but only by about 10 feet! We did look at semi's but only 1930's or older build as the soundproofing seemed better compared to new builds. As the others are saying it's location that's really important.

Original poster

dizzybiatch · 27/08/2012 11:31

Thinking if its built right then you shouldnt be able to hear too much from next door. Not sure how to check that out when viewing. Perhaps send my DF next door to chat loudly to the neighbour whilst i listen in the house!! Might get a few looks from the EA!!

I am so torn as this house is the only one that is remotely like what we live in, similar style, similar situation with forestry on the door step and fairly remote. Only real difference is it is semi det. It has been used as a holiday cottage up until now. If it was still being let out i would book it for a week. What a wonderful way to try out a potential new home!

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