House buying deal breakers

[HamAndPlaques]

My brother has just withdrawn an offer on a house because it doesn't have a gas supply, only electricity. Does everybody have a 'deal breaker' when it comes to buying property?

I didn't think I had one but DH has just reminded me that I do, and it's a bath. When we were house-hunting we viewed a place where the bathroom was brand new and the bath had been replaced by an enormous double shower cubicle with a very expensive, massive shower head. Gorgeous, but there was no bath. I could have lived without for a while in preparation to fit a new bathroom but we couldn't have justified redoing that room for at least ten years, so it wasn't for us.

What are your deal breakers...?

[AnimatedDad]

I dont like houses that have been well refurbished but not to my taste.

I.e. I don't mind ripping out old decor or big building works (currently in the midst of an extension build) but I feel bad throwing away a new bathroom just because its got gold taps and faux Grecian basins standing majestically on carved fish tails.

[Wishfulmakeupping]

Location I narrows it down to about 15 streets in a certain village.
Had to have been built before 1950's
Had to have potential to add value
Had to have decent hallway

My partners were:
Garage
Space for shed
Driveway good size

[drxerox]

mrsbug yy to Kitchens in living rooms. So many new builds have that now and it would be an absolute deal breaker for me

[expatinscotland]

Busy road, no off-street parking, any major building work, no bath, no mains gas, no mains sewage/drains, no garden, electric storage heaters, listed/conservation area.

[PinkBolly]

Hmmm. I've been thinking a lot about this very thing lately. I think my deal breakers would be:

More than 50 years old
No off street parking
No nearby shops within walking distance
Not a new estate type development
Would have to have reasonable size garden
Preferably a big frontage - front door a fairly long distance from road
Max 10 mile radius to where I currently live
Nowhere near pylons or as works
Preferably a no through road

[GemmaTeller]

Shared anything
Communal anything

Must have garden
Must have driveway
Must be detached

[mrsbug]

I love the idea of a futility room

[LtEveDallas]

Until we started looking, I didn't realise I had any dealbreakers. But it turned out I did.

I had to have a downstairs loo, a futility room, a shower, off street parking, decent garden, lots of 'green' and lots of other kids.

I managed to get it all and couldn't be happier (actually, that's a lie, I would be happier if the vendor hadn't left me 2 skips worth of trash in the back garden....but I can deal with that)

[JRmumma]

Main one for me is absolutely cannot have a bathroom which opens into the kitchen.

P.s. Like the poster upthread, i didn't notice my kitchen had no drawers until after we bought it either!

[MissBetseyTrotwood]

Japanese Knotweed. (Obvs).

Paved over garden, same as others.

Houses where you can't walk end to end on the first floor and you have to go up different flights of stairs to get to different rooms.

But most of all, busy road. We have a deaf child and apart from the fumes, noise etc it's just too dangerous for him.

[mrsbug]

Oh and also flats which are described as open plan meaning that the kitchen is actually in the living room

[PragmaticWench]

A complete deal breaker for me would be a house on an estate, of any kind.

I moved into dh's bachelor house on a fairly modern estate and hated every minute of three years there. Multiple houses being able to see into your house and all on top of one another. We could have bought a larger 4 bed on another estate but opted for a 3 bed non-estate location this time.

[mrsbug]

We live in a small flat and don't have most of the things listed. But we live in a nice area close to the town centre and my main deal breaker would have been location - we wanted to be within walking distance of the town centre.

Also I wanted a garden, and not to be on the main road.

[HahaHarrie]

Hugoagogo I can't believe you don't want an ensuite?! That was nearly a deal breaker for me not having one and I thought it would be a big issues for others too.

Would people consider a 36 x 45 ft decent garden???

Deal breakers for me...

• Loud road noise or sports fields that you can hear in the garden.
  
• Impossible parking
  
• Shared anything
  
• No possibility to extend (if not already sizeable)
  
• Over looked and ugly outlook.
  
• Neighbours houses looking like tips.
  

the rest can be changed.

[mewkins]

Must have a decent sized garden
Must have a hallway (don't like walking straight into a living room )
Must have space for a dining table (either in a dining area or kitchen).

[ogredownstairs]

don't care about baths, parking or gardens (dcs now older) but apart from the usual things like quiet-looking neighbours for me the non-starters are

less than one hundred years old
unattractive outlook e.g. onto office block
only one loo
main roads
pylons
flight paths
sewerage works
more than 5 mins from frequent public transport
more than 5 mins from a corner shop
expensive fittings that I consider hideous and impractical but too costly to change - e.g marble worktops, or that pinky speckled granite that looks a bit like pedigree chum
too 'residential' - I have never bought a house that was not in easy walking distance of a Marks and Spencer

[Floralnomad]

Definite non starters for us are
Not detached
Listed
Low ceilings
Downstairs bathroom ( that can't be moved up)
Shared driveway/ shared access
No off street parking
No mains drainage
We barely looked round any houses when we last moved as most could be discounted before we went in. We are not moving again !

[pictish]

A paved or gravelled 'garden' - never. Wouldn't even bother viewing.
Very overlooked by the neighbours - no.
We value privacy and outdoor space above all else.

[pictish]

Don't the vast majority of house sales go through the EA directly?
Having bought and sold three times now, I have never dealt directly with either vendor or buyer...only via the EA.

[Tinkleybison]

Really drxerox? I thought one of the major incentives for paying an estate agents was so you didn't have to bring too much personal contact into a financial transaction.
For me deal breakers are:
Small paved/gravel garden
Very overlooked
Not keen on door opening directly on to the street
No bath
Too open plan - once saw a house where they had removed every possible wall downstairs, it had quite a weird feel to it.

[crazyboots]

drxerox - isn't that normal though? I've sold 3 places now and always dealt with the EA only unless the buyer was actually at the property for a scheduled visit. Also when buying, never dealt with the vendors directly or had their number.

[DrFunkesFamilyBandSolution]

No parking, we looked at a house last week where the driveway couldn't fit the Estate Agents Fiat 500 on without hanging over!

Millwall fans next door.

[PestoSunnyissimos]

I wouldn't have considered a property without:

Mains sewerage
Gas & electricity connected
Broadband coverage

[drxerox]

we are being royally f**d about by our vendors at the moment, who will only deal with us through the Estate Agents. The EA's aren't interested in keeping us happy, as we don't pay them, and are useless.
SO - next time I would not consider buying from vendors who will not deal with us, and insist on everything going though the EA.

[hyperspacebug]

• I've easily turned down 2 nice houses because they were more than 15 mins walk to train station. No matter how nice.
  

• a cupboard where you can't fit even a half-single bed in being described as a 3rd bedroom (well done KFH - no wonder it took so long to sell such a nice property with amazing kitchen when the rest of properties incl 2 beds were selling like hot cakes)
  

• garden less than 25 feet
  
• poor layout and flow of rooms that'd be very expensive to change