What matters most to you when buying a property?

[Bumpitybumper]

If you had to order the following list to reflect your priorities when buying a property how would you do it:

1. Garden
2. Parking
3. Garage
4. How much work there is to do on the property
5. Room proportions/layout/internal space
6. Transport links
7. School catchments
8. Type of property e.g. detached, bungalow etc
9. Relative value for money

10. character

I ask because I think our current property might be tricky to sell, but I'm not 100 percent as I don't know what most people prioritise when looking for a property to buy.

1, is a reasonable distance from DH work & kids college.

2, is 3 decent sized bedrooms because we have 2 teenagers.

3, is off road parking for at least one car & parking for other cars close by.

4, public transport within reasonable proximity & walking distance of town would be ideal.

Don't care about garden size or school catchments!

1. Area (not confined to any particular area but must feel pleasant and quiet and safe)
2. Close to a primary school
3. Within half an hour of work by bus, train, car or foot
4. Size of house
5. Don't want a house that needs major work. Don't mind replacing a boiler, changing a kitchen or bathroom or having to redecorate but don't want to rewire or fix a lot of damp or have to build an extension.
6. Parking - garage and driveway with space for at least 2 cars to park.
7. Secure garden suitable for DC and dog to play in
8. Atmosphere (like airy rooms with light and space)
9. Views (like looking out of a window with a view)

Don't mind if house is terrace, semi or detached. Would rather not have an old house as too much work to maintain so not interested in period properties.

Location and privacy are equal firsts.
Then garden - private and sunny
Parking

We haven't bought for years, but when we moved here top of our list was off street parking, and we wouldn't even have considered a house without it. I was sick of lugging stuff miles from my car to the house, and it always seemed the more you had to carry the further away you had to park!

1. Detached
2. Decent size garden
3. Off road parking for 2 cars
4. Rooms rather than open plan downstairs

School catchment both at primary & secondary. Even if your house was utterly amazing and a bargain, I wouldn't even have viewed it on Rightmove, never mind considered viewing. That's just the stage of life we were at when we were last buying.

If you're not in catchment for a decent school you're looking at attracting a different demographic - maybe young professionals / FTB (without children) or maybe older buyers where children have left home etc but it sounds like you have a big house but a smallish garden - is that right? I think all other factors aside, I'd price etc are all right, it will sell but probably will take longer as you're likely to appeal to a smaller market than a family house with garden near a good school.

Detached
Parking
Space
Garden
Transport

Schools irrelevant now. I like different styles so character isn't always important but I would probably dismiss a bungalow.

Location, near good transport links. Convenience in terms of local amenities, never more than 5 minutes from where you can buy a decent croissant coffee.
Proportions of rooms and ceiling height (big rooms, high ceilings) parking and detached, and garden fairly irrelevant..

our must haves last move

1. secondary catchment 2)off road parking for 2 cars
2. 4 beds they were non negotiables.

Location
Off road parking
Very Good natural light
High ceilings
Secure garden, preferably south facing
Outbuildings a big bonus

I would only buy an old property (at least 120 years old) as I wouldn't like to live in a newer property. I wouldn't buy a house with plastic windows and definitely no extensions or plastic conservatories.

Space, light and character are very important - as much as possible of all of them. Layout isn't that important as that can often be changed. I wouldn't too care what the bathroom, kitchen or decor looked like as that would definitely be changed.

Location is important as I would only ever want to live in a city. I also prefer small gardens, some outdoor space is important but too much is a PITA. I don't care about parking, having a garage or transport links.

Value for money - ha ha - I don't think anyone gets that now.

Price
Near tube
Quiet road
Good sized garden (not covered in astroturf or decking)
Large rooms/high ceilings
Near school
'Leafy' area
Decent shops within walking distance
Close enough to friends to be able to see them regularly
Some potential for development but not a complete wreck

We bought last year. Priorities:
School catchment (primary and secondary)
3 Bedrooms of good size (not 2 bedrooms+1 box room)
Good size kitchen
Good storage space
Easy to maintain garden.
Public transport links into town
Parking (driveway)
Not much work to do in the property (ideally none)

The first four elements were non-negotiable. We were lucky we found our house and we managed to buy it, it ticked all the boxes.

Last time we bought:

1. Our main aim was to get closer to work and where we spend our free time - so where we wanted to be located

1. We needed parking

1. It had to be safe for the cat

1. We wanted more space

We ended up in a property which needs a lot of work, has some character but is not in a nice location and it is dark. You cannot see the garden from the house due to layout. However, it was the best combination of our criteria for our budget of the properties available at the time.