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Original poster

Would you pay more for a house with a great view?

57 replies

DayAtTheRaces · 14/07/2019 10:40

I’ve been watching those TV shows about house hunting, especially one about Coast vs Country house.

It’s fairly obvious that houses with a great view of rolling hills, lakes or a sea view cost a lot more than a similar house with a view of other houses or commercial buildings, schools etc.

How much more do you think it would be worth it to buy a house with a great view? 15%, 20%, 30% etc.? I’m trying to plan our next move and wondering if I should pay more for a view or just go for a bigger house for the same budget but without anything nice to look at.

Thoughts?

OP posts:
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11
mumdone · 14/07/2019 10:43

Absolutely pay more for a great view. I’m not sure how much more but I would.

Benes · 14/07/2019 10:43

I have the most amazing view from my house. We paid over the odds for it but it was the village location as well as the view that made it worth it in our opinion.

BarmyBitchNeighbour · 14/07/2019 10:45

Generally a budget is a budget and depending on loan to value you can’t always just decide to pay more because of XYZ. But I agree a great view would add value to a house therefore appeal to those with the required budget.

Chocolatedeficitdisorder · 14/07/2019 10:46

I think we paid more for our house because of it's view.

Back in 2006, we had looked at lots and came across this house the day the board went up. We knocked on the door on a warm summer evening and the moment we saw the view from the conservatory we were sold! Our house is the last house in the village and backs out onto a natural loch, farmland and rolling hills.

We made them an instant offer of £187k which they accepted, but the valuation came in at £180k. We knew that we couldn't risk losing it so we just sucked up the difference.

Pipandmum · 14/07/2019 10:47

Of course a view adds value. A sea view can add quite a lot, and think of all those flats with a Thames view in London - absolute premium!
Only you can decide if a view is worth it - think about how much time you might spend looking at it - not a lot? Then don’t bother.

Fedupatforty · 14/07/2019 10:49

Problem with buying a house for the view is that you don’t own that view (unless you can also buy all the land between you and the horizon!). How would you feel if something was built that blocks or changes the view after you’ve bought? Are you prepared to fight planning permission etc? I say this because my PIL have a lovely view across open fields to the sea and there are proposals to put housing on it and it’s causing them all kinds of stress.

nrpmum · 14/07/2019 10:49

As long as I knew that the view could never be obscured by future development, yes

lazymare · 14/07/2019 10:50

Yes but I'd want to know it could never be built on.

TanMateix · 14/07/2019 10:54

It depends on the view and you cannot quantify it. I know some people who own half a mountain in the Pyrenees to protect the view they have from their house which is probably multiplies the value of the building ten fold, while you can get a flat with windows that look into an alley for 15% less than the identical flat next door whose windows look into a green area.

Rosemary46 · 14/07/2019 10:56

Yes I have done. But only you can decide how much it’s worth to you.

I like a large garden but other people would find this off putting and worry about maintenance.

Amibeingdaft81 · 14/07/2019 10:57

View view view

purplecorkheart · 14/07/2019 10:59

A sea view quite a bit

DownUdderer · 14/07/2019 10:59

The views from our place are amazing! I’ve never had views before and every moment I get to let the view soak in are valuable to me. I’d be wary if your views could be blocked though.

Awrite · 14/07/2019 11:02

I have the most stunning sea view. I don't know what it's worth in monetary terms but it's of great value to my mental health.

When the time comes to downsize, I will move to a flat with similar views.

jackparlabane · 14/07/2019 11:03

Depends what else you would have to compromise on given your budget. If we'd wanted a river view in West London, it was about 50% more than being 5 minutes walk away, and would have noisy crowds along the footpath most of the time. We went for the estate 5 min away, where a flat with view of dustbins with a parking space outside was the same price as one with a view over a rather nice park but only communal parking so usually a couple min walk away. We went for the view and sucked up walking to the car (and were early adopters of online supermarket shopping!)

Heratnumber7 · 14/07/2019 11:13

We don't have a view exactly, but we back onto a woods and that's what appealed to us.
It's not an area that can be built on - it's a steep wooded gulley with a stream at the bottom, and we paid extra for knowing we'd never be overlooked.

Beebumble2 · 14/07/2019 11:24

Yes, we did. We bought a house at full market value because of the uninterrupted south west view of estuary and rolling hills.
We then spent money gutting it to a shell and rebuilding.

Swoopinggulls · 14/07/2019 12:08

I did probably pay more for a wonderful view of water and hills. Not sure how much more, maybe 15%, but I've stayed here a very long time and still love the view.
I knew it couldn't be blocked with new builds so it was worth every penny.

MrsMoastyToasty · 14/07/2019 12:11

Depends upon what the view is. DM & DF house overlooked a golf course when they first moved in. 20 years later it was a housing estate.

Ginnymweasley · 14/07/2019 12:14

We paid slightly more for our sea view. I'm glad we did tbh. It's nice to be able to wake up and look out to sea and from our landing we get the most amazing sunsets. Totally worth it tbh.
The pic is just from our small side window.

Would you pay more for a house with a great view?
Murinae · 14/07/2019 12:15

We have amazing views but as our house is a one off it’s hard to tell if we paid more. We probably did pay a bit more but I live the view out of our windows and never get tired of it. Ours can’t be taken away as it’s on a hill overlooking a valley.

Passthecherrycoke · 14/07/2019 12:17

Oh @Ginnymweasley that’s beautiful

Honeyroar · 14/07/2019 12:18

We have gorgeous views and a lovely old house, but you’d probably pay as much for a new build in the local villages with smaller gardens and no views. Some people seem to prefer being in “civilisation” within walking distance of the countryside than in the sticks. I adore our view and wouldn’t swop it for village life for anything.

tentative3 · 14/07/2019 17:09

As others have said, yes but difficult to quantify as so many variables. We offered on a house last year that had stunning views and we spent a long time checking to see how protected the view was (pretty much completely as it turns out) - spoke to local councillors, the council themselves and a utilities company. There are houses in the same road that have much less exciting views, overlook something somewhat undesirable or that have a nice but not amazing view. I couldn't tell you off hand what the price difference is but we were definitely buying the view - it's not particularly somewhere I'd have wanted to live otherwise, not that there was anything wrong with the area, it's just fairly suburban which doesn't do it for me.

As it turns out it all fell apart but I envy the person who bought that house, the views would never get old.

SummerInTheVillage · 14/07/2019 17:12

We have an amazing view over a valley and farmlands. When we had the house valued recently the agent told us the view was worth thousands on top.

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