What did you compromise on and what did you gain?

[OUB1974]

Having just had our offer accepted, I'm interested in this. We've viewed around 10 houses. The reason we rejected the other 9 was mainly due to garden size.

We compromised on: a private parking space, and being set back from the road with a front garden (although dh says that's a bonus as he hates maintaining them!). We also gave up having a semi (although it's a wide end terrace so not much difference)

We gained: more space than any other house we've viewed, a large garden and lots of character! We have an open fireplace, beams and floorboards. Plus a 3 minute walk to school! We also have 3 loos, which I find amusing.

I wasn't expecting this at all as I didn't realise there were any pretty houses in the area we were looking in (I think we drove down the street once and I assumed they were all tiny terraces). Where were your compromises?

We compromised on the size of the property for the land that came with it.

We have 3 acres so can keep our horses at home. We need at least one more bedroom though and a study. We are having a dressing area/study built onto our bedroom in the next month. I hope to have the extra bedroom for DS 12 in the next year to 18 months as at the moment he is still sharing with his younger ( 8 yo ) DB - he doesn't mind at all at the moment though.

We also moved into the next county which I'd rather not have done but houses are marginally cheaper in Somerset as opposed to Wiltshire, we also added an extra 20 mins each way to our school run but we still think these compromises are well worth our house. It's idyllic and we love it very much.

Compromised on:
-Being in the next village to DC school (only 5 mins in car but definitely too far to walk)
-it was a 70's time-warp which needed absolutely everything replacing inside and out, other than the brickwork!

• it's a Bungalow which I didn't really want..

However...gained far more:
-a garage
-a driveway for 3+ cars

• huge plot with wraparound garden
• 3 double bedrooms + box room
• will be in the correct village for when DS starts secondary school

We're almost there with the renovations, just the spare room and back garden to do. We've been here about 4 years.

There's been things I wish we'd done differently and thought about more before committing to this house, I don't regret it per se but it was definitely a panic buy as there was so little on the market at the time.

Sacrificed: 24.376 extra miles from london

Gained: pretty much everything lol

We've moved from a 2 bed Georgian flat in zone 2 to a 5 bed detached new build and I can literally skim DDs latest baking project stones across a lake from my kitchen window. It’s so crazy that they’re similarly valued.

@Sweetmelody72 sorry to hear about the structural issue with the house you were buying, sounds like a nightmare. I think it will vary from person to person. Before we viewed it my DH said it was definitely a no as from the map he could see the road and shape of the garden which completely put him off. However when we viewed it I could see him changing his mind.

We wanted a character property in a village.

We got the village, but in an 80s build in a small cul de sac. We gained a huge garage, large drive, large garden, and generous sized house but all without one ounce of character.

It's been great until we got new neighbours. Now we're trying to move. We knew that at some point, the close proximity to others would be an issue and I guess we're lucky that it took 23 years .

Compromise:
Garden size - this house has tiny garden
Smaller square footage internally (although similar number of rooms)
Garage

Gained:
Lovely neighbours
Detached
Amazing location, close to school, green spaces, park, safe area

Compromised on it being a detached, older property in a Village and lower price

Gained nice edge of town area, more parking and south west garden.

Compromise:
Lovely looking victorian house for a1960s house
Big master bedroom for smaller
High ceilings for low

Gain:
Big gardens
Quiet location
Drive
Detached
Big windows
Light
No damp

Compromised on: period features (left a lovely Edwardian brick terrace house with high ceilings), house condition (everything needs doing, budget wouldn’t stretch to a more ‘done’ house), and smaller room sizes all round.

Gained: secondary school catchment, nicer area than before, a utility room, much bigger garden, off street parking and semi-detached / side access.

We compromised by living in a busy road but gained big house and big driveway(5 cars).

Compromised location: on a busy road.

On other hand I gained more than I lost.

Space: large for the price; character: late Victorian with lots of original features; and convenience: walk to shops and public transport.

I love my house and the compromise was worth it. Every day I think how lucky I am to have my house and how wonderful it is.

Compromised on garden size, although it's more than big enough for us, it probably doesn't match the house very well.

There's also no airing cupboard (I know this is a silly one, but I love them) and a lot of work to do. But we love it and we've got the rest of our lives to do it. No mad panic.

Compromise: wanted a detached house but realised we would be better off with a good semi rather than a not very nice detached. OK, we could have done loads of work to it but just didn't have the heart.

One was owned by a middle eastern family. They had put (very nice but inappropriate) tile slabs on the lounge diner floor instead of carpet or laminate. It just made the place feel cold and hard IMO.

Another had been a student let and had the atmosphere of a youth hostel. It would have taken a lot of money and a lot of heart to make it feel whole and homely again. Too hard.

Gained:
1930's house
Flat hard standing at front for 2 cars. No front garden - don't care.
Garage - awkward to drive into but useful storage none the less.
Rear extension making a huge 'L' shaped kitchen diner.
Snug i.e. small extra living room that was once the original kitchen I think.
Snazzy new kitchen.
Not small but not big garden
Big patio the width of the rear of the house
Quiet. (Our previous house had three children in it that were just getting older and louder.)
Not in a cul de sac. Honestly, it was like living on a roundabout.

To clarify:
Our previous house had three children living next door that were getting older and louder !

No airing cupboard either. What's that about ? No problem, just have find alternative storage for bedlinen and towels etc. Wasn't an airing cupboard in the previous rented house either.

Compromised: semi with an overlooked garden, magnolia anaglypta wallpaper everywhere which is gradually being stripped but it’s a swine to remove and each time we take it off we have to get the walks skimmed. The decor is basicalky clean but bland and dated and there’s no off street parking.

Gained: excellent location - close to a lovely park which is great for ds. Kitchen with room for us to eat in plus a dining room we use as an additional tv room for teen dc. 2 reception rooms has been a godsend in the pandemic - our last house had a knock through living / dining room and a poky kitchen so it was difficult to have any quiet space downstairs. We have a station and shops and good schools all within easy walks.

Our next move will be out of town though. Don’t need to be near schools anymore and the lack of parking is a pain.

Compromises:

• out of date and cheaply maintained. Everything has been done on a shoestring and is now falling to bits.
• garden is very over looked
• third bedroom is a box room (same as I had growing up though)
• front garden had been gravelled and was all weeds
• layout of the back of the house is ill thought out and really dark

Gains:

• ideal location, exactly where we wanted
• 1950s semi detached
• bags of potential to make it exactly how we want!

Compromised on location and ‘finish’ for character, space and opportunity to renovate.

I wouldn’t compromise private parking for anything though

Compromised: House needs complete renovation. On street parking only which as we are opposite a care home is often tricky.

Gained: Beautiful semi-detached Edwardian house. Needing total renovation so we are slowly working through it and getting exactly what we want by doing much of the work ourselves. 4 double bedrooms, 3 reception rooms so OH has his own office space now. Big garden fab neighbours, 5 mins walk for kids to school and 7 mins walk to work for me.

Love our house

I'm sort of envious of those whose house needs a renovation. Our (soon to be) new one is beautifully done, and although it is really nice to move in and not have to do any work, it's not 100% what I would have chosen. We will definitely have to put our own stamp on it, but cant really justify getting new cupboard doors or carpets.

I never ever thought I'd compromise on parking. However, it turns out space, garden size, character and convenience for school is more important to me. The last house we saw was 30% smaller and with a tiny garden. I'd have has to have driven down the hill to school every day anyway, which would have been more hassle than finding a spot only when I get home. Fortunately there are going on for twice as many spaces as houses so we'll be fine.

Gained: Easy walk to shops in lovely historic city and to choice of restaurants when open (and to station if needed) as opposed to having to drive everywhere. Just prefer town atmosphere to small village.

Compromise: Quite a big one, terraced so therefore neighbour sounds.
Also on street residents parking. But lived with these before so know what to expect.

Not many compromises. Just size of kitchen and closeness to shops and green spaces. I was 5 minutes walk from the shops - I'm now 13 minutes away.

But what I've gained far outweighs those factors. The whole condition of the place is a million times better than where I lived before. Two beautiful bathrooms, high quality kitchen, light and airy rooms, beautiful garden. And all done to a tip top spec.

Compromised on character (1950s house with no midcentury details whatsoever 😕), quality of decor and layout, but got plot size, set back from the road, best location, the worse house on the best road. We'll be doing it up but the location means the property will retain what we invest in it which is a big plus. For many other locations we would have been pouring money in that we'd not have seen again in the value of the property.

Compromised on having a second reception room - there's a conservatory instead, size of second bedroom (it's tiny), smaller garden than I would like. Instead I've got a village location, garden backs on to countryside. Public transport is excellent which was not negotiable as I can't drive.

Wanted DC to have independence and be able to walk to school once they reached a certain age, so we went for a house that was a bit more expensive and had a smaller garden (but still sizeable)... It was the right choice for us.

I only compromised on location - I'm a couple of streets away from the nice bit of my area.

It also required a lot of work as the people had lived in it since the 1970s.

But it's not a bad area and in return I got a big house with enough bedrooms for all the children post divorce, and it's early Victorian which I like. It's zone 2 and close to everywhere I want to go and near to transport links to the rest. I'm not interested though in a garage or off street parking or any of that stuff.

Every so often I look at houses in the area I want to live in, but they have half the number of bedrooms. So I just have to wait until the kids all have their own places.