What’s best / worst about your house?

[TomorrowIsNow]

Viewing a property tomorrow. DH is already in love with it and I’m close behind! We know the area well and love it.

I want to make sure we don’t get carried away so ask, what should I remember to think about? What are you glad for in your house? What do you wish you’d thought about?

Not structural, but more like where to keep the hoover, or too far from sink to cooker.
Thanks!

Best: lots of space: big rooms & storage, south facing back patio & garden, well-configured oak kitchen & separate utility room, beautiful views.

Worst: triple aspect kitchen is poorly insulated & so cold! The garden is too big now the DCs are older. It's hard to keep it maintained & thorn bushes over run it. The upstairs has a weird layout, with the bedrooms all off a long landing, making it look like an institution! Too few windows for my liking.

Best - size.
Worst -size

Spacious / excellent family house vs echoing money pit where everything’s so big it costs a lot.

Bought as a wreck and love it dearly.

Best features
Big picture window in the lounge gives loads of light.
Not overlooked as a field behind.

Worst
Since we moved in a roundabout was put in one street over to a main road meaning our road is used as a cut through and much busier.

Best: lots of built in storage, plenty of space for our family, good off road parking and a west facing garden, good location for DC schools

Worst: very dodgy DIY that is making our efforts to renovate more complicated, a noisy A road nearby that doesn't seem close on the map but we can hear it when the wind blows in a certain direction

Our house was very much a compromise as we had certain non-negotiables but couldn't afford that in a prettier house or a prettier location. However, I was really glad that we opted for a larger (ugly!) house in a relatively ordinary location as during lockdown the local community really pulled together and we had enough space that we didn't drive each other insane.

Best - big drive, never have to worry about visitors or tradesmen parking etc
Big kitchen ..plenty of worktops
Big loft for storage
Views over the countryside

Worst - because of the views our front door is the other side of the house to our drive/garage/where people walk up to. This means only the postman finds the front door and most people use the door into the utility. We are now extending to create a proper entrance from the drive, very excited about it

Best: the location, a minute's walk from the beach and sea views from every window.

Worst: The flipping seagull shit all over my car every morning.

Best : location and detached with detached garage .

Worst : garden on a slope.
Plumbing woeful
Built in wardrobes are imo on wrong walls

Most internal/garden things can be changed or improved but you are stuck with the area and the neighbours.

Don't assume that the neighbours are lovely. Spend a lot of time walking about outside, looking in neighbours houses and gardens. Sorry that sounds a bit creepy but I don't mean it like that. Ring a couple of doorbells and say you are thinking of moving in. Ask them what the neighbourhood is like.

When I downsized I underestimated how much I would hanker after my previous bigger kitchen which was just large enough to have a small table and chairs. Now I have a lounge/diner which would never be my choice. I also 'lost' a garage and a conservatory. Lack of storage is a constant niggle.

OTOH it is easy to heat and maintain. I'm near to amenities and public transport which is handy should I have to give up driving in the future.

Best - not overlooked at all, backs onto woods, lovely views.

Big converted basement that we use as a living room, shower room and utlility area

Worst - no access to the back of the house from the front, you have to walk through the neighbours' gardens. Not an issue day to day but annoying when we have deliveries or workmen.

Best-centre of lovely, busy commuter village with 2 good pubs, 2 sitting rooms including one directly off the kitchen and dining area, beautiful front door. House felt right and still does.
Worst-tiny garden in a street of generous size gardens. That was the compromise we knew we had to make. Busy main road through the village so a lot more road noise than we thought. No view.

Best:
Apart from the obvious one of lots of space and storage.
We are an east-west facing semi so all the rooms get sunlight at different times of the day but our hallway is on the south of the house so is lovely and bright all day.
Great location - nice walks to school/into town/to open countryside
Cheap. We live in the NE so our big 4 bed house cost less than a 2 bed flat in London.

Worst
We had an issue with the drains not long after we moved in. Main drain out of the house had collapsed and contents all backed up. Thankfully we noticed at the 'taking a long time to drain' stage rather than the 'poo lake' point and our house insurance covered the replacement but the house moved a bit because of it so we've now got cracks that need dealing with.

We just moved in so I'm still smitten.
Best -side access. We've gone from a mid-terrace to a detached. It makes such a difference.
The garden is beautiful. It's like a park. Being in London I never really had much outdoor space. I love it so much. Plus we have patio doors out to it. In the summer it'll be amazing.

Worst. The kitchen is tiny, really tiny. Eventually we want to turn the dining room into a kitchen diner but it'll be a few years yet.

It's a terrace about ten minutes too far from the tube, bedrooms are small (except loft which my daughter has).
Best thing is it's period, has a fireplace and the layout downstairs works well. Living room at front is cosy and bright and has glass double doors to kitchen/diner, in which instead of table we have a piano and one of those breakfast cupboard things and have the extension beyond (open to kitchen) as the dining room, which also has a loo off and room for a love seat. Glass doors across whole width looking in to the garden. And I have nice neighbours!

Worst: lack of hall space. I know people bang on about it being dead space, but our hallway is literally just big enough to get a wheelchair in and shut the front door behind you. No space for a bench to sit and put shoes on, and we’ve had to be very clever with shoe storage (Thankyou ikea!). Plus there’s no natural light in there, so we’re looking to replace the lovely solid wood door with one that has a small frosted window to let a bit of light in.
The garden is not flat and slopes down away from the house. At least it’s not the other way so water doesn’t flow towards the house, but it makes it difficult doing anything with the garden, like having a decent sized seating area, and the kids paddling pool always has a deep end!

Best: especially for a new build, the rooms are all a good size, it’s warm and there are tons of electrical sockets in sensible places - an added bonus after years of living in old houses that don’t have anywhere near enough.
The garden, for all its like a ski slope, isn’t overlooked at all, and we have a lovely view across the fields, and get to watch the sunset every evening.

Best: roomy detatched
Worst: aside from extension, cold as hell

I've been in my house for 30 years, and my husband has done a lot of work in it. I love:

It's on a hill, so no speeding cars along the street.
Nobody overlooks us.
Big back garden - about 90ft, south-facing
Lots of storage downstairs.
No horrible kids/horrible dogs on our street.
Lovely neighbours both sides (it's a semi)
Separate utility for washer, dryer, ironing board, plus downstairs toilet.
Large windows
High ceilings
lots of radiators (we had extra ones put in)

I don't like:
The lack of storage upstairs (perhaps we've simply got too much stuff)
The lack of a hallway (a very small entrance as you go in the front door)

Best: location, views, enough garden to have veg and lawn and trampoline and flowers, loads of natural light, feels like a house people have been happy in.

Worst: gas meter in the wrong place, ancient wiring, boiler will conk out at some point, whole lot needs replastering, decor reminiscent of fawlty towers, small kitchen with a lack of surfaces.

We went from terrace to semi detached. It’s love being able to walk round the house…and have a drive.

I love my house, it is a relatively modern build with high ceilings, wooden sash/bay windows etc.. The builders were made to make it fit in with all the period houses around it.

Love - location, windows, high ceilings, tons of light, lovely neighbours, quiet.

Things I would like to change - 20 year old kitchen and bathrooms, but I can't afford to do it atm.

The thing I dislike the most - very cold stone kitchen floor.

Best is the fact it faces SW at the back, so when the sun shines it's flooded with light, and the garden is easy to grow things in. We have huge windows (Edwardian), so it's a light house anyway. I'd avoid east-facing at the back houses: they get so little light in the rooms you use during the day, they are depressing.

Downside is they are 100 years old and single glazed. They have lovely details so we don't want too replace them, but the house is a little chilly. I just wear thick jumpers and fingerless gloves when working.

The radiator in the bathroom is linked to the hot water so the towels are always dry.

We can easily walk into town and the station, and there are loads of places to go on fun walks to, as well.

Best: detached with plenty of parking, kitchen diner and good sized hall, the house is great really.
Worst: pubs/restaurants/cafes are all at the other end of townso need to drive/get a taxi to go anywhere which is especially a pain in the evening.

The good, bad and ugly is the storage space - it has lots but a lot of it is inaccessible. So wardrobes go back and up well beyond the width of the doors making it hard to get things in/out or stuff vanishes to the back and is never seen again, and the hall cupboards are deep rather than wide so it's like Narnia in there!
Good - quite neighbourhood, easy free parking outside, good sized kitchen, light and bright (faces east and west) with big windows, 2 bathrooms, location (good bus routes, easy access to city centre, walking distance to local shops).
Worst - no space to expand.

Best: Every wall, floor and ceiling is wonky. Even though the house is very old its cheap to heat in the winter and lovely and cool in the summer. Every room has some original feature, from fire places to beams to a bread oven. Even though it's a terrace my neighbours cannot hear my children!
Worst: Whenever i need a trade in, it always costs way more than the estimate, I now have a back up contingency fund for such matters. Once my boys hit 6ft they will have to duck under a few doors. Internet is not great in parts of the house due to some very thick walls.

Best: the view. We can see half of Surrey.

Worst: mould from condensation as there are no cavity walls, although we are hoping external insulation will sort that.