What was that one compromise?

[Fancypants2022]

when buying your house - what was the one compromise you made? Mine was accessing the kitchen through the lounge. My last house has this and I was hoping to avoid it. It was great in every other way (apart from being a bit small!!) - is there one thing you gave in on in order to get the house?

Downstairs bathroom.

But actually, since the bathroom is immediately at the bottom of the stairs, not through the kitchen as many are in terrace houses, it’s OK.

Only two levels. Rented lots of three storey townhouse and much prefer the bedrooms being split over two floors but not much choice so back to two floors soon.

Our tiny hall opens straight into the living room which is a funny shape, and the garden is very small because of the size of the extension the previous owners built.

However it was priced accordingly and within a fantastic and usually much more expensive area, so we were happy to compromise.

Shared drive. But we'd logically be the ones doing the blocking in 😉.
Thankfully neighbours have turned out to be considerate, reasonable and civilised. Phew!

We bought a mid terraced instead of a preferred semi detached. The house is exactly the same inside and there was less interest in it because it was a mid terrace so we didn't have to go through a sealed bids scenario and pay over the odds.

Tiny garden. With young DCs at the time it seemed like a bad move, but we decked and paved it, joining it onto the drive, so that they could ride bikes and play out there, rather than having it as an ornamental showpiece. Also no mowing or gardening required. There’s a huge green and play park at the top of the road so we have that if ever we want to sit on some grass!

A driveway the neighbours have right of access over - but it was a fantastic area, bargain house and we've since rebuilt the house and made lots of money ... if we sell it, but no plans to

And any regrets? I do worry it might put people off buying but I guess we bought it so others would too

We bought a converted bungalow (so two bedrooms upstairs and two on the ground floor). The bedrooms were so much bigger than everything else we viewed in the same price range (no tiny box room in sight) and we got one more bedroom than we thought we could afford.

I do worry that when we sell the configuration will put people off but I'm sure someone will be attracted to it for the same reasons we were.

Our was we are now 25 mins walk from the DC's school, we were hoping for no more than 15, but it's actually turned out fine.

Being rural and having a lovely view.

We found a logistically perfect four bedroom detached when the kids were small within a five minute walk to an outstanding village primary school. Done loads to the house over the years, it’s a lovely comfortable house but our back garden is completely hemmed in by trees and massive hedges and now the neighbours bloody enormous garage looming over the fence.

The house is fine and well situated for school, work, town, etc and the fields are only a five minute walk but my lovely garden is completely hemmed in. Never thought it would bother me but it does.

Slightly wrong area - but has worked out for the better. Need to be open minded

No garage was DH’s dealbreaker - but the only house we all loved had no garage. We decluttered and filled the shed with bikes instead.

No regrets, love the house, the area, the neighbours.

Location. We couldn't compromise on price and wouldn't compromise on space, so location had to give. I was being a bit of a snob though, all of our neighbours are lovely and the area has really grown on me. When we bought I thought we'd live here five years and move on but now I love it so much I may just live here forever. shrug No regrets.

3 bed rather than a 4. The children have been happy sharing for the past year though. And we finally have the building work booked in to split the biggest bedroom into a double and office, so with a bit of movement they will have their own rooms.

Front door at side of house. I love double fronted with front door in the middle but compromised on house to get the acreage we wanted.

Ours is ugly. It made me realise I like lots of light that I wouldn't have got in a period house on my budget.

3 bedrooms when we ideally wanted 4, and one bathroom when we wanted 2 (although it has a downstairs loo). It was worth it for location, downstairs space, big garden and off-road parking.

Tiny hallway, and I regret it deeply!

Utility room, I regret it in the winter when the washing machine is spinning in the kitchen and I can't hear the radio/TV. Not such a problem in the summer as I'm out in the garden etc. But literally every other box ticked so we couldn't not buy it.

Price. We really increased our budget to get the house we want (currently going through buying process so fingers crossed; there's no chain so a bit less risky). We can still afford it okay though but were hoping for a less high mortgage.

Mock Tudor....

For me location.

I wanted near my daughters school 3 years ago. It was so over heated that while we could have afforded it I could bring myself to pay that much over home report value.

we moved a couple of miles out. It’s amazing. The location is great. We had a couple of years of school runs but she’s just left and it doesn’t matter any more.

Not every compromise is a bad thing long term.

No bath - I'm throughly unhappy about it.

Our bedroom on a separate floor to the kids- has actually worked out completely fine and I'd say we all sleep better, surprisingly.

being in a cramped estate with narrow windy roads with cars everywhere... a bit of a pain to drive through but we are at the end of the cul de sac do the house itself isn't cramped in and is perfect with almost double the floor space of our previous.