Horrible garden, great location

[Elfontheedge]

I can see past the awful interior, we can fix that with our nice furniture and re-decorating. I’m really struggling with the garden though, it’s just so far from the grassy, planty, pretty space for the kids to build dens etc. the owners ripped up perfectly good lawn for that not that long ago. I could cry!
everything else ticks the boxes in terms of location, off road parking, quiet road.

Property

The suggestion of artificial grass to add to this is tipping me over the edge.

Terraced gardens can be lovely, OP. But yes, to lift slabs/cement/concrete is going to be hard and horrible work. Spendage to lift some of the hard landscaping and put in turf ... IDK, £30k? Could you get a quote from a landscaper?

With a bit of effort and budget you can fix the garden.... jus put in an offer which accommodates what you think you will need to spend on the garden. No need for all the drama. If you don't like it, don't buy it.

Oh my! I mean, each to their own of course, that’s what a home means. But if you were to play ‘not-my-taste’ bingo….BINGO. (Almost. No ‘Live. Laugh. Love’. Sign)

(Of course my taste is classy, refined and understated, with quirky touches that show my individual flair and creative personality. Except I expect that’s what they think, too!).

Once they’ve taken the shiny furniture with them, it’s just paint and maybe carpets, but grey floors are a base you can work from (although I’d never fit them myself). Kitchen is nice enough and the bathrooms aren’t hideous. It’s nothing that needs trades right away. You can fix it all yourself with what you have and a few hundred quid’s worth of paint.

I could live with the garden IF the kids weren’t into dens and ball games, I wasn’t much of a gardener and didn’t have a dog. It’s never going to be more than somewhere nice for adults to sit out, with maybe a trampoline on the bottom terrace. If they’re younger than 8, or otherwise unable to take a football to a nearby park independently on the regular, that’s not going to be what you need. And I say that as someone who has a tiny garden (and a godsend of a park virtually over the road)

U ok hun? 😂

Just me that thinks the garden is the most salvageable bit?

Sell the man shed, lift the tiles and turf the lower area, with some beds if you fancy it. The top part is great for paddling pools, or small garden toys and furniture. My only worry would be the steps, depending on the age of your children you may want to add a gate and hand rail.

For everyone else complaining about garden size, surely this is above average?! If you're desperate then go for it but maybe get a quote for the garden work as it's pretty pricey atm, otherwise wait it out for a better option

I’d want to check that they’d had planning permission as raising the level/balcony overlooking the neighbours usually needs it?

i expected the decor to be old people but holy hell I didn’t think hinch houses actually existed 😂

I think with the garden without the terrace it was just too steep of a slope to use anything. You could turf some of it, but put some pots and plants in and let them build dens in the lower bit etc and it would work

The garden can be fixed*, but the interior needs a flame-thrower. I thought the living room had been photographed in black and white at first glance, and I've never seen decor scream insecurity and beg for validation quite so loudly. The blue ribbon behind the sofa is clearly a cry for help.

*it will never be a lawn with jumpers as goalposts, but it could make a relaxing terraced courtyard garden. Judging by the elevation, it looks like they've tried to make a go of a bad plot - but it does leave you wondering about the relationship with neighbours if the house and garden loom over them.

Yea you could get rid of the outbuilding. But would that devalue the property in terms of loss of space.

The decor is... peculiar but most of will be gone with the sellers. As for the garden, it really isn't that terrible and it isn't that small either. I think both house and garden have a lot of potential and it's not that terrible you'd be ashamed to have people visit. As long as the location's right for you and your family, it looks like a sound investment and when you move to your next house, you should be able to get your money back and more (with all the velvet gone and some of the grey, it'll be worth more already).

that is one fucking ugly house.

Would you have the money to grass over/make lower garden more child friendly? If you change that, you could possibly have really good garden space now and in around 15 years. Your DC may well have cars and frontage is great for more than one. Also, as they get older, they want their friends around, sometimes just chilling out at a table in the garden - the top space would be ideal for them and also for you to crash out/entertain.

I think we'd be more worried about the decor. If it's a serious contender, who could go in with a lower offer to take account of the cost of sorting out the lower section.

Actually for what must have been there before I think they’ve made the best use of the space. The front is fairly big and flat, could you buy a little lawn and picket fence for them to play? Grow a hedge along the front for privacy and use that? It’s actually growing on me at the back compared to the what must have been ski slope before

Nope - see my post above.

I think the terracing has made the garden more usable.

Is also arguably given you the opportunity to create a more adult upper terrace and a children's play area with the lower one.

You could change it pretty easily imho by getting rid of the massive man cave, slapping down some artificial turf (yes I know it's a sin - but for kids to play on it's actually a pretty good option) and you'd have a pretty reasonable size play area to kick a ball around and add in some outdoor play things (swings/slide etc).

The paving makes it a very useable space given the shape of it, with trellis/ bamboo against the walls and some nice big planters that would look lovely. Paint the shed green and grow a lovely rose or evergreen clematis up it and it would be fantastic.

It doesn't look like a garden suitable for kids/young kids and it looks more like a roof garden at some points. It also looks like you'd spend a lot of money making it into some sort of child friendly garden!

The interiors are dire yes but that's beside the point!

I'd look elsewhere TBH.

I don't think it would in this case. The house has a garage and the loss of garden from that massive man cave isn't really an asset.

I can't see the garden, is it on a separate level to the patio area.
I would probably keep the top bit as it is and then turf that second patio. What's the rest of it like? I can only see the pictures from the house looking down.

Looking at it from the neighbouring street on Streetview the garden makes sense. Before it was terraced it was very steeply sloping, had very little useability. Change the slabs for something less blingy, add some nice tubs and planters, and it will be a very useable space.

If you like it then buy it. It would not be for me. Garden far too small and all of those window behind from other properties. The decor can be fixed but its almost every room to do.

Wow, I can't believe some of the comments on here! Blimey, surely the house isn't that bloody terrible, neither is the garden that small! It's nothing that can't be fixed easily, it's far from a dump imho. As for the lack of grass, personally, I prefer pots and plants to having to mow a bloody lawn.

I think that's a house for people with no kids or grandkids, and who don't like gardening.

The decor can be fixed. The lack of a garden, if you need one, can't.

The front is tiny, big enough for one car only according to Streetview. The EA's wide-angle lens is doing a lot of heavy-lifting.

I’ll be looking for a house of that size in 2025 and if this one were in my chosen area, I’d probably try to buy it. But DP and I don’t have young kids and we’re not greenfingered - so the garden suits us nicely. The interior decor can be changed if required.

It looks well maintained and immaculate which counts for a lot. There will be no nasty surprises after moving date in this case.

Back to the garden - my best friend had a garden on a hill like this in the 1970s but with concrete instead of paving. We still had great fun building forts etc. Its lovely to be able to kick a ball around don’t get me wrong, but it’s not a game changer. Kids make their own fun.

"Do you reckon we can decorate the whole house with stuff from B&M?"

"Hmm I dunno babe doesn't sound like a great idea!"

"Fuck it let's do it! And let's get a sex pond!"

I think for the size of the house the garden is very small. You could put it back to lawn but it wouldn’t really be big enough for the kids if you want the whole den building etc. plus that decor is very shiny 😂