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

Honestly, I think it could be fine. Inside would look way different even just with different furniture (which you have, as long as it’s not all grey) and I don’t see terraced gardens as a massive no no with young children- you don’t leave them alone when they’re tiny anyway and when they’re older they can manage a few steps or a slope. Fair enough it’d be a ball ache to get the slabs up and re plant but it’s not impossible. Loads of families live in houses without a suitable garden for football (mine included) we can still fit a trampoline, splash pad or paddling pool, basketball hoop etc and as PPs have said the time the weather is actually suitable for being outside for hours is fairly minimal.

It sounds to me like it’s actually pretty near perfect- right area, everything else you want/need and struggling to sell so susceptible to negotiation so potential for a bargain. Buy the worst house on the best street is was a brilliant bit of advice I was given.

There’s a lot of hills in that part of the world, bet a sloped garden isn’t unusual!

I’m not sure how much removing all that concrete would be. You could get rid of all the crap (hot tub, bar, etc) and buy loads of plants in big pots.... but it would still be very much a paved back yard.

Someone will love the garden as is, so you’d need to be wary of overpaying.

It's only a couple of fields away from the M62. Can't you hear it roaring day and night in the background?

Great space.
The decor can be changed.
The garden wouldn't put me off personally. Low maintenance can be a real plus point. You could just add a few trendy pots with ferns/whatever.

The grey overkill will be putting a lot of people off imo. I always find it amazing that people can't see pass it/potential.

A lot could be done with the terrace regarding screening for privacy and Mediterranean plants etc. It could look lovely, but it doesn't look a great/safe area for children to play in with that drop. If the estate agents are having trouble shifting it, you might experience the same in the future. Most people are able to see past decor, so it might be the garden causing the property not to sell. Maybe keep looking? Good luck x

Apologies I HRTFT, only the first page and the OP’s posts, so sorry if this has been mentioned.

This is COMPLETELY environmentally unfriendly, and please don’t jump on me, but is there a possibility of Astro turfing (I know, I know!!) the paving with some sort of foam underlay/padding to make it child friendly. Outdoor rugs etc. Trellis with climbing plants against that wall where the hot tub is currently. As many pots and planters that you can concoct.

The problem with the garden is that its on a hill, not the slabs so much - they can be removed and the bottom section could be turfed easily enough to have a little kids play area. But nowhere on a hill with a small garden is ever going to be suitable for a kick around with older kids. Even if the whole lot was grass and plants.

I did wonder why the estate agent had taken black and white photos though

The decor is hiding a bigger problem - the downstairs layout is terrible, and it would take quite a bit of work to fix.

Are there no doer-uppers in the right area? You might get more space for the money that way.

I don’t think it would take that much to improve it- quite a bit of work stripping wallpaper and painting and then get new flooring (or it may be liveable with different decor). Their furniture will all be gone! My kids pretty much just pottered in the garden with swings, sand table, play house etc. The slabs would be great for chalking and ride ons. I’d probably just remove the lower section if possible and install an activity centre with slide/swings/ den. Most houses don’t have gardens which allow proper running

Omg I can't believe the nasty comments. This is someone's house! It might not be to other peoples taste but to slate it on a public forum is a shite thing to do.

There is a big difference between constructive comments. The house isn't to my taste but I don't feel the need to make a joke out of it

Have you looked at 4 beds near Flip Out? @Elfontheedge

I thought the photos were in black and white 😂

Christ, it's like a WAG has spewed all over it!!!

As for the garden, you could keep the top patio and lawn the bottom but that height difference is going to mean balls constantly flying into other's yards.

Maybe put in something like a swingball and a table tennis table for games at home? Change the tacky pub into a games room for the kids? Darts, fusball etc?

I wouldn't buy it as it's on a housing estate and I've deliberately chosen to live in the middle of nowhere, but putting that aside, if I had to live there and make a home of it

Remove the conservatory, knock the sitting room into the kitchen to make a much nicer kitchen/dining/sitting space with big doors out onto the garden, and increase the size of the garden.

The garden is exposed and South facing so you can get away with creating privacy without worrying about to much shade (you'd probably be better off), so be creative with pergolas and permitted development, put 2m posts up on the outer edge (bottom patio) then but taller posts inside of these with sloping cross beams from the outside in, trellis up to the full 2m on the boundary, plant lots of climbers.

However if you are going to try and do something with the garden, when you view, if to can, check how well laid the patio is, making sure it isn't laid on a slab of concrete which would make it a huge task to clear, and check the side access to see if you can get equipment like wheelbarrows or mini diggers through, otherwise they'll be going through the house.

Multi level gardens aren't great for ball games but can be far more interesting as proper gardens.

It's like they bought the whole next catalogue 5 years ago. Jesus.
Can you unlandscape the garden?

No way! Teens next door always in the garden, basketball/football/playing with the dog/ in their blow up pool. Mines 10 and still spends 90% of her time out there!

The garden is small and not very child friendly because of the terracing, but the best bit of the property in the way it's done IMO. That's my dream garden 😆

The house I'd love and the reality of what I can afford are leagues apart.

I lived in a house with a heavily terraced garden when my elder DC were young. We had a massive lawned area at the bottom with a river winding round it but mostly the adults sat on the top deck and children had their little level. It was great for trundle bikes and trikes without getting your ankles bashed. Good for paddling pool observation from above without getting soaked. Good for them burning off steam whilst barbequing. Also kept the child related colourful plastic in one area and the upper area was a calmer more designed space.

It required a little creativity for ball play but a drilled hole works well for swing ball - theres a football version of it too. The same hole works well for a rotary airer which again is nice to have on another level so you can enjoy sitting out without feeling like you're in a laundry.

We had a slide between levels - I can't see the height difference but you could potentially remove a section of the upper wall and put a bar across the top then have a slide down to the lower level.

We have a big pile of rubber floor tiles that have moved between 5 houses now. Originally down in a play room floor, they moved under a swing set, in a play house, as paths and in a greenhouse. Relatively cheep can be colourful or plain and a great play surface for whilst their little and you're thinking about what you want to do longer term.

That lower level without the shed is quite a good size. I wonder if there's potential to remove the front of the shed and have it as a big covered play area - plus somewhere to throw everything undercover when play is done.

Plenty of room for a pretend kitchen, swing, slide etc.

You could even have a little play cottage at the top with something querky like a firemans pole out the back to take your little energy bundles down to the bottom level.

The interior space is pretty good the cost per square foot for the area is good and potentially there's a bit more room for negotiation on the price. The big thing for me is its very livable. Nothing would have to be done on the surface of it to move in. You could do things one space at a time.

The garden wouldn't work for me at all, so a complete deal breaker for me, but most of the comments on here about the house are ridiculous.

How many people move into a house and love the decor and don't decorate?! I'd understand it more if the kitchen was hideous as that's expensive to change, but that's perfectly fine. Once all the furniture's out it's just painting and stripping to be done, no biggie 🙄

I'm amazed anyone buys a house if they're expecting to live in it as is.

Hard no from me. That garden is extremely overlooked and I'd never enjoy sitting out in it.

If you have the budget I'd go for it! It looks like you would have the sun all day. Imagine it as a sunken terrace surrounded by pleached trees. Need to get rid of the pub/shed obviously!

And also the front garden looks a good size. Could you enclose it?

Some interesting thoughts thank you. For more info, the children are 10 and 6, both girls so not little and not kicking a ball around type of girls either. They are in school and we don’t really want to move them which is why we are staying in the area. It’s also great for transport links. Someone asked if we would be able to hear the M62 which we would but we can from where we live anyway so that’s not a worry. There’s plenty of green space around where we live, we go for walks lots already. We are viewing it this weekend so we will see if it has potential! I think the garden is actually quite big.

OP, agree that the garden looks big and I think the whole house as potential. Good luck with your viewing!