What to consider when searching for forever home

[yellowduckredduck]

I appreciate this is very personal but my husband and I are currently viewing houses, looking to upsize to our 'forever' home, and I'm interested to know what people find really important. What could you not live without? What do you wish your home had?

We have kids, so some of this is based on what we’d like to have for them as they grow.

Garden with side access so bikes etc. don’t come through the house. Room for a slide/play items in the garden.
Two living spaces eg kitchen/diner/snug and separate living room.
equal sized ‘smaller’ bedrooms, which can fit double bed.
two bathrooms/downstairs loo.
Off-road parking.
Public transport links for when kids are teens.
Local schools/parks/library/green space.

We have a very sheltered, south facing garden and it means we can sit outside if it's dry from April to October. Couldn't live without that now!

All this

I just bought my forever home. The wish list if of course constrained by budget! But here was my search criteria

The area (very specific to me, my family and transport links)
Red brick - no cladding, no render.
at least three good sized bedrooms
Downstairs loo (or room to add one)
room downstairs for a large kitchen diner living space and a more formal sitting room
medium sized garden, not too overlooked
off Road parking
not on a busy road
no shared driveway
open fire (or ability to add one)

When we bought in 2015 (childless) these was our priorities:
off street parking for two cars
not too overlooked
not on a busy road
recent sized garden
a detached garage
ensuite
enough bedrooms for our planned children

luckily we got all that. Now that we have a 2 year old and newborn. If we were to love I’d love:
to be in the catchment area of good schools

and the cherries in the too would be a dressing room/area and and extra reception room that could be used as a playroom.

Detached
Driveway for 3 cars or more
En suite
Downstairs loo
Three reception rooms that I can adapt as the children get older
South West facing garden with space to put a shed for bikes and garden furniture

We've just moved house to somewhere that ticked almost every box and here are the things that we love about our new house:

• Large-ish kitchen diner (I actually didn't want one completely open plan with living space because of cooking smells/cost to heat)
• Living room plus second room for watching tv, hiding from kids etc
• Separate dining room
• En suite and downstairs toilet
• Utility room
• Well-insulated to minimise energy costs
• Wood burner
• SW facing garden
• Bedrooms all doubles
• Off road parking for multiple cars
• Walking distance to main bus route
• Quiet road
• Every basic amenity within 5 minutes walk (groceries, doctor, dentist, pubs, 2 art galleries, lol)

There are some things that I do not love like no radiators in any of the bathrooms (why????) but easy enough to remedy this!

@Stripedbag101 What's wrong with render out of interest?

Mine would be a big garden. Not nearly as bothered about the house!

I do think forever home is a lot to put on a search. Consider thst what suits you for the next 20 years might not suit you after that. Looking for now might be easier

Definitely off street parking for as many cars as you own.
Side access to back garden.
Utility space, mainly for somewhere to dry your washing.
This one is a bit specific because it's the one thing I would change about my house if I could: a decent sized hallway with space for a nice bench to sit whilst putting on shoes etc and storage for coats, shoes bags, hats and scarves... my hall is long and narrow and I kind of have enough storage in the various cupboards but it's not ideal.

A garden to be able to sit outside.
A driveway or garage or private parking place to reduce frustrations about finding a parking spot.
A possibility to work from home (or possibility (room) to create this.
A possibility to convert the home to make it livable if you get disabled in old age (room to make a bedroom downstairs or possibility to install a stair lift).
Close enough to shops to have groceries delivered.
Close enough to bus or train station so you can leave town if you end up not being able to drive but still want to go to the restaurant/cinema/theater/concert/children.

A sun room, or a garden room where you can be warm but bathed in light

Guest room with its own bathroom which is just a little bit separate - a different floor or a different part of the house - privacy for and from guests is ideal

I’d really like an Aga and a wood burning stove but I live in a city so it’s not really viable (or environmentally friendly, or affordable…)

a view! Very important - city and costal for me, but mountains would also be good

location also key for me, quiet, but ability to buy milk / go to a museum / see friends / buy shoes / get to work on foot if needed

@Reallybadidea I just don’t like render!! Not sure why. I have seen lots that need a lot of maintainable and look worn and dirty.

just a personal preference

my dream would be my childhood home

wide house, double fronted
side or back access
off street parking for 4+ cars
downstairs loo
utility
2 reception rooms plus kitchen diner
decent size bedrooms
dressing room
large hall

all that is irrelevant if the house is not 5-10 mins from shops & tube/train.

I won't have this dream unless I win the lotto though!

What I wish we had...

• a big hallway with room for a bench and people congregating when the arrive/ready to go out
• a large kitchen / diner (room for a sofa as well would be a bonus) overlooking the garden with lots of cupboard space and room to cook while chatting if to guests.
• separate utility room
• room for second car on the drive (for visitors)
• a detached property
• another bedroom with an en-suite

What I love that we have...

• a second living room that kids can use/double up as a spare room
• en-suite
• an extra room that we use as a home gym
• amazing location close to city and country with lots of amenities on our doorstep despite being minutes from amazing outdoor space
• good sized patio for summer entertaining
• lots of substantial cupboard space which means easy to organise and find things
• fully floored loft.

Is it in the floodplain?
Family bathroom on same floor as bedrooms
Downstairs loo/shower room
Level floors - steps from one room to another/into the house/into the garden can be a PITA if you have a baby/aged relative staying
Two reception rooms
Separate but generously-sized kitchen
Utility room
Parking for more than one car
Side/rear access
The neighbours
Shop, nice pub, public transport within walking distance
Which way the house faces. If you have a south-facing garden, you'll probably have north facing rooms
If you have lots of windows, bifold doors etc, will the rooms be too hot in the summer?
If you have furniture already, can you get it up the stairs?

Storage inside and out.

Work out what "forever" means in your timeframe and ages. We bought ours earlier this year, intending to live there 20+ years.

So that means:
Downstairs loo
Space for two people to WFH
Space for DD to play and have friends over.
Space for a downstairs bedroom for when we can no longer manage the stairs
Downstairs bathroom/shower room for same reason
Family bathroom upstairs.
Walking distance to shops, school and things we go to regularly.
Off road parking (ideally wanted a garage but we didn't get that).
Garden - big enough to manage easily
House suitable to install energy saving measures to cut our utility bills.

We're hoping to buy in a few years and because we've done life the wrong way, we will be looking for our large family home as first time buyers (we're having to relocate to the other end of the country to afford it). I've told DH it won't be a 'forever' home though, as we'll want to move again for retirement. Will have 3 teens.

My list:
4th bedroom that isn't too small
Downstairs loo/2nd bathroom (I'm not fussed about an ensuite as long as there's 2 toilets)
Garage/workshop for DH's hobbies
Utility room
Location: easy walking distance to decent public transport to somewhere reasonably sized within half an hour. (Currently in a village that has no buses at weekends)

Would like:
Conservatory/sunroom
Fire
2nd reception room that could be used to sleep guests in

Don't want:
Open plan (heating, cooking smells, just don't like it)
Big garden (I'm too lazy for upkeep and kids too old to play in it)
Really overlooked garden (we currently are and I hate it)

Never had a forever home, but for our last home our criteria were:

• nearer to the various places we spend most of our time
• ability to park cars
• safe for the cat

The nice to have were extra space and a bungalow to make it more future proof. We got all, but the bungalow.

Unless we have a stepping property before our criteria next time is likely to be:

• single storey and either bungalow or ground floor flat
• easily heated and easily adapted for less mobility
• cheaper area to live in
• access to hospitals, swimming pool and things to do which will change in retirement compared to how we live now

The nice to have will be:

• plenty of light
• nice view

Walkability - are you in a 15 minute neighbourhood? Good public transport. Interesting stuff you can get to easily. Imagine being 14 and arty/sporty/into board games/outdoorsy - is there something you can get to without your parents ferrying you about? Nightmare would be a detatched house with with loads of parking but with rubbish or no pavements around.

Honestly op this all depends on budget. One persons forever home is another starter.

for us, having moved a few times, I’d say

critical

own drive and parking for at least 3 cars .
not on a main road

wanted

2 reception rooms
three good size bedrooms
large kitchen diner
not over looked /private garden
two bath or shower rooms,
outside storage Ie garage

ideally

period property with unique charm
nice village
easy access to trains
local pub/post office
easy access to main towns

We bought ours three years ago- it was a wreck which we did up but the core elements were:
Location - near/ in catchment of the DC's primary and secondary schools. We had viewed the latter and they were only in year 3 and 1..but eldest has just started successfully
Close to a park
Close to two London rail stations on different lines (we don't have a car)
Period property
Enough bedrooms
Special room for DH hobby
Big enough for us to have adult and tween tv room (this has been very useful)
Separate bathrooms for me and DH and the DCs
Utility room
Nice garden

Bonus one which was massively helpful - I dreamed of my own study. I built it in the refurb and it was worth every Penny in the lockdown

Got it all - enormously grateful. Not everyone would have taken on the project given the state of the place but have never regretted it

Fair enough, render can look pretty bad. It looks lovely on some houses though and it's not immediately obvious to me what makes the difference!

I think looking for a forever home is a bit unrealistic. You’ve no idea what will happen in your life. I’d prioritise location for your current and near future life style, eg for us, we have to live somewhere walking distance as will be going car free soon. But house is low priority generally - want to be out having fun

Essentials (for me)

Large kitchen diner overlooking the garden
Utility room
Equal-sized second and third bedrooms so DC don't fight over who has the best room
Good size family garden for swings, slide, paddling pool etc
Proximity to public transport, shops and decent schools in a lively place

Next time would prefer:

A sunny garden! North facing is grim
Brick, stone or flint - not rendered - exterior. I almost cry at how much we have paid to maintain the exterior walls. The holidays we could have had! Never again.