House that ticks boxes vs wildcard option?

[BackyardDreamer]

Has anyone come across a house that didn’t tick all their boxes but somehow made you consider shredding the list and making an offer anyway?

There’s this house on a battleaxe block (like this), on a main road and with one side up against a shared footpath. It has so many quirks and downsides (including no windows in the only living area, fencing is decrepit, original bathrooms, only a carport instead of a garage). It would be harder to resell.

But… somehow it’s really charming, with a great covered bbq/pool area (I’m in Australia, this would be well used!) and a massive kitchen/dining area (which brings opens and brings light to the living area). It’s unusually energy efficient. Because it’s a battleaxe, it doesn’t get the main road noise. And it feels less claustrophobic because it has a wide driveway and opens on a shared pathway to the side.

All the other houses I’ve seen and liked had just a standard layout (very practical - bright living areas, parents room away from kids bedrooms), a huge flat backyard with a smaller covered outdoor entertaining area… super nice as well.

Has anyone had a similar experience? Or what would you do?

Go for it.. we need links to really mean it tho 👀

To answer the question in your title, when I started looking recently I was very clear with all the agents I spoke to about the house features I absolutely didn't want, any one of which would rule out a viewing by me. There were 5 of them in total. So, I'm buying a house. Guess how many of those feature it has? Yep, all 5. I viewed it simply because I was passing, had hours before my train, and decided on the spur of the moment to waste some of that time viewing a house so I didn't have to sit for hours in a train station waiting room. If you get inside a house and the space feels just 'right', and you can't stop thinking about it afterwards and feel really excited about the possibility of living in it, then perhaps it's time to think hard about just how non-negotiable those list items are.

I had a set idea when I was house hunting, then found my current home which was nothing like what I wanted but I fell in love with it the moment I saw it. I've been here a year now and every single day I count my blessings I'm lucky enough to live here.

Regarding your house, I just can't get my head round a living area with no windows. Can you change that? Won't it be dark and depressing?

Move the dining table to the darker end and the couch to the window end and voila, a living room with a window. Or put some clear blinds on the verandah to create a new one.

Re the path - where does it come from and where does it go to? Walk it with the after school crowd and again at 10 pm on Friday (if you can wait that long to get your offer in). Have another look at the house and inspect the back yard carefully to see whether anything gets tossed over the fence. We are replacing 40m of Hardiplank with Colourbond for about $8.5k.

Would you care to post a link? Or tell us what suburb you are looking at?

That’s such a good story @TheRoseTurtle! Can I ask what the dealbreakers were and what you got instead?

@Queensguide the living area has walls on three sides, but borrows light from an adjacent room (if you leave the door open) and from the open plan kitchen/dining area which has great windows on three sides. It just feels weird to have a living space that’s small and tucked away. It’s pretty unusual for houses here.

The said, the entry (on the floor plan at least) kind of serves as a snug, if you use the dining room as the main entrance. I’ll post some pics if that demystifies it a bit!

@TheSandgroper oh god fencing would cost a bomb then! We definitely can’t afford to replace it (unless it turns out any neighbours have dogs or something…)

The pathway leads to a playground and school, about 10m away. No roads to cross at all. I haven’t walked along it yet though, but it is the more well-heeled part of the suburb (which is pretty average for my relatively city).

@BackyardDreamer There is much to like about your house. It feels really friendly and, honestly, you won’t notice the arrangements once you are in. Put an offer in.