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What property features would you never have again?

713 replies

AnxiousRose · 11/12/2024 23:12

What features from your current or previous property would you avoid if you were househunting again?

For me, it is three storeys. I had this in my last house and did not expect to dislike it as much as I did. My bedroom was on the top floor and I hated all the stairs especially with young kids. Three storeys usually means the downstairs space is small for the number of bedrooms.

OP posts:
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beeteefee · 12/12/2024 09:07

Had a cat move in underneath decking and have kittens!

knitnerd90 · 12/12/2024 09:08

I love having an en-suite! TBH it's not any noisier than using the hall bathroom. Half the time there's a bathroom next to the main bedroom anyway, just no door, so it doesn't make that much of a difference sound wise. I go in there and relax in the bath. The children can't annoy me and they have another bathroom to go use.

also don't love full open plan. I don't want all my rooms closed off with doors (that was a change moving countries, Americans almost never put doors to the kitchen, dining room, living room) but I don't want one massive room so everyone can see the mess in the kitchen at all times.

US specific: I want my laundry on the ground floor. Older homes in my part of the country have them in the basement, most newer ones have them by the bedrooms. Upstairs may save bringing it up and down stairs, but then you can't run it at night!

Will not do again: anywhere without direct access from the main living area to the back garden. Here, when a home is built on a hill, the front entrance is the main floor, but it slopes downward so there is a flight of steps down to the garden. Even if there's a deck directly off the door, it really impedes my enjoyment of outside, and I have to maintain the deck. Maintaining a patio on the ground is much easier.

I will not buy a house that needs work or anything with a swimming pool unless I have heaps of money. Same for a massive garden. I don't have time or energy to spend half my weekend gardening from April to October.

JacquiDaytona · 12/12/2024 09:10

A thatched roof!

Disturbia81 · 12/12/2024 09:11

Older quaint property
3 storeys
Shared garden
Electric wall heaters
Lack of storage
South facing

JacquiDaytona · 12/12/2024 09:13

BorrowersAreVermin · 12/12/2024 08:37

This for me too. We're back on with the DIY as we're looking to sell but every single job unearths two more, the time it takes to do something simple just spirals. Trying to get someone in to do work is a pain because most good tradesmen can pick and choose what they do and they don't want to be stuck with a never ending job.

I'd never get another terraced house. The road outside is too busy, DC can't really play out there. Parking spaces are always limited. Can hear the neighbours. There are no gardens. I've lived in this street for 15 years and looking at houses a bit further out of town made me realise how much I miss having green space to look out onto.

I cant agree with this enough!!! Hundreds of years of blokes going ‘I don’t need to get anyone in to do this, I’ll have a go’ has led to all sorts of bizarre DIY. Pipes held together with tape and newspaper was one of my favourites when we did the bathroom…

MissLeToe · 12/12/2024 09:14

A dining room.

We never use it except high days and holidays. Can't be knocked through to the kitchen because the stairs and hallway are in between.

I'd rather have a larger kitchen.

Disturbia81 · 12/12/2024 09:15

Disturbia81 · 12/12/2024 09:11

Older quaint property
3 storeys
Shared garden
Electric wall heaters
Lack of storage
South facing

Oh and wouldn't have a bus stop outside again!

WarmingClothesontheRadiator · 12/12/2024 09:16

A house that doesn’t let the light in. We have plenty of windows but somehow the orientation of the house means none of the rooms are bright. Also the orientation on the plot means our sitting room feels like a fishbowl especially if we turn the lights on but it isn’t dark enough to draw the curtain.

ThatBluntBlueReader · 12/12/2024 09:16

PorpoiseWithPurpose · 12/12/2024 08:58

Couldn’t agree more. Passivhaus all the way!!! Those Germans and Scandinavians have been building QUALITY Passivhaus homes for 20+ years. The U.K. is so far behind.

There’s a boutique builder in Scotland that’s created a range of prefab, certified Passive houses for UK self-builders. They’re beautiful & you can spot the quality a mile off.

HumanRightsAreHumanRights · 12/12/2024 09:18

Decking.
Kitchen open to other rooms on ground floor, or any other open plan areas.
Low ceilings.
Swimming pool/hot tub.
Thatched roof.
Giant expanses of window/glass everywhere to clean.
Stairs with just the tread not the riser.
En suite bathrooms.

Icanttakethisanymore · 12/12/2024 09:18

I’d never buy a house without a utility room.

we live in a 3 story house now and it’s not good with small kids.

hilly plot - also terrible for small kids because you have to be with them all the time to stop them killing themselves

SoupDragon · 12/12/2024 09:19

No rear access from the front of the house without going through it.

No driveway (previous house, not this one - having had a driveway of my own I would never buy a house without one again!)

Miniaturemom · 12/12/2024 09:20

Disturbia81 · 12/12/2024 09:11

Older quaint property
3 storeys
Shared garden
Electric wall heaters
Lack of storage
South facing

curious why south facing would be bad? I chose south facing garden/back of house as a major selling point :)

BunnyLake · 12/12/2024 09:20

Having rooms that aren't right angles. Obtuse and acute angles in a room isn't quirky it's bloody frustrating.

WarmingClothesontheRadiator · 12/12/2024 09:22

Miniaturemom · 12/12/2024 09:20

curious why south facing would be bad? I chose south facing garden/back of house as a major selling point :)

Maybe because it means the garden is north facing?

CheekySnake · 12/12/2024 09:22

If house hunting I wouldn't be put off by features that can be changed relatively easily like decking and bathroom tiling.

I wouldn't buy a house with a loft extension (had one done in our previous house only to realise within a matter of weeks that the extra space was in completely the wrong part of the house. Sold it and moved 4 months after the extension was done.

Have had a bathroom with no windows and an ensuite in a new build house. Bathroom with no windows was fine, never had issues with mould etc but it didn't have a shower which may have made a difference. I also liked having an ensuite, but then I was the only person who used it. Moving from a house with 3 bathrooms to a house with only 1, I thought we would struggle, but actually we don't and it's a lot less cleaning.

One thing I probably wouldn't do again is buy an older house with solid brick walls. Bloody freezing in winter and very difficult to do anything about. Loses all heat the moment you turn the heating off.

Another2Cats · 12/12/2024 09:24

Harshtruth1111 · 12/12/2024 07:05

My parents had a huge huge kitchen.
I mean like 10m by 5m.
And the cleaning was a nightmare. Plus it's very hard to warn up and at the end of a working day I want to be in and out of the kitchen as fast as possible.
The current kitchen now is 12ft by 7ft and I wouldn't change it for the world.
Everything is within hand reach and clean within 5 mins..

Edited

"I mean like 10m by 5m."

OK, now that is big. Our kitchen is 4.5m x 4m (15ft x 13ft) and that works really well for us.

boulevardofbrokendreamss · 12/12/2024 09:25

Another vote for decking, cannot wait to rip ours up in the Spring

MumonabikeE5 · 12/12/2024 09:25

Neurodiversitydoctor · 12/12/2024 07:45

My DH is an architect, I am sure he is thinking of the resale value people want/ expect ensuites.

Ensuites are for people who live in houses with other people. (house shares etc)

I can walk around mine naked because it’s just my little family.
so having 2 doors between my bed and loo is nicer than hearing toileting happening from my bed.

Threewheeler1 · 12/12/2024 09:25

bouncydog · 12/12/2024 08:29

Huge double ended spa bath! Whilst it might be the idea of luxury to some, being on the small side it was difficult for me to use as I kept floating. Only way to stop was to use hardly any water! Its now been dumped.

Have visions of you bobbing around in a rubber ring 😁
We have a big bath, thought it'd be lovely but I hate it - if you try to lean back you sort of slither away down to the tap end!

Agree with so many of these.
My personal gripe, house on a fecking hill and set into the hill. Steps everywhere, up, down, sideways, and a big steeply sloped garden. I fantasise about flat spaces.
Also, if I ever see bamboo in a potential house purchase, I'm running in the other direction.

AnxiousRose · 12/12/2024 09:27

Miniaturemom · 12/12/2024 09:20

curious why south facing would be bad? I chose south facing garden/back of house as a major selling point :)

I've had a south facing kitchen diner before with lots of glass and it was a nightmare to work in on a sunny day because it got so hot. I would prefer a bright sunny living room rather than a kitchen because you can relax in it and enjoy the sun coming in.

OP posts:
shockeditellyou · 12/12/2024 09:29

I love fully tiled bathrooms (although would have something warmer on the floor). If your walls are wet after showering, that just means your extraction isn't up to scratch!

Other peoples' trees should be banned, or it should be easier to enforce good tree maintenance.

And I like ensuites - what are you all eating if your poos honk so much??

jaundicedoutlook · 12/12/2024 09:30

Surprised nobody has mentioned those in-sink waste disposal things. Our house came with one and it was a nasty, dirty, smelly maw that I always feared was going to take somebody’s finger one day. It was the first thing to go when the kitchen was re-done.

Gettingbysomehow · 12/12/2024 09:31

I would never buy a terraced house again. I only bought one because it was the only house I could afford in this lovely village. I'd sooner have a detached house in an undesirable area.
On one side I have an elderly lady who is deaf and has her tv on at earsplitting volume all day and on the other side Mr Fag End who chain smokes the whole day long and most of the night. It all comes through our adjoining wall and he may as well be sitting on my living room.
I may as well go around wearing noise blocking head phones and a gas mask.

squirrelnutcartel · 12/12/2024 09:33

A fitted kitchen. All the cabinets take up so much space in a small area and they need cleaning. We took it all out and have a freestanding cupboard and larder now. We have bench space for the hob and sink and some for prep and the kettle etc. The kitchen feels far more light and open now and less cluttered.