I would NEVER buy a house with…

[Wyr]

• solar panels

• a ‘garden house’ IE a lockdown special outdoor wooden shed dressed up as an office - usually taking up half the garden and completely pointless

• a neighbour who has a load of cars / shit in their yard - hoarder vibes

who’s next? 3 things that would make you not buy a house…

Or a period property which looks gorgeous from outside but has been degraded to every room being a plain white cell!!

A lot of mine would relate to neighbours or location. You can't change those.

Caravan on drive
Loads of vans or scrap cars
Ice cream van on drive
Hot tub next door or outdoor bar
Rubbish tip in next door
Sofa in front garden
Seagulls nesting on roof
Yappy dogs next door
School or busy road

This x100. I was in a chain and the property at the top was going through probate. It was horrendous, not least because my vendors and I lost our decent mortgage offers and had to accept far worse ones.

I would also avoid a house on a main road or one at risk of flooding.

However, I like solar panels, love conservatories, can't afford to be fussy about UPVC and have had to accept a north-facing garden. Most of the garden actually gets a decent amount of sun and my south-facing living room is lovely to sit in.

Genuine question, what's wrong with solar panels?! We love ours, electricity is free most of the time.

Carpet

No parking, shared drive, tiny garden, town house.

It’s fair enough to point out that it is a luxury of the wealthier amongst MN to be able to turn up their noses at many of these factors.

It's about preferences, ideally. I suspect that most, if not all of us have had to compromise on these things.

Front door opening into a room - so no hall, or even porch.
Open stairs(with gaps between stairs) , especially in living room. Looks ugly and causes heck of a lot of dust under them.
No garage.
No garden.
Sitting directly on a public path or road - peple walking past your window, and the fear of a car comming through the wall.
No bath (even though I never use it).

Attached to another house ie terraced or semi.
No garden.
No private parking.

I've thought of another one - leasehold houses. I'd be very worried about extortionate ground rent and service charges. I don't like leasehold flats either, but at least there's a reason for that set-up (the shared plot).

Bins kept permanently on the street by neighbours.

Same here. I hate it and would never buy a house like this. Have no idea why it became so popular. All new builds were open plan for a long time.

i would also never buy a house with a conservatory. They often make the room they are attached to darker, and they definitely make it hotter. Unbearable in the summer.

I also wouldn’t buy a house without stairs ( so no flats or bungalows). I lived in flats for a decade and really missed stairs! It’s also quieter to have an upstairs bedroom.

Also would never buy a house without a bath. Did this once and regretted it. Really missed a bath. Don’t have them that often but it’s great when I do!

I wouldn’t buy a house:

more than a 10 minute walk from a good station.

Without a full structural survey.

With low ceilings

A door that opens onto a pavement.
An older home that has been ruined by modernising it with ghastly bifold doors etc.
A house on an housing estate.
A thatched roof.
A house that someone famous was born or lived there so ghat there would be ‘fans’ or sightseers gawping outside or knocking on the door.
A house on a busy road.
Storage heaters.

What’s wrong with solar panels? Our house is listed, so we can’t have them. But our neighbours have solar and PV discreetly placed on their roof. They also have a ground source heat pump, triple glazing and a well insulated house.

They took advantage of a SEG tariff and their mahoosive 5 bed house costs them less than nothing to run (because they are paid for the excess power they generate).

In contrast, our much smaller 4 bed costs the earth to run. We have oil powered central heating with no alternative, leaky walls and windows and huge bills.

And wouldn’t buy a house without sun. That’s my bid deal killer. I could compromise on the other things if I had to, but not a lack of Sun. I’d be miserable without Sun.

almost everywhere in America is more than 10 minutes walk from a good station 🤣

I guess the equivalent out here is requiring a garage.

Pylons outside

No, was there last week and couldn't figure out why all the flags were flying.

It's a good job I don't live in America.

No off road private parking

A small kitchen with little counter space

No downstairs loo

Those new builds (I normally love a new build) with just one large room downstairs. Not so much open plan as just a big room. Kitchen, dining, living.

SO lazy and such an obvious money saver by the builder. Only one step away from being an extra large bedsit.

We own a house in America.

I was initially shocked by the strict owners’ association rules (and the fees of $2k per year).

No sheds, no laundry outside, specific dog breeds are banned (I’m happy about this one), exterior paint colours have to be from an approved list…I could go on.

I would never buy a house without adequate parking and an attached garage. My days of hauling groceries into the house in the rain/snow are over.