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…

A pub next door
A sports ground nearby
Certain former government ministers as neighbours.

But there are lots of places without homeowners' associations.

A shared driveway
Dogs next door that bark or never get walked and use their garden as a lavatory
Lots of work vans belonging to neighbour and blocking the road

Fascinated by this thread! So much of what people seem to “hate” is so easily fixed? I get those who say no busy main road, pylons, no driveway etc because those things are permanent but paint colours, floor coverings, conservatory etc? Even an en-suite. If you hate it, it’s nothing to remove it. It is easy to make it how you want it and make money whilst you do it. I have never bought any house, including new builds, that has everything how I liked it. I have however bought a fair few shitholes that with a bit of effort have looked great and have made a massive profit. I absolutely wouldn’t buy a house in “move in condition” because the best bit, for me, is making it my own. Currently trying to buy a house that is beautiful externally but hasn’t been touched internally since the 80s. Can’t wait to get started!

My house is on a school road and opposite a pub. Neither is a problem as I like the sound of people. It’s a shared driveway and I have a conservatory. Oh well, they’ll be taking me out of here in a box so it’s fine…

I wouldn’t buy in the countryside. Too quiet, roads are too fast, I’d have to drive to buy milk, no public transport so DC would depend on me to drive them everywhere

Open plan
Near a school
No driveway

yes we had a condo with an HoA when we first moved here.

'has an HOA' is firmly on my list to avoid now!

• a yappy dog next door
• a trampoline next door
• a caravan next door

Two near me, celebrating all British occasions

ooh bingo! We have a yappy but very friendly dog next door. She arrived after we did. The owners are very sweet and apologetic about her, they brought some dog treats round so the kids can feed her through the fence.

Why no solar panels?

A log burner.

Guess what I'm about to buy ! I'll be looking for something to cover it up.
DH is in favour, & he's getting fed up of me singing :-

He chops down trees
He wears high heels
Suspenders & a bra.

We've gone for the sweepstake. A neighbour who leaves shit on our (shared) drive, has a yappy dog constantly left alone in the garden, have a hot tub, and have ridiculous parties once a month. We are moving next week 🙌🏼

A swimming pool. I used to work for a company that built them, and the daily upkeep alone just seemed overwhelming to me. And that was without anything actually going wrong with them!

I know, we were naive when we bought it 23 years ago. The upside is it looks like Wisteria Lane, the downside is the snotty emails or missives through the door if you put the trash out too early, or don’t have your grounds maintained.

We don’t live there, it might drive me nuts.

yes I have always thought the upkeep would be daunting.

also would be worried about the kids drowning in it, and about eventually being able to sell it (a lot of people won't want a swimming pool).

I wouldn't buy a house without a fireplace, without a bath and if it was open plan.

Or walls painted dark grey that would take a few days to redo! Or a kitchen island that can be ripped out…

I’d never buy a property where heavy smokers have lived unless I was completely gutting it and not moving in until it was complete. I couldn’t bring myself to spend even one night anywhere that reeked of fags!

i wouldn’t buy anywhere with a garden that got barely any sun having lived in a rental house with a north facing garden that hardly got any sunshine and produced moss like nothing I’ve ever seen.

I wouldn’t get past the front garden of any property where the neighbour(s) front gardens looked unkempt, overloaded with cars & caravans, rubbish, broken-down shit or the windows were filthy and had makeshift coverings/cardboard as curtains. Likewise, barking dogs, screaming kids, loud arguing or shouting.

I've lived in both and much prefer open plan

I build them and I have one. Maintenance is less than minimal, literally check the chemical levels once a week which takes 2 minutes? If it needs more, stick them in the hopper, the only other thing you have to do is check the Calorex is still working? And I’ve never yet built one that had a build problem. That is indoor though, don’t know about outdoor.

Theres quite a few around where I live…. an area that Reform swept the board in, possibly unsurprisingly.

A house backing onto a field (unless I owned the field).
A shared drive.
No drive.

I pity your poor buyers!