Buying a property that 'ticks all the boxes' but you don't love?

[rockettomarsbar]

I've been looking a while and this one is in a good area, it has pretty much what I need for a price I can just about afford. But, I don't love it. Could I grow to love it? I wonder if anyone has done this. Main negatives is it's very overlooked, and one room has a sloping ceiling which means about a third of it is unusable, and the kitchen is very dated.

Sounds like the classic problem of you not being able to afford what you actually would like to buy. So if it ticks the boxes then go for it.

If the things holding you back are things you can change over time, then absolutely. But you can’t change things like location or footprint.

You don’t have to love every house. I move a lot, some have been heart houses and some have been practical choices.

Area matters the most. If the area is right the house matters less.

What don't you love about it? Can you change what you dislike?

Thanks. This is helpful - maybe I am expecting too much, to love a place. I think the main sticking point is being overlooked- maybe net curtains like my nan had need to make a comeback!

I'm not too worried about the kitchen as I could save up and change that later. The room with sloping ceiling isn't ideal as my ds is tall and it would be his room, meaning around a third of it isn't really useable.

Sounds like the classic problem of you not being able to afford what you actually would like to buy.

Exactly! this is the best of what I've seen for the money. It's that or move areas. Or wait of course but my lease is coming up soon so as I need to move.

I'm currently flat-hunting so this is all I'm thinking about. I can't really love anything with my current budget in the area I'm looking either.

I think being over-looked is actually a big thing for some of us, I take this into consideration. And possibly list it as a box ticked, or in this case un-ticked. The kitchen you can replace, the over-looking part will always be there. And yes, you can buy some net curtains or you may even tune it out - but what if you don't?

Yeah, our current house was like that. Ticked the boxes for space and location, but 'deep' terrace, quite dark and needed a lot of modernisation. Painting the hallways mainly white and the dark woodwork a very pale colour made an immense difference and totally dispelled the 'gloominess' of the house even on overcast days. You can replace the kitchen and live with the sloping ceiling - our 4th bedroom is smaller than we'd like but it has still been a really useful space in the end.

Yes. I bought a house as it ticked the boxes but didn't really like it. However over the years I've made it my own and I do love it. It's got everything I said I wanted and although I should consider moving on I'm not. You can always find a reason not to proceed.

Thanks. And it's good to get this perspective Sofabodatgym
Maybe if I'm honest with myself I think being overlooked feels like it could make it hard to relax anywhere, it just feels quite 'busy.' It seems like a fairly small thing but it's not. The rest of it I could live with.

I guess it depends, how much would being overlooked bother you? Is ds likely to move out soon, or is he young and only going to get taller in the sloping roof room?

Edited to say cross post!

Ah that's interesting Cadenza12 Good that you like it now.

I think what it is is, I feel like I 'shouldn't' just discount it because of being overlooked. But I'm in a rental now where one room is really overlooked and I don't like it! Feels like you get no privacy.

In the end I've got to compromise because of my budget. I suppose it's a question of what to comprise on.

I did this.

I will be honest - it took 2 years to stop resenting / disliking the house but we bought it for

• location and amenities
• off road parking
• general size and upstairs layout
• new bathrooms
• nice neighbours (long termer both sides are retired/ semi retired.
• Garden

Against it:
It wasnt detached and didn't have a garage. The downstairs layout is fine but has poor flow for hosting.

We are VERY happy here.
It made sense then for "head" not "heart" reasons and it makes sense now. The reasons we chose it have endured... vs being charmed by a well styled living room....

Redecorating helped.
Over garden was slightly overlooked we have improved this in the 5 years weve been here

If it’s overlooked and you don’t like being overlooked then it doesn’t tick all the boxes. If a property doesn’t tick all the boxes then you need to love it in order to tolerate the downsides. Don’t buy this place.

Thanks Owly11
I think you're right. This thread has helped. I need to work out what comprises I am willing to make and which I am not.

Dont know if I've ever "loved" a property I've lived in, they've all involved some compromise. They still become home and it becomes a wrench to move on.

There are many ways too deal with overlooking. Is the garden big enough to plant shrubs? You can buy 6 foot tall ones and they will grow. (dont get leylandii). You can get privacy film for the windows - you can look out, people cant look in. You could have one or more retractable awnings or erect a pergola. You could have net curtains or voile.

I did'nt like the house I brought and now in the process of selling after 36 years. What I did like was the location - compromised on the house and then did many changes over the years to suit the family. For my onward purchase I went down the route of better house poorer location - there was this nagging doubt in my mind - really like the house but the location wasnt right. I am down sizing so likely to be the last house I buy so had to get this right. So I am buying a house which I never thought I would buy - but the location is right - transport, shops Drs Surgery, PO, Vets and near country walks. You can always change the house but not the location.

Do you think you could live with being overlooked if you could make the house more private with window coverings?

Personally I hate net curtains, but got shutters fitted in the past and they were great as you can obviously angle them to let light in and still have privacy.

Is the garden overlooked, too? To an extent you can mitigate it with planting.

It depends just how overlooked, though; if close neighbours on all sides then I guess it might feel a bit "hemmed in" and claustrophobic.

I live in London on a modest salary, so as you can imagine the compromises have been huge! Currently include not enough bedrooms (I sleep in living room), not enough light, death stairs and damp. Compromises are inevitable but you do need to consciously accept them, not just hope they won't be an issue.

If its the garden that is overlooked, could you reduce that by planting and use of screens and canopies? If its the house itself, could you use privacy film, linen sheers, cafe curtains or blinds?

Or is it more that you can't look outside without directly staring at someone else's windows, and that feels claustrophobic? Have you lived with similar before and did you get used to it? It's amazing what you can get used to, but if this is your line in the sand you would do better to accept it rather than ignore it.

Thanks all. Yes it's that I can't look outside (any window as it's on the corner in a built up area) without staring at someone else's windows and it feels very hemmed in. It's not the one for me even though it has lots to offer.

I have limited options but can compromise on things like the outside of the building and maybe space inside. It feels hard to commit so much money to something if it's too much of a compromise, but most of us have to.
Hope you can get the damp sorted Ketzele

I think whatever your budget you have to compromise on something. It's human nature to want everything for less than its value. The tricky bit is figuring out what you can deal with.

FWIW being overlooked is a huge nope for me too. There are things we can compromise on and things we’ll never be happy with.

We spent YEARS trying to buy, 2 houses fell though (lost money and time on them) and the nightmare of bidding wars and gazumping (which luckily cost us nothing) and eventually settled for this house.

I didn't LOVE it but honestly now we live here its by far the most practical of all the ones we saw, thinking back on others that we loved they just wouldn't have worked.

I was worried I would regret moving (had to move from overcrowded rental that the landlord wasn't maintaining) because our rental had been my home for a 3rd of my life and the longest I ever lived anywhere and where I raised my kids. Honestly I haven't felt any regret, I keep wondering if it hasn't hit me yet but honestly we have lived in the property 2 weeks and it feels like we have lived here forever.

That said we looked at a house on paper that ticked the boxes but we kind of hated but went to view it anyway and it was so impractical we instantly went 'nope' even though on paper it had everything we needed it just would not have worked.

I think you need to be very logical and also not hate it but you don't need to love it, falling in love with a house can be silly and make you over look major things.