What compromises did you make when buying?

[WWBWBapparently]

How do we feel about compromising when house buying? We had the following non negotiable things when we marketed our house for sale with a view to moving.

1. Detached
2. Newer Build
3. South facing or at least sunny garden
4. Not too overlooked
5. Good kitchen and bathrooms so we won’t need to renovate straight away
6. Room for all the family to congregate.

We’ve seen a beautiful house in the right location, its detached, new bathroom, kitchen.

However it has a north facing garden, is very overlooked with a terrace of townhouses at the back.
House is 22 years old and therefore so is the double glazing and heating system.
Lounge is smaller that we’d like, kitchen a galley with only small areas of worktop. Would need to house the tumble dryer in garage with only access through up and over door.

Im so conflicted over it, price is about right although we’d offer 10k under due to the double glazing and old heating system. Will the garden, sun and privacy be awful? We only have about 3/4 months of the year decent weather anyway.
We are downsizing from a big house so it will feel small but will be easier to clean and maintain.

What compromises did you make? Are these dealbreakers?

If these are the compromises, which are a lot, to get the right location, then it sounds like you don’t have the right budget for the area. All of the things you’ve mentioned will be priced in. Estate agents don’t miss a trick. So the house you want in the location you want without these compromises will almost certainly cost more. (Unless it happens to be on the nicest street or 1 or 2 streets in the area.) When I was initially looking to purchase, everything I saw was very compromised, until a year later I was able to add a bit more money to my budget and suddenly I could find what I wanted. I’d suggest you either need a bigger budget or need to widen your search area.

We’re not really compromising on anything except the price. It’s above budget AND needs a full renovation but is otherwise our perfect house in our perfect location. Just hope we can get it finished before we die!

If a property is making you compromise it’s not the right one. We moved in 2021, we had a very specific brief that we would not comprised on, had to be a detached bungalow, not overlooked, decent sized garden but not too big, 3 double beds, en suite & family bathroom, we found it!

Compromise is a part of life. It’s about knowing which compromises you can live with and which you can’t.

We can go up in budget another 20k for the right house but nothing is coming up and we’ve sold. The market seems dead!

I can imagine myself there albeit a little more cramped than I’d have liked. The house feels lovely if that makes sense. We could convert the integral garage but we don’t need another sitting room, just a bigger rooms overall.

We are compromising on the third bedroom being smaller than planned (still fits a double). But for that we get two extra living spaces, bigger kitchen we can eat in and a bigger garden.
If the bedroom doesn’t work we can convert the garage or use the extra living space as a bedroom.

I compromised on finish, the need to do a major refurb ( not quite back to brick but we had to move out) and one garage where DH wanted a double, but in return got 5 proper double bedrooms, great flow and a vaulted reception. I’m now 7 months into a 3 month refurb 😂. Only another year to go! It’s also north facing but on a big plot so gets decent sun and has loads of big trees but I like those so it’s not really a compromise. I basically wanted a house on this road and this was what came up.

I’m 6 years into a 2 year refurb 🤣
Im laughing because with no kitchen yet the alternative is to just 😵‍💫😭🤪

The vendor has been really kind and has sent time stamped pics of the garden throughout the day. It does get sun but it moves across the garden rather than stays all day. Sun is at the back of the garden in the morning and gets closer to the house as the day progresses.

Floor plans and room dimensions below in metres

lounge - 3.93 x 3.25
dining room - 2.51 x 2.51
kitchen - 2.70 x 2.51
utility - 1.69 x 1.40
bed 1 - 3.63 x 2.73
bed 2 - 3.25 x 3.45
bed 3 - 2.98 x 1.89

We are downsizing from a very large 4 bed, just DH and I. Kids and partners will visit and maybe there’ll be 6 of us for food etc Christmas and birthdays.

It’s a lively house, beautiful inside but feels just that little snug. I expect we’d get used to it though 🥺

Bedroom 3 is tiny but as it’s just for visitors it’s fine
2.5 x 2.5 for sitting 6 is very tight
are you sure those dims are correct. The plan shows a rectangular room

This. The north facing aspect is not a big deal if it is big/long as you get evening sun - but I would baulk at the terrace/overlooked if it was on my checklist. Different if it’s a flat, but for a family property it sounds like the terraced nature of it might not suit what you want for your family.

The floor plans are not drawn to scale. The dimensions are right. Dining room is tiny

Oh ok.
yep that will be very tight for 6
but it’s not like it will be for every day

That sounds nothing like what you want to a big compromise

We compromised on storage space but we got everything else on our list (and more, some original features that we love, more outside space than we’d have settled for and a better location than we’d hoped for). Eventually we’ll get a shed and solve some of the storage issue.

We moved a few years ago from a lovely 2/3 bedroom bungalow: 3rd bedroom was very large and we used it as a dining room. We could get 18/20 people sitting down around table(s). It only had one bathroom/toilet and the garden was too large, no convenient public transport or supermarket. We are retired.

Chose a 4 bedroom detached house, medium kitchen which we have now integrated into the dining room, more bathrooms/toilets.. We were supposed to be downsizing but got carried away with everything else here that we wanted: Near to shops, buses, supermarkets, doctors, vets, smaller garden, good parking! We are not overlooked at the back or front and have lovely NDNs. House is North/South facing.

You don't always buy what you think you want, as you might get the 'feeling' for something you don't know. Be practical: if a South facing garden is your thing then the house front will be North.

Integrate Kitchen and Dining Room, it will give an openness especially if you have french doors into garden. What is the general area like, are the facilities nearby along with pubic transport, doctors, supermarket?

The stairs look very steep on the plan, but it is a similar layout to ours.

We prioritised location, outdoor space, privacy.

We compromised on size (small) and condition (fixer upper).

Don’t worry at all about the garden. You will get sun midday to early evening. We had a south facing garden and it was unbearable in the house without blinds on a hot day. We much prefer our north ish garden. We get plenty of light without high heat. Grass stays greener too.

the main issue is - can you afford to open up the kitchen and dining room? I’d offer based on that.

The vendor has been really kind and has sent time stamped pics of the garden throughout the day. It does get sun but it moves across the garden rather than stays all day. Sun is at the back of the garden in the morning and gets closer to the house as the day progresses.

That’s in mid June. There will be less sun at any other time of year due to longer shadows from the house & other surrounding houses.

Like you Inwant S or W facing, would consider E facing but not north facing because I spend most of my day in the kitchen and I want sun coming into the kitchen at least at some point in the day. So for me it’s not just about seeing some sunny areas in the garden. But that may not be the case for you.

You’ve had no kitchen for 6 years?? You are a stronger woman than me- 6 months is stressing me out. I am not cut out for refurbs.

This isn’t our first
The building is grade 2* and it’s causing a lot of delays. Or at least that’s my excuse 🤨

Those sound like too many compromises OP. Our non-negotiables were: detached, at least 3 bed, good sized garden.

Our compromises were that we didn’t get the en-suite we wanted, and the bathroom and downstairs loo do need to be re-done within the next 5 years. And we completely redecorated before moving in as the house was filthy!

It can be easy to go from compromise to sacrifice when house hunting.