Nice house, bad kitchen - should I buy it?

[Bananavibez]

Ive found a house I really like, but its 3 bedrooms with a terrible kitchen. Im a FTB with very minimal cash once the deposit is paid... Should I stay away?

My DD has just rejected a house-perfect except the kitchen and it was just too much of a compromise.

That kitchen is tiny it will never be to hold a decent sized kitchen. I'd keep looking. I'm not keen on galley style kitchens.

FTB it's fine but in time you may want to get PP for a side return extension which will give you the chance to make the dining room and kitchen into one / ish giving a bug bright and airy kitchen living area and definitely increase the value of the house. Get it. Live with what you have for a few years then decide on your next move. If you decide to sell and not extend, you simply sell the dream to the next person. As for being a diva, err actually yes. Its your first property but SM suggests everyone has instagramable houses from day not. Its simply not true

Is that the whole of the downstairs on that floor plan @Bananavibez ? Is it a very narrow house? It's like the floorplan of a 1-bedroom flat, not a 3 bedroom house. Never seen such a tiny kitchen. It's like a kitchen in a caravan (that you rent by the sea.)

Is the house a bargain
Is the area up and coming
Is the location excellent

Can you live with it until you extend and knock through the dining room.

If all the answers are yes, I'd do it if the price is discounted and all other boxes ticked.

I do not think the kitchen will ever be big enough. I have lived with a small kitchen, but not one that was only 4.5ft wide. We could fit washing machine and cooker in it, but the fridge had to be in a back porch. Not the end of the world at the time, but you don't look as though you have anywhere to put yours and not being able to accommodate a cooker is simply not feasible.
I would not buy the house and try to put the kitchen in the dining room as the house is already small and you will need the space for a dining table. Unless you have enough money to extend it soon, I would let it go because you'll only be frustrated about it. It looks like a walk in terrace and I am guessing there is a tiny bedroom upstairs too?

Its not physically possible to extend

I wouldn’t go for it. Kitchens are important, particularly as it’s a 3 bed so a ‘family’ home. It will be very difficult to sell on especially as there’s no scope for extending.

On the end wall with the white chest of drawers and small picture, you could put a built in fridgefreezer with high larder cupboard beside it. Once it's 60 cm deep there. That larder could take all your food and plates etc if fully shelved.

A built in oven and hob could go on the wall under the high window, continuing down the wall from the sink. I'd get rid of the narrow brown shelves on the floor to give more space.

But the house would need to be cheap with a compromised kitchen.

The kitchen is useable - if you bought a small flat in a city then having a kitchen like that would be acceptable.
The issue is this kitchen is in a 3-bed house, it is unusually small for a family-sized property. How many floors is the property, what other work has been done?

Ultimately every purchase comes down to location, quality of property and price. If the house is in a good location, the structure is good and the price reflects the smaller kitchen, it's less of an issue for resale.

deal breaker, i wouldn't buy a home with that kitchen layout or size.

I wouldn't buy it, that's tiny for a three bed.

Thank you, you have given me some good food for thought. My issue isnt the usability of the kitchen as for me it would be perfectly usable. The issue is as PPs have said, I'm worried about how you sell on a family home with a flat-style kitchen. The house is three floors and been on for a few months.

I think you’re right to be worried about this. Unless you have had an offer accepted at a very low price I would not proceed with this, even then I think you’re right that it might be hard to shift.

A two up two down terrace with a scullery/later extension and a converted attic?

I think where I am a lot of the kitchens have been made out of what used to be the outside toilet!

What's the reason that it couldn't be extended to match the width of the rest of the house?

I wouldn't buy it if there's definitely no option to extend tbh.

Was it originally a 2 bed house that's had a loft conversion?

Unless you are prepared to have a new kitchen in the dining room, don’t buy it. You would never sell it. I presume it’s very cheap.

i think most buyers would be looking to create a kitchen in the dining room.

Like this idea of moving kitchen into dining room and making the original a utility. A utility always attracts buyers.
money is always tight but things may get easier in the future.
I think mortgage lenders will lend as there’s a sink but looks like you’d need to live on microwave meals for a while.

Is the third bedroom in the loft conversion?

why is an extension not possible?

I think if you can’t afford anything with as much space I would accept that to get three beds you have a compromise and it won’t be worth the same as other 3 beds in the area

once funds allow make a kitchen diner in the dining room and a utility/pantry/cloak room in the kitchen so you need less kitchen in the dining room iyswim (big sink/washing machine/storage in utility means you need less)

I wouldn't buy that. You don't have the money to make it better, and even if you did, you'd probably spend more than it's worth. Building work nowadays is incredibly expensive.

Depends where it is- this layout is extremely common in Crookes and Walkley in Sheffield, although they normally do have space for a cooker/hob and fridge freezer

This would put me off, so yes your pool of buyers will be reduced. Even moving the kitchen into the diner makes a 3 bed house with very little living space. Fine for a flat, not a 3 bed house.