Would you buy a house that does not quite wow?

[PhysicsBowlChampion]

Looking to buy detached house with at least 4 bedrooms (and garage). This house ticked all the boxes (I thought) but downsides were: on corner of busy main road (set back a bit from it), living room was long/not huge and can’t figure out how to make it work without it looking like a corridor with sofas pushed up against wall,

Kitchen was ok but had a smaller dark bit for dining which put me off. There is a separate dining room but not connected in any way to kitchen so imagine would not be used much apart from at Christmas.

House was well-maintained and wouldn’t need to do much to it but I didn’t feel “wow”!

I love my current kitchen and feel I’m holding every house up to that standard. If we bought house, no money to start ripping out kitchen, doing major renovations. Would be interested in other views from people on what you think of house. Note garden/drive at front of house is nowhere near as big as picture implies!

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/89913291#/?channel=RES_BUY

Not just the main rd but you have a path running along the side of your garden - that might be affected by anti social behaviour depending on the area.

otherwise i agree with others about knocking some walls down to have a super large kitchen/dining & living room at the back.

DC still has Yr13 to do and already has a 45ish min commute so don’t want to make it any harder
Why disrupt them right now? One more year and you can start looking in a wider area.

It's a really bad time to make them move, could really impact their grades.

Are you panicking about the empty nest or something?

@PhysicsBowlChampion said clearly in her OP

If we bought house, no money to start ripping out kitchen, doing major renovations.

So I think we can assume they'd be looking at very cosmetic changes only.

A six-bed house squeezed into just 203m2 definitely wouldn't work for me and it would need a lot of reconfiguring to get a flow was happy with. I don't know the area so perhaps the price reflects the limitations, including the awkward corner plot, etc.

You're just not that into it. I wouldn't buy it with all those reservations. Are you in any particular rush? I wouldn't be pressured into buying it if you can avoid it.

Would it work if you had the long reception room as a combined dining room at the end closest to the kitchen and a cosy sitting area at the other end with the seats facing each other in a group rather than all along the wall. Maybe separated by having a sofa with its back to the dining area. Then made the second reception room the tv room. Maybe planning on keeping the door between the two closed all the time so a sofa could be right next to it.

Unless you can reconfigure downstairs as long thin rooms are awful and end up feeling like a corridor, don’t buy it.

If the main reason you're tied to this area is your DD's school and she's presumably going to uni next year, then I'd wait until that's over with. If I was dropping over £1mill on house if would need to wow me and then some. The living room and kitchen look quite small and narrow for the price point (but perhaps that's because I'm used to northern prices).

Not much to wow in that house

I'm currently looking at small flats in the £70 - £85,000 price range and I'm being picky. If I were spending over £1million I would be just as unwilling to compromise.

What's with this fence? Concrete or asbestos?

That living room alone is enough to put me off. Awful.

It’s concrete gravel boards, but the ridiculous mismatched heights and silly little fencelet sitting on top is quite the most hideous thing I’ve seen.

On the plus side you’d just need to slide all but the lowest of the gravel boards out, and slide a fence panel in, and you’d have a normal fence.

No, don't. You already have reservations. Something you love will come up sooner or later.

If you need 2 offices, have you considered a smaller house with a large garden and adding a garden room? For 20-30k you can get something really well insulated and setup (can be done cheaper but that gets you a proper space).

For that amount of money I'd want a period property with large sized rooms and character with some original features. Something I could put my own stamp on. The back garden looks nice though.

Have you looked at Ickenham? Assuming that’s not where you currently are.

perfectly nice and a 5 bed. Quiet road, 15 mins walk to the station, bus stop at top of the road going to Ruislip. ( I used to go out with a boy who lived in this road when I was a teenager!)

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/171975710#/?channel=RES_BUY

The main road is and will always be the big issue. Even if you need/want 6 bedrooms ‘forever’ this is not a good buy if you mind road noise and/or traffic, even a tiny amount. If it doesn’t end up being ‘forever’ (and things/feelings do often change!) then the road will also impact future sales.

Ladygate lane is also very busy and a cut through, that lay-bye also serves as a cut through and people park their cars there from over the road, (I also viewed a house there)

house is nice though

No, I wouldn't. If it's not something that can easily be remade into something I'd totally like, it's not worth it. The "wow" factor is highly specific and variable from person to person, I personally don't see anything wrong with your description but it's your decision, not mine, and if you don't feel this is the house you'd like to live and spend your money and effort renovation, then it's not worth it at all.
If you kinda like it still or this is a good option moneywise, you can try uploading the plan into interior design apps like this one or similar ones and see if there is anything you could do to like it better, but there would be more spending and more time and effort put into it. Might as well continue looking for other options that suit you better.

The price is laughable, the seller is taking the wee wee.

The price is what it is for the location. The same house in nearby but more popular roads would be several hundred thousand more and be sold within days.

Can you post a link to a recent sale?

Rightmove is your friend. The location of the house is in the OP.

Its a pricey area, some roads are much more expensive than others. As I posted upthread - that house will go to someone wanting the location (and school catchments) and size but who can’t afford the premium roads. Probably for a bit less than the asking price but not masses less.