Buy the sensible house?

[Mt563]

I've just viewed a house which ticks all our practical boxes and a few bonuses.

But it's bland. There's no wow or anything special. It's fine. We could obviously make it more to our taste.

It's a lot of money to us but I know everyone has to compromise.

Anyone else bought a practical house that didn't sing to them and grown to love it?

Have you seen anything “wow” within your budget?

Yes. Mine is a box but with some F&B paint and lovely wallpaper it shows our personality. We enjoyed personalising it.

Honestly, not wow and tick the boxes. So gorgeous garden but shared driveway, fab house but tiny garden, great location but needs a lot of work. I guess it's working out which compromise to make. We're also in rented having sold our house so don't have that pressure which kind of makes things worse because I could dither for England.

Yeah I think it's really hard to answer this for someone else - I definitely have purchased an actively ugly (from the outside anyway, and was fine inside but no particular redeeming features) never mind just 'meh' house, because, having extensively reviewed the market there was definitely no way I was getting a nice looking house with the number of rooms I needed in the area I wanted in my budget, and I wasn't prepared to compromise on either of those. I've also bought a very very pretty, totally impractical period cottage which came with a lot of compromises that most on MN wouldn't consider remotely acceptable (small, dark rooms, no parking, busy road, tiny garden, high maintenance needs) - I ended up absolutely loving both in different ways.

I think it really just goes to show that unless you have infinite money to spend you likely are going to have to make some compromise somewhere - try if you can to throw out received or MN wisdom on what's essential (I really don't get the obsession with the need for ample off road parking for instance, but that's me) and think about you, your life and what's really, truly essential and what can be compromised on if need be. Try also if you can to forget what other people will think of your choices, shamefully enough that's what nearly stopped me buying the ugly house (which would have been a huge mistake in hindsight), worrying about what would my family/ friends think when they came to visit - it's so illogical because (a) most people don't really care that much about other people's houses anyway (b) you only see the outside of a house very briefly when you spend a long time looking at the inside, you can make even a very ugly house lovely and very comfortable inside (c) if you have family or friends that really would judge you negatively for making a sensible choice that works for you and your family sod them and their negativity!

Yes me. We lived in a beautiful period wow property previously, featured on TV as a filming location because it was so gorgeous but house was a burden and not built for everyday modern living. We’re now in an updated 1970s house, definitely not wow to look at but so comfortable to live in and makes life easy as near to what we need, plus provides the space for comfortable living. Initially on viewing, it was presented badly and looked a little unloved. However now I’ve decorated it and added my own stamp, I love it despite its general blandness from the outside. From two previous experiences, my head choice will now always overrule my heart ‘Wow’ choices. ‘Wow’ has always blinded me to a property’s downsides before which have been considerable.

Well best make a decision as paying unnecessary rent is reducing your pot of capital.
I thought I'd 'made it' when we bought a small 4 bed detached with attached but not integral garage and it was a lovely house we owned for many years. But I remember a work colleague looking at the brochure and saying it looked ugly to her as she only liked period properties with inglenook fireplaces. Horses for courses. Decide what makes you happy at your budget level and go for it. Big gardens especially if slopy are a lot of maintenance. Don't forget to check the flood risk for any house you buy. This could rule out many.

Having an easy-to-live in house frees up time etc for other areas if your life. Is there anything on your Dream House list which is feasible in your area on budget?

If its cosmetic, then thats easily sorted. But if its a sea view or a south facing garden or whatever then....

The maxim, buy the worst house on the best street, or area, is a good one. If it ticks all your space requirements, you can always alter the inside decor and also change aspects of the outside. New windows can make a huge difference.
We did this and stayed in the house for 30 years, we only meant to stay a couple of years!