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buying a house with no garden at all and 2 boys

9 replies

MizZan · 18/11/2009 22:34

so - we have finally made an offer on a house which ticks a lot of the boxes for us - on the right street, in a very convenient location (walk to station, very near bus to school for the kids, walk to city centre, short cycle ride to work, big enough, bright and with some lovely old features, and most importantly the only house of this size which we could afford in our street).

But there are some major downsides to it, which is why it's relatively inexpensive. The biggest are that it has no garden at all (very small outside terrace - it's about 5 mins walk from a big green), is next to a commercial building (a very small one, which is currently rented to a school but could be anything later on), and is partially overlooked on one side by that commercial building. Commercial building is old and pretty so not an eyesore or anything, and only the terrace and kitchen are overlooked.

are we crazy to go for this? just so sick of not having our own place, but am afraid we're making a mistake here. this house has been on the market for a long time so I know it would be difficult to sell on. we'd love to stay on this street or in this neighborhood but other houses on the street are, at this point, 20-30% more than this one and out of our price range - and same problem on other nearby streets unless they are much smaller (too small for us with 5 of us) and have practically no garden anyway.

help! any advice or thoughts welcome...

OP posts:
bibbitybobbityhat · 18/11/2009 22:40

Sorry, I know how hard it is, I do understand about having a limited budget, but I would not buy a house with no garden.

colditz · 18/11/2009 22:43

If your children are old enough to go and play on the green alone, go for it. Otherwise, you are in for a miserable few years.

MadBadandDangerousToKnow · 18/11/2009 22:48

How you will feel about your children going to play on the green rather than in your back garden? As you say, the house ticks a lot of boxes but that is a potentially big drawback, unless you are comfortable with your children going out to play on their own (either now or in a few years, depending on their ages).

Then again, few of us live in our absolutely ideal house ....

dilemma456 · 19/11/2009 06:23

Message withdrawn

dilemma456 · 19/11/2009 06:24

Message withdrawn

EldonAve · 19/11/2009 06:53

no garden would be a compromise too far for me

PavlovtheForgetfulCat · 19/11/2009 06:58

No. We have a tiny yard. We have our second due any moment.

I crave more than anything a garden. We made the decision to stay put and go into the loft as we were unable to sell and DH lost his job, but, while I don't regret it due to the financial commitments we would have to have made, I was, and still am gutted we have no garden.

We have a park at the end of the road, literally 2 mins walk and we live close to the countryside, country parks and beaches and we told ourselves that would be plenty and we do access those regularly, we get out and about lots. But it is not the same as being able to open your door and sip a cuppa while the children charge around, or do some washing, and hang it out while the children play. Or sit out of the rain while they stomp and get wet.

nomoralfibre · 19/11/2009 07:15

Hard one... I suppose it depends on whether location trumps living space for you. Is the terrace big enough for a barbeque and a table so you can eat outside? You need to buy for the medium term ae least, they say- can you see yourselves still living there happily in 5 years time? If you have quite major doubts and think it would be difficult to sell on it may be better to walk away, particularly in the current housing market.

tillyfernackerpants · 19/11/2009 08:17

I agree with the other posters, if you're questioning it then you've got your answer!

We had ds1 in a flat with no garden & it ended up getting very irritating to have to load up for the day just to go to the park or something when it was nice. We have a garden now and its great to be able to open the door and just let him go out & play if I need to get on with things.

I know its hard when you're desperate for your own place (which is why we ended up in the flat!), but hang on, something will come up.

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