Should we buy this house?

[squeaver]

So we've been looking for a new house on and off in a fairly casual way for a few years now.

Strictly speaking we don't really need to move but we've had a list of things we'd like in a new house if we ever found one.

So now we've seen a house and it fits the majority of the criteria. We put in an offer that was under the asking price - in truth I don't think we expected it to be accepted. And now it has been.

But...it's a new house and we've always lived in period houses and, truth be told, it's a bit characterless. And I just don't feel excited about it, although this could be because I never expected our offer to be accepted.

So - head says, it ticks most of the boxes, we've got it for a good price etc etc

Heart says - hmmm, I just don't know.

What do you think, wise ones??

Maybe I should also add that it will be a little bit of a stretch for us financially if we go ahead.

All opinions welcome!!

So you don't like it and it will squeeze you financially.

And you'd be buying this house why?

We went out with a list of things we wanted in our new home. We bought a house that ticked none of them, because DH fell in love with it and couldn't stop raving about how nice each room was. Turns out to have loads wrong with it, but we don't mind, because it ticks the 'heart' box.

Nope, if you dont really have those excited feelings for it, dont put yourselves through the turmoil.

Having said that I moved from a period house to a modern house and absolutely loved it. It was liberating, warmer, easier to keep clean and minimal upkeep for a good few years, a refreshing change from the Victorian pile that needed constant upkeep.

How important is the criteria it doesn't fit?

Are you likely to get all of the criteria or not because it doesn't exist or because it never comes on the market in your area?

Why did you even put an offer in?

Sorry have been on the school run.

The two main problems are: it's modern and I don't really like the exterior.

We could do some work internally that would make it a really stunning house, but we can't touch the exterior.

And we have a Victorian house now which is very modern on the inside. So I'm trying to get my head round why the outside is important to me

LFC - that's the real nub. Even in this downturn, we're not going to get a house that really meets everything we want in this area. Which is why, fruity, we put in what was frankly a cheeky offer

Thanks for all your replies.

If you're not going to get what you want in that area then this house sounds like a good compromise.

Remember unless you're facing a house the same as yours (and spend your time looking out the window) then you will be inside the house and not outside. And you can change small details on the outside surely? Nice bay trees either side of the front door, a window box, maybe a different coloured door?

I too live in a Victorian house and after this winter of five floods and constant cold I would seriously consider living in a modern house now. I have owned 5 old houses and lived in 28 old houses so that's quite some statement from me. Probably due to me upgrading my elderly car last year to a brand new one and having a huge weight of worry shifted off my shoulders - I literally don't think about the car now at all and whether something expensive is going to go wrong.

Do you know what? I think you're probably right. We've been 17 years in this house with extra heaters in the bedrooms and subsidence and a leaky roof.

In all honesty, I'm just being a bit of a snob about it. Like us, everyone we know has a period house that they've modernised, so why not just go the whole hog?

And of course we can change the outside like you say. And the garden is a squillion times bigger than ours. And it's not on a main bloody road. And...and...and...

Thanks for your wise words, LFC. Problem is I think dh is getting very nervy now.

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We are about to go through a similar thing - having always loved old houses we find ourselves trying to buy a 1970s build. Much more sensible for us, but not as pretty. I keep telling myself it is ridiculous to stay put for original tiling - and although I will feel a bit sorry to leave, I do believe that. Also - how much time do you spend looking at the outside of your house?

I am having serious fantasies about living in a modern house now (after 25+ years in various London Victorians).

Don't be a snob about it! Is it a one-off or on an Estate?

I am always intrigued by the occasional modern house you get in London, obviously filling a gap from bomb damage.

It's on a development with a few others which all look the same. I think if it was a one-off, super modern building with Kevin McCloud approval we wouldn't be hesitating.

It's a weird thing, this house snobbery isn't it?

Yes. My parents have always chosen modern houses. Infact, when I was little and they were still together my Dad had some business success and commissioned a fantastic architect-designed wooden house built from scratch. It was a grand design of the late 60s I suppose. I loved living in it. It had cedar cladding all over (v fashionable now), double glazing, underfloor heating, a dishwasher, two bathrooms. Tres moderne.

I am very much coming round to his way of thinking as I survey the flaking plaster, sloping floors, and rising damp of our typical 100 year old house!

In an ideal world we would have been able to buy a period yummy property that was warm, had a garden, quiet cat-safe location, close to schools and work and had a garage and was in the right catchment area for the pittance we had to spend. It's not an ideal world - so we bought our lovely modern house on a small estate. It's quite quirky in design, definately not a box and it has everything we wanted. You have to compromise - unless you are impossibly rich

squeaver - you don't really like the house and it is going to be a financial stretch. I guarantee you will just want to sell it in a few years time. Stick with what you have if you do not need to move now and look for something you really like.

Incidentally, me and DW have never bought a house but just rented houses/flats we really liked the look of for over 25 years. When we get bored with them we just move on.

My parents too! And my Dad has always been aghast at me and my siblings buying old houses - "what's the point?". I think that's the root of my problem - rebelling against my parents!

we did just what your pondering. We owned a small victorian terrace and want to move to a larger victorian terrace, period features the works. We actually viewed our current house by accident, open vieiwing blurry picture misread the details and fell in love with the inside. Outside its a horrible 1960's wood clad boring house, but inside it has space and a lovely 'warm' feeling and its home. Like someone else on this thread wisely put how often do you actually spend staring at the outside of you house?

plus the huge advantage of newer houses, kitchens, wardrobes, bookcases and shelves are far easier to buy and fit as the walls are actually flat and corners are right angles!

Quite!

Modern housing appeals to me more and more. Trouble is I don't want to move out of London and modern houses are actually quite few and far between aren't they?

I've lived in loads of period properties, including a Victorian Farmhouse and a former victorian Corner shop, but we're now in a new build (bought to get away from maintenance costs). So, I know exactly what you're going through - I still pine for the old houses and would love to go back to old if I could afford the upkeep, but love the maintenance-freeness of modern ones.

I don't think it's just snobbery when you want your house to look a certain way - it's cos you are still looking for your dream house. I'd say follow your gut instinct and stay put until you do find something you fall head over heels with, or take the risk, knowing that you may want to sell up sooner rather than later.

ooh it's all so difficult. Will let you know the outcome - dh doing the sums right now!

Oh God, dh has ICEBLOCK feet. I sense a loong weekend ahead....

I suffer from new house snobbery I'm afraid.I loved my huge Victorian terrace,but it was never warm and not in a very nice area.We bought a 1960's house in a place that we never dreamed we'd be able to live in,due to rarity of houses ever coming up for sale and most houses owned by an estate.If it had been elsewhere I wouldn't even had viewed it as it is too 'new.'

But,we are changing it to suit us,it isn't too bad on the outside-just not the red brick bay windowed pretty house we were used to before,and it is growing on me.I would never consider moving now.

Not all new houses have straight walls-my friend told me his brother moved into a newbuild and one room is a brick out of true from one end to the other.Someone must have put up a string line to run the brick course along and then gone over onto the other side-how they didn't notice what they'd done,I don't know.

Can you do a list of pros and cons and sit down and coldheartedly look at it? Sometimes putting it in black and white can make decisions easier.

Tbh, I just don't get the whole 'character' thing anyway. To me, character is something you bring to the house, not inherent in the house.

I also have an intense dislike of victorian houses too - they're not characterful, they're clone houses. Usually, one of about three different layouts and they all look the same. Yes, they are pretty but there's nothing distinctive about them. Personally, I'd prefer Georgian houses anyday (Not that I can afford one mind!!). The only thing that can be said of Victorian houses is that they do have nice features, like the tiles... but then you could do something nice with nice, modern but distinctive in your house - now that would give your house character! Avoid buying stuff off the peg, and buy individual arty things to fill your house, and it will be full of real character in no time, and none of this faux 'character', which isn't really characterful, because really it is ten a penny for victorian houses.