Hello everyone, just looking for some insight, helpful hints, points of perspective with regard to choosing a new house.

There are many houses to choose from, but how to get the balance of factors right? To my mind, there are:

– Location (schools important)
– Size
– Condition/quality
– Cost

Given I/we can’t have it all, what do folks think really matters? How did you choose? What should I/we think on?

Background

– It will be our second house buy/move (only property)
– 1 x wife, 1 x 3yr old, 1 x baby (no plans for any more…)
– Both working close to full time/value what time we have left/not feart of minor DIY efforts
– Like a nice quiet life
– 32

Location
Size
Garage
cost

I have found a roof always helps? 😀

It will feel right.

Its a balance of all of those and the sway of balance varies from people to people. For us, location meant we compromised on a terrace and no private driveway etc.

Check out the neighbours.

Too personal

In the final processes of buying a house at the moment.

Some things from my experience:
1. View as many as you possibly can. The pics probably won’t do it justice (Positively and negatively)
2. Consider houses outside of search criteria. I wanted a garage, but the one we are buying doesn’t but has space to build one 🙂
3. Don’t get bullied in a bidding war. If you don;t think its worth it, walk away.
4. Be realistic about work required. We fell in love with one, which in hindsight would have required a lot more than just cosmetic work to get it to a liveable standard
5. Estate agents are largely on par with traffic wardens. Good ones are few and far between and seem to think they know what is best for you.
6. See 5 🙂

Good luck and hope it helps

Well, from your list, I’ve advise you to get somewhere:

1. In the catchment area of a good school,
2. big enough for the family,
3. in good condition,
4. that you can afford.

My invoice is in the post 😀

Sorry.

Your list of requirements is very generic (nothing wrong with that) so I suspect you’ll get some very generic advice too.

Generic advice from me:
Off street parking
Not on a flood plain
Garden big enough to pitch a tent/play football
Potential for man cave (garage, shed, box room)
Dining kitchen (makes cooking a social, not a solitary, experience)

The most important factor would be the location, because it’s the one thing you can’t change later.

Some things I’ve learned…

1. Talk to ***all*** the neighbours.
2. Go there at 10pm, evaluate the noise situation (barking dogs?).
3. Walk back from the pub late at night. Feel safe?
4. If you drive to work, try it from new location to discover if traffic nightmare.
5. Visit after a thunderstorm to see if the garden / garage floods.
6. Go into nearest town for a coffee, talk to people about the area.

Other stuff…

If you’ve a gram of common sense you won’t need a survey, the estate agents are on commission and will give you the hard sell.

From an electrical point of view check if it’s got a modern consumer unit with RCD protection. Try to evaluate if the owners have done their own electrical work and if they have, their competence. You’re looking for wiring run diagonally, insulation tape wrapped around cables, or wiring sticking out from light fittings etc. If it looks neat, it’s probably competent.

Oil boiler? It MUST be serviced, or budget on getting it done. Gas boilers will run forever without servicing and if they do break, probably won’t kill you. Oil boilers clog, blow seals, and vent CO into the house.

If a Nest / Hive fitted, find out if they did it themselves and if so, check heating and hot water work properly. Every other post on DIYnot is “How do I install Nest?”, so much incompetence and fuckwittery in this area.

Not detached? Ask neighbours to turn TV up and check soundproofing.

Most important…

Estate agents are evil. Do not trust them, even if they seem OK.

For me the most important by a log way is to be able to walk or cycle to work and to a train station / pub and shop. I guess catchment for good schools might top that for you.

Is a bigger house worth an hours car commute? Is off street parking worth having to drive to a supermarket?

Aspect!!!
A nice garden in the shade is rubbish. You want somewhere that gets afternoon/evening sun in a good location in your garden.

^ that. South or South West facing garden, (ideally patio and kitchen etc too) is the most important thing, most other stuff can be fettled.

It’s the only thing I’d move for and it annoys me daily that we don’t get sun on the patio in the evening.

Not sure if anyone else has mentioned ‘potential to add value’?

Is the roof pitch high enough to do a loft conversion? can you add an extension at a later date if/when you’d like more room?

Are the schools any good, and do you have a choice of more than one?

Parking – off-street parking was one thing I wouldn’t budge on, and glad I stuck to my guns.

Main road vs quiet road?

Survey generally pointless as mentioned above. (unless you’re an idiot)

flood plain?

broadband availability?

On top of what you \ others have said

1. What do you like about your current \ past houses which you want to have in the next?
2. What did your previous houses not have which you now know that you want\need?

I must have offroad parking for multiple cars
I do not want to be overlooked
I do not want to live on a busy road
I do not want warm air heating
I want a garage \ space in garden for garage \ or workshop
I would want a downstair cloakroom and at least family bathroom for 3 people. If having a second child would probably want a second\en suite as well
etc,etc,etc

Many thanks for the replies so far, very helpful.

Folk are right – it is ‘too personal’. I suppose I’m not looking at ‘what do you think is right for me’, more ‘how did other people go about ‘thinking it all through’ if you see what I mean.

And, the point I got to RE: what do I not like/like about our current house:

– Must not be on a main road.
– Must have a garage.
– Must not need total re-fit. Previously I didn’t appreciate the cost of decent quality renovations.

You’ll buy the one your wife sets her heart on.

how did other people go about ‘thinking it all through’

For me it was exactly as windydave said. Go and look at lots of houses, look at houses in the wrong area, that are too cheap, too expensive, too big, too small, not enough bedrooms, no garden, etc. You eventually get a really good feel for what you want; ie this one would be perfect if only it was…. Then eventually you find that one house and you know straight away. Handy in a fast moving market as good houses sell quickly and you need to know straight away. We offered on our current house while doing the first viewing. They had several viewings that day and more booked in and we knew it wasn’t going to hang around.

Lists!
Sit down with the OH and talk about your current house, pros and cons.
Now talk about a potential new house and draw up a list of Gold, Silver and Bronze requirements. Where Gold being the new place must have, Bronze being details you’d like if they’re an option, but not a deal breaker (i.e hot tub), silver somewhere in between.
Get a map out of the proposed area and see how far the down is etc etc, check out main road, possible areas, perhaps just drive around the area and see if you like those areas.
When you do go to look at properties, dont ignore “the feeling” you get when you walk through the door. Very vague I know, but sometimes places just feel right!

No matter what your budget there will always be compromise.

You’ll know which one 30 secs after walking in the front door.

You’ll know which one 30 secs after walking in the front door.

This! Even if it was not the one of paper we would have expected to buy – not semi detached etc etc. We just walked out and both said, yup, we’ll have that one!

Quiet road for me (I grew up on a main road in a town).
Somewhere to park, no one likes to have to find a space.
Big enough rooms to move in – beds up against the wall oneside are a pain in the bum.
Garden for BBQ’s – grew up in a flat and lived in one for 7 years post uni, I wanted a garden.

Realistically though, you need to be able to afford it and work out what you can compromise on. I live in a quiet village which is about to become part of a new town, I’d rather it wasn’t but I knew this was on the long term plan for the area when I bought it.

It was also at the time a perfect bike commute to work, but then that company went to crap and now I have to travel to London from an outer Cambridge village each day. It’s not ideal, but I like the house, area, and neighbours so no plans to move out at the moment!

A glance at fuseboard and boiler/plumbing can often reveal that under nice wallpaper is an expensive bill to re-wire/re-plumb or similar.

Stick your nose in the attic – most surveys won’t do this now – so see how the roof looks, how well it is insulated and how much crap they threw up there for the viewing.

Get a survey if you can, or be damn good at spotting issues.

Decide on budget and what you are prepared to compromise on. To be in leafy and expensive Dunblane it has cost us having a bedroom downstairs.

I disagree that surveys are pointless – the right surveys are priceless.

In my bitter experience, from recently buying an old property, a full survey is a waste of money, however a survey from a qualified electrician, structural engineer, plumber etc that you know or trust is much better, and what I’d do next time (there won’t be one – we’re NEVER MOVING AGAIN). For perhaps an hour or two of each tradesman’s time you’ll get some actual realism rather than some bullshit “the sky is falling in” doom-mongering.

I’d concur with the parking thing, and checking out your neighbours, but would also say that depending on the area, you won’t get the chance to look at loads if it’s a fast moving market and you find one you like.

I agree with what’s been said several times already – that you’ll “just know” when you walk in. Ours was a bit of a mess when we bought but we knew it could be so much better. It’s almost done now, which leads me to my next point…

…do not underestimate the time & money required to do stuff ! We had a five year plan. Live for two years while planning & saving up, do the work, live for another year or two and move on. We’ve been here just over ten years now 😆

A good sized plot is one of my main requirements. Most modern houses are crammed in too tightly. Minimal off road parking, tiny garden, and if it has a garage check how big it is. I’ve heard of garages in some new builds being only just big enough for a small hatchback, not a family car.

And whatever your wife wants. Buy that one.

Talk to ***all*** the neighbours.

I’m amazed this doesn’t happen more. House next door sold for £500k last year and still haven’t met the new neighbours…

You’d think they’d be vaguely interested in who they were next door do (terraced house).

Personally I wouldn’t buy a house that stood the slightest chance of being flooded. So nothing near the sea at sea level, not near a river, on a floodplain, and preferably some way up a slope.
I’ve driven past new houses I KNOW are on land that has flooded in the past. What they do it I don’t know.

I wouldn’t buy a house built since WW2 if I had a choice either, certainly nothing on a modern McHousingEstate.
Tiny poxy little things they are, small kitchens, no real dining space (‘cos nobody cooks any more) then you’ll get 2 bathrooms and a downstairs toilet in a 2-3 bed house. Ridiculous.

if buying a semi preferably don’t buy one attached to a house that contains a dog, espicially jack russells. yappy little bleep.

Off street parking for at least 1 more car than your likely to own….. The number of whiny **** that think they own the road infront of their house is mad.

Locatoon.

Decent size rooms no point in some of these mchouses with 27 bedrooms and 7 toilets but the rooms don’t have enough for a bed in the room 🙂

Garage.

If you have half an eye on it’s value when you re-sell then go for the crappiest house on the best road, not the best house somewhere crap. We sold last year a 1500sq ft 3 bedder in a road of 7,8+ bedders, with permission to nearly triple the floorage. The developer who bought it intends to make it even bigger, and it will still be one of the smaller houses in the street.

We just walked out and both said, yup, we’ll have that one!

I know the feeling!

and how much crap they threw up there for the viewing

…and how much crap they will probably leave up there for you to sort out afterwards

******s

Go around a lot of houses, pick them based on what you’re after, not “falling in love” with them (It’s a house, get a **** grip), remember if one falls through there will be others.

Consider local trails, too. Er, for the kids when they’re a bit older.

Neighbours, Once you have had bad neighbours you will consider it enough to make you not buy a house if the neighbours are pricks.

Decide on your house, and before putting an offer in go and speak to the neighbours, if they are not interested in meeting their potential neighbour then it may not bode well for future neighbourly well being.

Ok they may be reclusive and dead quiet and just not bothered who you are but make the effort and try to gauge what kind of person they are/may be.

Again, depending on where the house is, go and hang around on a Friday/ Saturday night and see if it’s quiet at night, are there any groups of kids or anything else you don;t like happening at that time.

It’s all stuff that helps you build a picture of ‘living’ there before you commit.

I focus on the stuff I can change-location, aspect, plot size and general locality. The rest is changeable. I’ve always tried to go for a good area with a compromise on property.

Private garden so you can allow the kids to play outside without having to worry about them.

Second not falling in love with it. There will be other houses.

At the risk of getting flamed, is being a in a “good” school catchment area really important? All the jobs the current education system is training kids for are going to be automated by the time they get to an employable age. The education system has changed little since the industrial revolution.

With this in mind, I’d not move anywhere I couldn’t get 50Mbps+ internet. Most of their learning is going to come via it in the future.

At the risk of getting flamed, is being a in a “good” school catchment area really important? All the jobs the current education system is training kids for are going to be automated by the time they get to an employable age

Children don’t go to school to get a job, they go to get an education.

and how much crap they threw up there for the viewing

…and how much crap they will probably leave up there for you to sort out afterwards
******s[/quote]

They are probably in breach of contract if they left a load of crap up there (that you didn’t agree to).

…and how much crap they will probably leave up there for you to sort out afterwards
******s

Did we buy the same house?

Last lot left ours stuffed, and a shed they ‘did not have a key for since they bought the house 12 years ago’ also miraculously had in it so much crap (included dated receipts from a few weeks prior to the move) that it took two Galaxy loads to the tip to empty.
They also removed a fixed bed in one room – for no reason as it was left in the other shed, in broken pieces.

That is my last piece of advice – try and sell and buy to some sane people. Having been done over by ‘friends’ on the eve of completion when selling and the lying, screaming and bonkers vendors we just bought off, I would avoid some owners again…

Our last house in NZ was bought as the result of an acrimonious divorce. While we didn;t have a load of toot to get rid of on the morning of exchange, which went through, we arrived to find the lady of the house basically sort of refusing to leave, she had copied a key and wanted to be back there. It was awful. Locksmith that day wasn’t cheap either 😉