went to view a house - confused.
Discussion
If no children then small bedrooms are neither here nor there. one room for you, one for guests, one for junk/office. Provided you can cram a double bed in BR2 then you are clear, guests won't show up with the kitchen sink.
Semi - only you know. If it's hallway to hallway, great. If not then single brick walls can admit noise. Newer houses may not be that bad, if the inner wall is a concrete block construction they can be better than 1 course of Victorian bricks. Cinderblocks, maybe less so.
Semi - only you know. If it's hallway to hallway, great. If not then single brick walls can admit noise. Newer houses may not be that bad, if the inner wall is a concrete block construction they can be better than 1 course of Victorian bricks. Cinderblocks, maybe less so.
battered said:
If no children then small bedrooms are neither here nor there. one room for you, one for guests, one for junk/office. Provided you can cram a double bed in BR2 then you are clear, guests won't show up with the kitchen sink.
Semi - only you know. If it's hallway to hallway, great. If not then single brick walls can admit noise. Newer houses may not be that bad, if the inner wall is a concrete block construction they can be better than 1 course of Victorian bricks. Cinderblocks, maybe less so.
it's the small bedrooms against the other houseSemi - only you know. If it's hallway to hallway, great. If not then single brick walls can admit noise. Newer houses may not be that bad, if the inner wall is a concrete block construction they can be better than 1 course of Victorian bricks. Cinderblocks, maybe less so.
OP, hold out for somethng that completely suits you. Mind you we are in a semi currently (though selling now) which has our bedroom and living room against theirs, and has not been an issue for the 8 years we have been here.
I wouldn't be put off by a semi, but maybe we have been fortunate with neighbours
deckster said:
PixelpeepS3 said:
this is literally the first house we have looked at in person
There's your answer. Go and see more houses. Lots more. Even if they don't look perfect. Looking at their details online gives you only a small part of what you need to know about a house....We live this way. The train journey from Soham to London would put me off (I work in London a couple of days per week), have you considered other villages/small towns a little closer e.g. Waterbeach, Littleport etc.? Littleport for example is on the main line to Kings Cross and is the stop before Ely (when I get on and it's bloody packed!) - direct train into Kings X in 1hr 15 mins or so, not bad.
Housing around this way has increased in price noticeably in the last four years (for example, ours has increased over £85k - three bed detached) but there is plenty on offer, you can get a lot for your money (although less than when we moved this way).
Like other posters, I'd suggest that the best way of doing this is to pen a checklist of 'must haves/non-negotiables' (and so on) and use this as your guide. It's very easy in all this to go with your heart, especially when you're keen to buy a property.
Housing around this way has increased in price noticeably in the last four years (for example, ours has increased over £85k - three bed detached) but there is plenty on offer, you can get a lot for your money (although less than when we moved this way).
Like other posters, I'd suggest that the best way of doing this is to pen a checklist of 'must haves/non-negotiables' (and so on) and use this as your guide. It's very easy in all this to go with your heart, especially when you're keen to buy a property.
Grandad Gaz said:
hyphen said:
PixelpeepS3 said:
(her traveling into London each day etc)
Sounds like a long commute?Not sure how you would get to London?
OP, have you checked all this out, tried a dummy run at commuting time etc?
Floor plan has the main living room and your bedroom against the party wall. That's a bit of a negative.
As its a bungalow I'm going to guess its pretty old, probably has proper thick wall between the two houses?
If you've no kids then then bed 2 & 3 are in effect spare rooms. Looking at it, you can get a double bed in Bedroom 2 I think. So the two bedrooms aren't particularly small, they're just not generous.
What do you want to do with this home long term? You don't say how old you are or if kids are on the cards.
If it was my home, and as we are now approaching 50, I'd convert it to a 2 bed house with generous en-suites and lose the main bathroom all together. But as we don't really know whats important to you, its hard to say if its right for you or not.
If one of the main draws is the workshop and parking, well, most houses out in the sticks a bit can have these added if not already there.
You cant tell if your neighbours are going to be a problem with it being semi. Its possible. But lots of detached houses have neighbours from hell, so the neighbour issue is moot. A neighbour 20 yards away that has parties or perhaps noisy teenagers every weekend can be much more of a problem than two OAPs that you never hear from in a semi.
As its a bungalow I'm going to guess its pretty old, probably has proper thick wall between the two houses?
If you've no kids then then bed 2 & 3 are in effect spare rooms. Looking at it, you can get a double bed in Bedroom 2 I think. So the two bedrooms aren't particularly small, they're just not generous.
What do you want to do with this home long term? You don't say how old you are or if kids are on the cards.
If it was my home, and as we are now approaching 50, I'd convert it to a 2 bed house with generous en-suites and lose the main bathroom all together. But as we don't really know whats important to you, its hard to say if its right for you or not.
If one of the main draws is the workshop and parking, well, most houses out in the sticks a bit can have these added if not already there.
You cant tell if your neighbours are going to be a problem with it being semi. Its possible. But lots of detached houses have neighbours from hell, so the neighbour issue is moot. A neighbour 20 yards away that has parties or perhaps noisy teenagers every weekend can be much more of a problem than two OAPs that you never hear from in a semi.
Borroxs said:
Floor plan has the main living room and your bedroom against the party wall. That's a bit of a negative.
As its a bungalow I'm going to guess its pretty old, probably has proper thick wall between the two houses?
If you've no kids then then bed 2 & 3 are in effect spare rooms. Looking at it, you can get a double bed in Bedroom 2 I think. So the two bedrooms aren't particularly small, they're just not generous.
What do you want to do with this home long term? You don't say how old you are or if kids are on the cards.
If it was my home, and as we are now approaching 50, I'd convert it to a 2 bed house with generous en-suites and lose the main bathroom all together. But as we don't really know whats important to you, its hard to say if its right for you or not.
If one of the main draws is the workshop and parking, well, most houses out in the sticks a bit can have these added if not already there.
You cant tell if your neighbours are going to be a problem with it being semi. Its possible. But lots of detached houses have neighbours from hell, so the neighbour issue is moot. A neighbour 20 yards away that has parties or perhaps noisy teenagers every weekend can be much more of a problem than two OAPs that you never hear from in a semi.
thanks for this - very helpful.As its a bungalow I'm going to guess its pretty old, probably has proper thick wall between the two houses?
If you've no kids then then bed 2 & 3 are in effect spare rooms. Looking at it, you can get a double bed in Bedroom 2 I think. So the two bedrooms aren't particularly small, they're just not generous.
What do you want to do with this home long term? You don't say how old you are or if kids are on the cards.
If it was my home, and as we are now approaching 50, I'd convert it to a 2 bed house with generous en-suites and lose the main bathroom all together. But as we don't really know whats important to you, its hard to say if its right for you or not.
If one of the main draws is the workshop and parking, well, most houses out in the sticks a bit can have these added if not already there.
You cant tell if your neighbours are going to be a problem with it being semi. Its possible. But lots of detached houses have neighbours from hell, so the neighbour issue is moot. A neighbour 20 yards away that has parties or perhaps noisy teenagers every weekend can be much more of a problem than two OAPs that you never hear from in a semi.
Kids are not on the cards, we are both in our late 30's - one thing to note about the driveway down to the work shop... its 6' 6" wide according to the current owners which is 1981.2mm - and our current car is 1966mm wide
15.2mm spare in total 7mm per side - i would say that entire side is a bit pointless for us.. i have crudely adapted the floor plan with the exterior layout.
PixelpeepS3 said:
Borroxs said:
Floor plan has the main living room and your bedroom against the party wall. That's a bit of a negative.
As its a bungalow I'm going to guess its pretty old, probably has proper thick wall between the two houses?
If you've no kids then then bed 2 & 3 are in effect spare rooms. Looking at it, you can get a double bed in Bedroom 2 I think. So the two bedrooms aren't particularly small, they're just not generous.
What do you want to do with this home long term? You don't say how old you are or if kids are on the cards.
If it was my home, and as we are now approaching 50, I'd convert it to a 2 bed house with generous en-suites and lose the main bathroom all together. But as we don't really know whats important to you, its hard to say if its right for you or not.
If one of the main draws is the workshop and parking, well, most houses out in the sticks a bit can have these added if not already there.
You cant tell if your neighbours are going to be a problem with it being semi. Its possible. But lots of detached houses have neighbours from hell, so the neighbour issue is moot. A neighbour 20 yards away that has parties or perhaps noisy teenagers every weekend can be much more of a problem than two OAPs that you never hear from in a semi.
thanks for this - very helpful.As its a bungalow I'm going to guess its pretty old, probably has proper thick wall between the two houses?
If you've no kids then then bed 2 & 3 are in effect spare rooms. Looking at it, you can get a double bed in Bedroom 2 I think. So the two bedrooms aren't particularly small, they're just not generous.
What do you want to do with this home long term? You don't say how old you are or if kids are on the cards.
If it was my home, and as we are now approaching 50, I'd convert it to a 2 bed house with generous en-suites and lose the main bathroom all together. But as we don't really know whats important to you, its hard to say if its right for you or not.
If one of the main draws is the workshop and parking, well, most houses out in the sticks a bit can have these added if not already there.
You cant tell if your neighbours are going to be a problem with it being semi. Its possible. But lots of detached houses have neighbours from hell, so the neighbour issue is moot. A neighbour 20 yards away that has parties or perhaps noisy teenagers every weekend can be much more of a problem than two OAPs that you never hear from in a semi.
Kids are not on the cards, we are both in our late 30's - one thing to note about the driveway down to the work shop... its 6' 6" wide according to the current owners which is 1981.2mm - and our current car is 1966mm wide
15.2mm spare in total 7mm per side - i would say that entire side is a bit pointless for us.. i have crudely adapted the floor plan with the exterior layout.
PixelpeepS3 said:
Soham, in Ely
Any reason for that village specifically? On one hand it's still relatively inexpensive following the somewhat negative association from news coverage. It's not the best positioned to drive anywhere, though if your other half is working in London, then it's not too far from Ely train station.
Bedroom 3 might be relatively easy to enlarge, You could move the wall between B3 and Kitchen (there's a fair sized dead space there), and also reduce the size of the bathroom by doing away with the separate shower cubicle and putting that space into B3.
Still a bit compromised though. What about attic space? Might be better to extend up if you can.
Definitely as above - look around more, and also look at properties maybe £10-20k over your actual budget - everyone prices optimistically and then gets open to an offer over time.
Edit - removed bit about FTB, as you're not. But if you are chain-free and have all the money lined up ready to go, you may find offering low on properties over your actual budget works for you.
Still a bit compromised though. What about attic space? Might be better to extend up if you can.
Definitely as above - look around more, and also look at properties maybe £10-20k over your actual budget - everyone prices optimistically and then gets open to an offer over time.
Edit - removed bit about FTB, as you're not. But if you are chain-free and have all the money lined up ready to go, you may find offering low on properties over your actual budget works for you.
Edited by shtu on Wednesday 8th February 14:44
why soham ?
My partners sister and husband, along with a little niece and nephew live in the town. Ely (4.7 miles) station has direct links into London, house prices are still reasonable, people are (generally) pleasant enough, less traffic, less pollution, less crime, broadband speeds are good (up to 79m)
I long to live in a place where eye contact doesn't automatically = a puncture wound.
My partners sister and husband, along with a little niece and nephew live in the town. Ely (4.7 miles) station has direct links into London, house prices are still reasonable, people are (generally) pleasant enough, less traffic, less pollution, less crime, broadband speeds are good (up to 79m)
I long to live in a place where eye contact doesn't automatically = a puncture wound.
Personally I wouldn't go back to living in an attached property. The current neighbours at the place you've found may be absolutely fine but there's nothing you can do if they decide to move and sell their place to some twentysomething party animals with a drum kit and a couple of boisterous dogs and/or children.
Having said that, when I started out on the property ladder, a detached place simply wasn't an option. We were fortunate never to have a
holes next door but I've had colleagues whose lives have been made a misery by selfish neighbours.
Having said that, when I started out on the property ladder, a detached place simply wasn't an option. We were fortunate never to have a
holes next door but I've had colleagues whose lives have been made a misery by selfish neighbours.Edited by Risotto on Wednesday 8th February 15:30
If the neighbour is a mirror image of this property then you 'may' have the treat of listening to their choice of telly/music, and banging headboards after sundown.
If it's a retired couple with no dependents then all could be good.
If you're aiming at a commute back into the smoke you have a huge potential search area - there is always something else out there.
Good luck!
If it's a retired couple with no dependents then all could be good.
If you're aiming at a commute back into the smoke you have a huge potential search area - there is always something else out there.
Good luck!
the neighbour on the attached wall is a bed bound lady who has a care worker and son/daughter who visit regularly - i guess the concern would be more the noise WE make given our front room (and bedroom) are on the joining wall and we have recently splashed out on sonos subs and play:1/play:3's etc.. 
PixelpeepS3 said:
why soham ?
My partners sister and husband, along with a little niece and nephew live in the town. Ely (4.7 miles) station has direct links into London, house prices are still reasonable, people are (generally) pleasant enough, less traffic, less pollution, less crime, broadband speeds are good (up to 79m)
I long to live in a place where eye contact doesn't automatically = a puncture wound.
Highlighted bits of interest - when it does happen, it happens big time.My partners sister and husband, along with a little niece and nephew live in the town. Ely (4.7 miles) station has direct links into London, house prices are still reasonable, people are (generally) pleasant enough, less traffic, less pollution, less crime, broadband speeds are good (up to 79m)
I long to live in a place where eye contact doesn't automatically = a puncture wound.
Other than that, there's a lot going for it. (My parents have lived across the fens for 25+ years and driving through there on a summers evening is really quite pleasant...if a little flat.)
The Don of Croy said:
PixelpeepS3 said:
why soham ?
My partners sister and husband, along with a little niece and nephew live in the town. Ely (4.7 miles) station has direct links into London, house prices are still reasonable, people are (generally) pleasant enough, less traffic, less pollution, less crime, broadband speeds are good (up to 79m)
I long to live in a place where eye contact doesn't automatically = a puncture wound.
Highlighted bits of interest - when it does happen, it happens big time.My partners sister and husband, along with a little niece and nephew live in the town. Ely (4.7 miles) station has direct links into London, house prices are still reasonable, people are (generally) pleasant enough, less traffic, less pollution, less crime, broadband speeds are good (up to 79m)
I long to live in a place where eye contact doesn't automatically = a puncture wound.
Other than that, there's a lot going for it. (My parents have lived across the fens for 25+ years and driving through there on a summers evening is really quite pleasant...if a little flat.)
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff