Your 'must not have' list for a house

[JoeBolt]

Kermit power said:

JoeBolt said:

I would never consider buying a house which has had the garage converted into a dining room / study / granny flat, etc.

Garages are for cars and motorbikes. Storing them and fixing them. There should be a law against garage conversions and severe punishment dealt out to offenders.

Ah, but what do you do when you've got a completely unconverted garage - with an inspection pit to boot - that was unfortunately built when the Austin A7 was considered a large car, and as such unless you've got a Caterham, your garage, as a garage, is no use to man nor beast?

It's easy to cover over an inspection pit. Then just buy a couple of motorbikes or an Austin A7, or a Caterham or something of similar size. Just don't ruin the garage by converting it into a 'playroom' or other such nonsense.

It is particularly galling when people come onto this very forum 'Pistonheads' and ask for advice about converting a garage. The moderators should ban them for life!

[Driller]

Toilet in the bathroom/s.

[Ray Luxury-Yacht]

Fatboy said:

Ray Luxury-Yacht said:

New POD said:

JoeBolt said:

I would never consider buying a house which has had the garage converted into a dining room / study / granny flat, etc.

Garages are for cars and motorbikes. Storing them and fixing them. There should be a law against garage conversions and severe punishment dealt out to offenders.

Are you, erm ME ? I actually said that to a neighbour of my father in law who has converted a double garage into a utility room. Worse he's kept the double garage up and over door, so he has a 4 foor long by 20 foot wide wheelybin and old paint tin storage area.

Lol, agreed! Apart from a couple of exceptions - one, when I moved out of my house after splitting with the G/F, I kept the house and had the garage converted to make it better for renting. I will never move back there, so that's ok, right?

Definitely not OK - you've made one more house with no garage, whether you live in it or not, the garage is now gone for good.

Go and sit in the corner and think about what you've done, and how to atone for your act of heresy...

Oh feck. I am sorry, I just didn't think.

Well, for what it's worth - the 'blank' that filled in the space where the garage door used to be was built from timber, with a large window fitted, and then upvc cladding over the outside.

A day's work would see it returned to use as a garage - carpet lifted and replaced with flooring, an it would then be a lovely garage to work in!

Is that helpful?

[InfoRetrieval]

I'm surprised at some of the things that appear on a "must not have list" that are really easy to fix.

I can understand ruling out places with
- shared access
- next to a alley way etc.
- flood plain

These are things you have no control over and cannot change.

But "wrong colour taps"? Really? Even artexed ceilings and upvc windows on an otherwise desirable house simply require a price negotiation?

[LooneyTunes]

InfoRetrieval said:

But "wrong colour taps"? Really? Even artexed ceilings and upvc windows on an otherwise desirable house simply require a price negotiation?

You're assuming here that vendors are interested in entering into a discussion around these sorts of things.

I've viewed a couple of houses where quite a bit of money has been spent on making the interior look absolutely perfect, and the idea that anything needs doing is met with a look that suggests the vendor thinks you're insane (who couldn't love what they've achieved????).

Edited by LooneyTunes on Monday 18th February 07:04

[McWigglebum3rd]

Woodchip wallpaper

Nothing short of a small tactical nuclear device can remove it easily

[WhereamI]

LooneyTunes said:

InfoRetrieval said:

But "wrong colour taps"? Really? Even artexed ceilings and upvc windows on an otherwise desirable house simply require a price negotiation?

You're assuming here that vendors are interested in entering into a discussion around these sorts of things.

I've viewed a couple of houses where quite a bit of money has been spent on making the interior look absolutely perfect, and the idea that anything needs doing is met with a look that suggests the vendor thinks you're insane (who couldn't love what they've achieved????).

Edited by LooneyTunes on Monday 18th February 07:04

What has it got to do with the vendor? Once you've bought it you can do what you want with it, usually it's best not to discuss your plans with the vendor.

[LooneyTunes]

WhereamI said:

What has it got to do with the vendor? Once you've bought it you can do what you want with it, usually it's best not to discuss your plans with the vendor.

Earlier poster suggested using it as a point of negotiation.

In my experience, those vendors with hideous taste in these matters don't accept that there might be anything wrong and just stonewall any such negotiations.

[WhereamI]

LooneyTunes said:

WhereamI said:

What has it got to do with the vendor? Once you've bought it you can do what you want with it, usually it's best not to discuss your plans with the vendor.

Earlier poster suggested using it as a point of negotiation.

In my experience, those vendors with hideous taste in these matters don't accept that there might be anything wrong and just stonewall any such negotiations.

I agree, you are more likely to put them off selling to you, poor condition can be a negotiating tool but not bad taste.

[shirt]

fido said:

Small rooms. So modern and cheap houses are out.

Agreed. I also do not like plasterboard partition walls or lack of gas supply to the kitchen (for the hob).

Also knotweed anywhere near the property.

[Pulse]

LooneyTunes, I absolutely agree. One man's trash is another man's treasure.


How about a north facing garden? Having viewed a house we like, it does have a few negatives...

North facing garden
Next to a busy road
Overlooked

It does however have the things I really want...

Double detached garage
Utility room
Nice street
Good location (for us)
Nice size
Driveway for a lot of cars

[InfoRetrieval]

LooneyTunes said:

WhereamI said:

What has it got to do with the vendor? Once you've bought it you can do what you want with it, usually it's best not to discuss your plans with the vendor.

Earlier poster suggested using it as a point of negotiation.

In my experience, those vendors with hideous taste in these matters don't accept that there might be anything wrong and just stonewall any such negotiations.

Sorry, "negotiation" was wrong word there. You're absolutely right. What I really meant is that you mentally discount the price if you think it really matters before making an offer.

My point still stands though. For that want of, what? a few hundred quid to replace the taps and fittings on a bathroom suite you'd actually reject a place completely? That's what is meant by a "must not have" list.

In my mind a "must not have" list should be limited to the things you can't change - bad location, shared driveways, etc

[Vron]

WhereamI said:

LooneyTunes said:

WhereamI said:

What has it got to do with the vendor? Once you've bought it you can do what you want with it, usually it's best not to discuss your plans with the vendor.

Earlier poster suggested using it as a point of negotiation.

In my experience, those vendors with hideous taste in these matters don't accept that there might be anything wrong and just stonewall any such negotiations.

I agree, you are more likely to put them off selling to you, poor condition can be a negotiating tool but not bad taste.

I bought and renovated a house in 2007. Sold it in 2010 - same Estate agent comes round. "Oh yes it did need complete modernisation didn't it"
Me gets old brochure out that he had written

"Really? You described every room as exquisite!"

Sellers bred dogs - it stank. They could see nothing wrong with the place, no point in discussing with them.

My list:

Shared access no matter how nice everyone seems
Potential parking issues
Caravans on drives in vicinity
Must have south facing garden
Garden not overlooked
No alleyways next door (learnt that the very hard way)
Private rentals as neighbours
Pylons
Pubs (noise)
Takeaways (litter)
Schools (parking as no one walks their kids to school any more plus screeching at playtime)
Also unless its the house you want to end your days in I always think about what would / wouldn't appeal when I decide to sell it on.

[TTmonkey]

My list, based on current house:

Long narrow drive way to garage - car shuffle boring

Downstairs bathroom - not a problem for me but potential sticking problem with resale

Huge garden - sick to death of maintenance

No front garden, opens direct onto road

on main road - again resale problem, and lack of 'neighbourliness'....

Listed building - puts buyers off. Not a major issue to live with bu people scare easily.

Thatched - people think they spontaneously combust every few years - they dont.


Its a lovely house, but I dont think I'll ever be able to sell....

[ClaphamGT3]

InfoRetrieval said:

I'm surprised at some of the things that appear on a "must not have list" that are really easy to fix.

I can understand ruling out places with
- shared access
- next to a alley way etc.
- flood plain

These are things you have no control over and cannot change.

But "wrong colour taps"? Really? Even artexed ceilings and upvc windows on an otherwise desirable house simply require a price negotiation?

the problem with uPVC windows is that no one wants to knock off the £25k + it would cost to replace them because, punchable vulgarians that they are, they actually think that they ADD value rather then detract from it

[Fort Jefferson]

Must not have neigbours with caravans, boats or motorhomes stuck on the drive.

[Burnham]

Timberwolf said:

That reminds me - I missed a massive one off my "must not have" list.

Modern living, or whatever they call the lounge/diner/kitchen conglomeration that turns what would have been two or three discrete, reasonably laid out rooms into an 18'x18' morass with a line of cupboards along one wall, where all your furniture has to be in the middle of the room and when you settle down to watch a film or read a book you get to do it with the burbling of the fridge and the faint smell of whatever you cooked for dinner in the background.

It would be okay in a bigger house where you've got other rooms to retire to, but for some reason it's a blight that disproportionately affects small houses and flats, causing to end up with the single giant reception room of doom.

I know I'm at odds with the rest of the world on this one, but I want my separate kitchen. It may be a nice vision being able to "entertain" while you cook, but whenever I have a large enough gathering the first thing I want from a kitchen is the ability to lock interfering fingers out of it.

Im considering a house with an open plan living area, lounge, kitchen and dining space....would not be a big issue but theres no other snug/family/playroom. However, the rest of the house is near perfect (apart from no garage).

Its a real connundrum, as ive not had a place like it before, and its a big amount of money to spend without being sure. I may be fine with it, I like the idea of open plan....but living with it long term?

[Tino]

Pulse said:

LooneyTunes, I absolutely agree. One man's trash is another man's treasure.


How about a north facing garden? Having viewed a house we like, it does have a few negatives...

North facing garden
Next to a busy road
Overlooked

It does however have the things I really want...

Double detached garage
Utility room
Nice street
Good location (for us)
Nice size
Driveway for a lot of cars

You must be lookin at the same house I looked at yesterday.
Perfect size house, needs work but I prefer that to a newly decorated/bodged up 50 grand more affair.
Perfect 120ft garden, with a double garage with remote up and over doors, at the bottom accessible from a single track road, with enough space on the side to knock it down and make it into a triple size garage.
2 spaces at the front of the house.
But its very close and backs onto the A40, and the road out of the front is a rat run/access road, so busy at all times.
Its well priced as well!¬

[Pulse]

Tino said:

You must be lookin at the same house I looked at yesterday.
Perfect size house, needs work but I prefer that to a newly decorated/bodged up 50 grand more affair.
Perfect 120ft garden, with a double garage with remote up and over doors, at the bottom accessible from a single track road, with enough space on the side to knock it down and make it into a triple size garage.
2 spaces at the front of the house.
But its very close and backs onto the A40, and the road out of the front is a rat run/access road, so busy at all times.
Its well priced as well!¬

That is actually quite odd. The one we've looked at has the space at the side to create a triple garage, too!

The one we're looking at isn't well priced though, which is the problem.

[J1JPE]

Would you buy near to an Army base?

Pros
- ready sales / rental market from relocating forces families
- security patrols around the perimeter
- occasional visits from awesome helicopter troop carriers
- annual community open day
- phone number published online so you can call the CO with any questions

Cons
- they like shooting practice once or twice a week inc Saturday mornings
- Some schools get lower ratings due to transient pupils

50/50
- some 'interesting' characters in the local pub, supermarket