Okay just a thought when you brought your house why did you fall in love with it,

What made you love your house; the feel, the area, the neighbours, the size,
a specific room like the kitchen - even if you knew you would change it later? what was it that made you choose your house, and make it your home?

Karen

I'm sure like many on here I have never looked at a house without the uppermost thing being the suitability of an area for the dogs to be kept safely and comfortably when we are out or a night.  The outdoor space is another major issue as is the opportunity for decent off lead walks that don't have to involve a vehicle.  Then our next priority has been opportunity to increase value.  Only if all those things are in place have we started to consider if it has enough of everything else we need.  Consequently the house I have ended up with is great for dogs by I have never particularly liked it myself :D  It does have a lovely large kitchen diner with a large conservatory off but the lounge is way too small.

I looked at a couple of 'nicer' decorated ones, 10 years ago, but as soon as I walked into this one I don't know what it was but I just knew it was the one. I felt at home? It has took a lot of hard work and money to make it look how it is but its the way we wanted it and not how someone else made it, if you see what I mean. I loved the open kitchen dining room (though it was seperated with 'frames'), I loved the garden (well, before we had the leos that is, now its concrete paradise) but it is just the right size. I love the long landing and the bedroom sizes. In fact I love my house :) Only problem is I live on a main road and my fear is the dogs getting out

Don't particularly like my house.  It was a bit of a panic buy.  I hated where I lived before and OH loved it there.  Took donkeys years to persuade him to move.  He thought we would never be able to sell our little house because of all the odd jobs that hadn't been finished but it was sold to the first couple that looked at it.  The race was on then to find a house bigger than one.  This was in 1999 and if you are into property you will remember that property prices were rocketing.  We found finding a house that suited our requirements was like chasing butterflies because everything seemed to be just out of our reach financially.  Eventually, OH was getting fed up and threatening to stay put because of the hassle and the escalating prices.  Found this place and I liked it straight away because it is a bit unusual, near to good secondary school that 2 children were already in and next to big park and countryside.  Good size Living Accom, has the 4 bed/study on wish list and a Fab 20' master bedroom with 3 aspects. Has very small kitchen but I said so what I hate cooking anyway.  One bathroom but so what we can add one.  Can't stand the kitchen now and would never have one so small again and never got around to adding 2nd bathroom so still get queues forming :rolleyes:  Worst though is that little old house had lovely big quiet garden and this one has mediocre garden that backs onto a road.  I never sit out there because of the traffic noise and I hanker after a nice quiet garden again.

Will start tarting up towards the end of summer and get valuations with view to selling as soon as son is independently mobile.

Goodness me Missie, what a nice way they decorate the Asylums these days hey?? LOL :D :D :D

I think it is because this is the first house we bought together :)

It was a blank canvess being a brand new house and although it wasn't what we ideally wanted but we have done alot of work to get it there ! :D

We have now however out grown it in some respects and do need more space and as we have done as much as we can we have no other option but to try and find another house.Although saying that we can put up with the lack of space just means when I work from home I haven't got an office which is what we really need :) Oh well a small sacrifice as the area and location of the house is ideal for all of us including the dogs as we have many good walks off lead walks not too far away

NO neighbours :D :D :D :D

(actually, we have, but they're a fair distance away & they're animal mad too)

Me too, well our next one that we're soon to move in to. I'd live in a shed as long as it had no neighbours, the house itself doesn't matter in the slightest, only having no neighbours matter. "Neighbour" should be considered the rudest word in the language!

When we bought this house.....

it was crawling with damp and wet rot, the plaster was falling off in sheets nevermind the wallpaper . The kitchen extension was sinking into the ground as ithad no foundations. The garden was a total wilderness and we couldn't even see the back fence. The bathroom had a stunning 'period' bathroom suite, though. It's just a pity that the 'period' was the 70s and it was custard yellow in colour, accented beautifully with chocolate brown floor to ceiling wall tiles . The entire ground floor (suspended wooden floor) was threatening to collapse due to the damp and had already collapsed in several places. There was dry rot in the kitchen. It needed total rewiring and replumbing. Most of the ceiling joists and a major supporting beam were rotten and had to be replaced. The chimney stacks were unsafe (and leaking) and either had to be remedied or removed (we opted for complete removal). The render on the outside of the house was shot and letting in water. And worst of all.....it came with its own colony of spiders Thousands of them And amssive ones at that!! But it wasn't all bad...the doorbell and the outside tap worked :D

What made us fall in love with it? Well, I didn't to be honest although the street was at the top of my wish list for this area but the house prices were way out of our budget. However, it was the only house we saw that ticked all the boxes for the OH (we were obviously ticking different boxes because 'derelict' certainly wasn't one of mine!!) and he kind of talked me round (and refused to look at anything else :rolleyes: ) I guess he could see its potential whereas all I could see was spiders The renovation was stressful to say the least (OH and I took turns at having sleepless nights for months) and it was a stretch financially BUT we now have a very nice house in a very desirable area and there is no other way we could have achieved that :) And if our relationship can withstand all that, then i figure we're doing ok ;)

the price :D!!

when we moved here (coming up 4 years ago), the house prices were rocketing. Hubby'd wanted to live here for years, but we never thought we could afford it. My sis-in-law saw Persimmon developing, and was looking for her, but picked up the details of our house, which was then a car park. We came and had a look, and it was perfectly proportioned and a good size (3 bed detached), had a lovely 'feel' about it (the tarmac was espcially appealing!), and we could afford it. We stuck the deposit down about an hour before another couple came to view it (it being another one of the same house almost at completion). Had we not bought it then, theres no way we could have afforded to move here. Our house was £88k, and two years later, the same style one was on the market for £170k!!!!! We won't stay here forever-i would love a place out almost in the middle of nowhere eventually.

I didn't actually choose my house - and nobody in their right mind would choose it in its current state!!! - but my OH bought the house years ago with his ex-wife (in the days when it was actually cheaper to buy in the country) and I chose to move out here when we decided to live together. Mainly because it is both roomy and comfortable, perfect for dogs and in an absolutely beautiful location since it's positively nestling under the South Downs in a spectacularly pretty village which still has proper community spirit. There are only four early Victorian houses out here and we've got a large garden with no neighbours for three quarters of a mile on one side of us and that's a real plus too!

It needs loads of work doing on it though on it and we're moving out (hopefully to an idyllic cottage right on top of the Downs) while our house is completely renovated this summer. After which it really will be the house I've chosen!

My house is 2 cottages joined to make one larger cottage... with little add on's There is a stone step from the hallway into the livingroom....which used to be the outside step directly into one of the cottages...The utility room was built on to the kitchen, but someone forgot to put a door through to it sooo I have to go out the front door, all the way round the back of the house to the freezer etc :D  The long hallway has a dip in the floor where the 2 cottages were a slighly different level...its weird walking on it :)  House was rented out by the farm as a holiday cottage around 10 years ago, but in the last 7 years hasn't been lived in... so still pretty cold. The little field that I have (I call the paddock ;) ) apparently had a lovely self filling lake in it, but over the last 10 years has silted up and the whole field is now full of reeds....but it is brilliant watching the dogs go bananas through them :D and although the house is nowhere near as large or as pretty as my old house....It is perfect (well it will be after about £40k)

BUT :D   It is completely isolated, large forest 10ft from front door, 2000acres of hills outside back door, nearest neighbour about 1/4mile away, next nearest just over a mile away.....driveway is just over a mile long, and 4 miles from the main road....river runs outside front door, with a little shingly beach (of about 20feet) for the dogs and me to enjoy....masses of fantastic forest walks right on my doorstep....Labrador heaven :D :D

:D :D

A perfect holiday home

What do we need to bring :)

Oh yes what is the Orange coverage like ?

lol Lucy... Orange coverage... zero, zilch, nada....and that goes for any other coverage....4 miles away from ANY nearest mobile signal...

what do you need to bring...erm...beds....daughter has now got her own cottage and has removed all my furniture....Well, I was going to need new anyway,,,,presumptious little madam...but true :D  she has taken the double bed she was using, but as in my other post of this evening....about NOT being proud of my dogs....long story, but 2 single beds have been reduced to firewood...literally   I thought they were too quiet :rolleyes:

OOoh Kay we have two adults and two children and two additional Labs

How are we going to cope :D

dont worry, should be back to normal by then :D :D  Well, as near as :P

:D
We will go with the flow ;)

I'm booking a week in Roz's cottage on the Downs, followed by a week in Kay's and another week in Roz's house later in the year when the works complete.  I presume they will take dogs :D

You can book a week in the Cotswolds as well in a very well adapted house for dogs

5 star accomodation for humans as well as dogs

Very jealous Roz :rolleyes:

You are very lucky to be in that situation ;)

The one thing I will say is how many of you are in the situation of being able to buy a bigger house because of a legacy as a result of a parent/s dying ? 

Probably me in a few years time Lucy....i am an only child and my father lives alone in a 7 bedroomed bleddy mansion.....oooh I can feel a Lab rescue centre coming on :D :D

I wish i had a home to call my own to love :( We are council rented and cant afford a mortgage. My biggest dream is to own a nice house, unless i win the lottery i will have to keep dreaming :rolleyes:

Dogs most welcome to visit provided they are accompanied by chocolate-bearing humans! ;)

As for legacies, we could actually buy a bigger house with an inheritance but to be honest there's more than enough room in ours as it is. More space would just mean more places for the OH to hoard stuff - or as he calls it "things that could come in useful".

I hope you have provisions made for inheritance tax on this property. If it is over the £250,000 value margin, (which it sounds like it is) you will be taxed at 40% on all the remaining value of the estate. (including any savings, valubles etc etc)

House has been in the family for many years, I am 7th Generation my daughters will be 8th.... House is not allowed to be sold outside of family.....we had the inheritance tax sussed out many, many years ago ;)

Glad to see it going through the female line

Well done you! keep the property to yourself, all of it, where it belongs.

>The one thing I will say is how many of you are in the situation of being able to buy a bigger house because of a legacy as a result of a parent/s dying

That's how we will be making our next move, although we don't actually have to wait for anyone to die. The OHs parents want to downsize as the house and 33 acres will be too much for them to manage in a few years so we will take over and build them a little bungalow on the land so that his father can still be involved without having the responsibility of it all.

mind out for tax implications on death, capital gains etc. honestly, this could take a huge chunk out of what you will be having.

We've already thought of all that and are seeking legal and financial advice. OHs father worked in IR before taking early retirement so has a fair bit of knowledge about tax matters ;)

good, at least he will know what to do to avoid getting caught in the tax trap. there were a lot of farmers did this, and its a really good idea, but not so great if you have to face a huge bill when you least expect it. your place sounds lovely.

Think we might have to have a 'time share' deal with Roz's, as I'd like to put my name down too!! :P
   Roz, am I remembering rightly,was it you that put up the stunning photo's taken on I think it was New Years day, on the Downs?? If so..yep! I'd love that walk :D

>The one thing I will say is how many of you are in the situation of being able to buy a bigger house because of a legacy as a result of a parent/s dying ? 

Our's isn't big only bigger than last.  No legacies to help, not expecting any and I hope my kids aren't either ;)

Were in the process of moving and the things that made us choose our new home was mainly area as its on a new development made up of 4 cul de sacs with no through access so the only people coming on will be either residents or visitors which makes it quite private and safe for the children to play as no cars will be speeding down. The other reason is the fact that it has off street parking - oh, to have a drive and a garage after years of living in a terraced house with only on street paking where you can gaurantee that after doing the weekly food shop, we come home and have to park about 10 houses down and having to carry shopping all the way down the street......not good when your a bit immobile

Hayley

I think when we bought our house i had gone mad for a while :D.  We have been here 4 years and we knew house needed new kitchen and bathroom plus general decoration.  We didnt know it needed new central heating, rewiring, new floors throughout, I could go on forever.  Think of the film Moneypit and you are pretty much there with our house :D :D.  4 years and 40k later the house is still not as we want it and it has now come to the point where we are going to sell, we hate it that much.  The worst of it is we will come out of it with not even enough for a deposit on another house :(.  Nevermind you live and learn:)

One minute walk to a fantastic rural beach, they did it for me :D

Our house was 'the one' for us for a couple of reasons but the main one being that it is a rural location in a small hamlet - all we have within walking distance is a pub :D

It is big enough for us and has a cottage type feel to it with a nice big back garden - it also has a huge double garage and long front garden that we intend to make in to a drive.  I can walk the dogs all round the farmer's fields and bridal paths off lead without anyone to both us so we go of in our own little world :)

It is country living at it's best - well if you ignore the road outside during peak hours when it can get a bit busy but its a small price to pay :D

The location, the garden and the leaded light windows
Not forgetting the open fire.
Lorna

>Roz, am I remembering rightly,was it you that put up the stunning photo's taken on I think it was New Years day, on the Downs?? If so..yep! I'd love that walk

It was indeed although it was Christmas Day, as it happens! And I'd certainly be more than happy to share that walk with you! The cottage we're hoping to rent is up there too.

Chervis.........I hope to pass on something to my kids because thats the way we think as a family, they are part of all that happens here, and if we can secure something to give them then that is what we will strive to do. They don't expect anything, but its what we want to give to them, which to us is part and parcel of having kids. The house we have was my husbands grandfathers property, and we hope at some future time to pass it to the boys, what they then do with it is up to them.

of course, i respect your decision not to think the same, just pointing out our feelings.

On our daily walks to school when mine were little, I used to walk past my current house and wonder how people managed in such a small living room.  Little did I know that a few years down the line I would own the house (with the large entrance hall!) and even bigger living room.  The main part of the house was built in 1756 and it was two cottages knocked into one.  I was bowled over by the 8' open fireplace and rooms that are all on different levels.  It's like a tardis and stretches a long way from front door to back door AND with a 150' garden with summer house (now dog kennel!) and greenhouse.

It soon became clear that this was a house I could live in and own a dog!

What I didn't know then was that 8 months after moving in I would be supporting my family in this house, as a single parent.  I love my house and so does everyone who visits.

>i respect your decision not to think the same, just pointing out our feelings.

I do hate it when people make assumptions.  Try and think from another angle rather than just your own.

The location (open views across the road), the spaniel friendly garden and the price !!

When we first saw it, we couldn't believe that it was what it was supposed to be!   The location is stunning - we first saw it in the spring, with bluebells poking out under the trees on the side of the road - birdsong al round, green everywhere you looked - and all within 5 minutes of a very busy arterial road into London!

Of course, there were the drawbacks - like the 30 ft wire fence on the road side, protecting the cottage from golf balls - looked like there should be machine gun turrets at the corners - the fact that it was two cottages which needed to be knocked into one - but it was - what is the magic word?  I remember - it was CHEAP!!!!

We moved from a modern 3 bed, semi-det, surburban house on a bus route with 3 children, only to find ourselves living in a 2-up 2 down cottage needing complete renovation (from roof to floors, walls - inside and out, plumbing, electrics, heating etc etc etc) with baby no 4 a surprise package 3 months later!

Its been a wonderful house, with wonderful memories, for us and for all our children (my daughter tells me that to her, memories of summer holidays mean going out into the field behind the house, with a lb of sausages, a couple of potatoes and a box of matches - and staying out all day !)  but before our dream home becomes a nightmare, we've decided that its time to move on.

So, if any of you Champdoggers out there are looking for a detached house, in Essex, in the middle of a golf course, only 5 mins from the M-25, in a good school's catchment area, with a quarter acre garden (with kennels ;) ) no neighbours, wonderful walks - just send me a PM!!!

PS Admin - I'm not advertising dogs....;)

Margot

It sound wonderful but does the magic word still hold true?

I'm guessing not ;) :D

We bought our house 22 years ago. Our oldest child was just 11 months when we moved in. The house itself is nothing special to look at  - a late 1950s detached that had been badly extended (but doubling the size) by the previous owners - it needed a lot of work doing to it, but was cheap :) Although we've only got about 1/5 acre, there are fields to the rear with horses/ponies and the gate next to our house leads into fields where you can walk for miles, leading to the navigable river less than a miles walk. The view from our bedroom window at the back of the house is superb - not a house in sight (well, if you don't peer too far to the right or left :D ).

We're planning to leave in the next year or two because one day soon they will build in the fields on the skyline, several thousand houses :( We've had a wonderful, happy, family home here - but life moves on :)

Daisy