Inspired by Jess at The Teaspoon House, I've decided to revive this old blog to document our house adventures. To start with, a few posts to update the back story.
We moved to Luton in August 2013. London was lovely but so expensive and we knew that while we could afford to live there, saving would be a challenge and even if we did save for a deposit we'd never be able to afford to buy a house there. Time to move on and Luton seemed to be the place. Hightown, more specifically. We rented for a while until my job looked like it was going to change and we asked my parents to lend us some money for a deposit. As it happens, my parents are incredibly generous and gave us the deposit leaving us ready to go house hunting.
Rightmove became my homepage. Many agencies later, we'd seen houses on most of the streets of Hightown. By then I had a list of things I wanted in a house.
- it had to have a front garden. I didn't want to come off the street straight to the front door.
- it had to have a hallway. Similarly I didn't want to step through the front door straight into the lounge.
- an upstairs bathroom. Why would you want to traipse all the way through the entire house to go to the toilet in the middle of the night.
- two separate rooms downstairs rather than a through-room
We also wanted three bedrooms because we've got too many musical instruments to stash them in a corner now, and we like to be hospitable. With our budget, we had a few options and we met plenty of estate agents who attempted to widen our area and sell us something outside Hightown. No.
Anyway, I popped into an agent near my office one afternoon and he gave me a bunch of papers for various houses. Filtering out those which weren't in Hightown, we were left with three or four, including one which was above our price range and went against all my criteria for a house. Apart from location. I booked a viewing, much to Dan's annoyance - why bother looking if we can't afford it and it doesn't meet our requirements?
It was a funny little house. Ex-rental and in surprisingly good condition having been done up for sale. "Done up" is stretching it a little - a new carpet that fell off the back of a lorry and as much gloss paint as they could slosh around the place. But it had that feeling. You know? That "this is my house" feeling.
So we bought it.
We moved to Luton in August 2013. London was lovely but so expensive and we knew that while we could afford to live there, saving would be a challenge and even if we did save for a deposit we'd never be able to afford to buy a house there. Time to move on and Luton seemed to be the place. Hightown, more specifically. We rented for a while until my job looked like it was going to change and we asked my parents to lend us some money for a deposit. As it happens, my parents are incredibly generous and gave us the deposit leaving us ready to go house hunting.
Rightmove became my homepage. Many agencies later, we'd seen houses on most of the streets of Hightown. By then I had a list of things I wanted in a house.
- it had to have a front garden. I didn't want to come off the street straight to the front door.
- it had to have a hallway. Similarly I didn't want to step through the front door straight into the lounge.
- an upstairs bathroom. Why would you want to traipse all the way through the entire house to go to the toilet in the middle of the night.
- two separate rooms downstairs rather than a through-room
We also wanted three bedrooms because we've got too many musical instruments to stash them in a corner now, and we like to be hospitable. With our budget, we had a few options and we met plenty of estate agents who attempted to widen our area and sell us something outside Hightown. No.
Anyway, I popped into an agent near my office one afternoon and he gave me a bunch of papers for various houses. Filtering out those which weren't in Hightown, we were left with three or four, including one which was above our price range and went against all my criteria for a house. Apart from location. I booked a viewing, much to Dan's annoyance - why bother looking if we can't afford it and it doesn't meet our requirements?
It was a funny little house. Ex-rental and in surprisingly good condition having been done up for sale. "Done up" is stretching it a little - a new carpet that fell off the back of a lorry and as much gloss paint as they could slosh around the place. But it had that feeling. You know? That "this is my house" feeling.
So we bought it.
Making a list of the amenities and features you want in a house is a great idea. It is even better when you check out a house that may not fit your criteria. You took a chance on a house outside your list and found something that caught your eye. You never know what house is going to give you that feeling, but I am glad you found one that is right for you.
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