Five things you look for in a home (or the HOUSEHUNTING thread)

Seriously, prices are insane round here. Interior condition's unimportant as most work I can do myself. all I ask is that it's structurally sound, and preferably got a bit of age and character (we're fairly well served for elderly terraces so that's not a problem). Gas already fitted is a massive bonus.

3. Quiet neighbours

Good luck figuring that one out. The current owners aren't exactly gonna volunteer that information. "Oh the guys next door? Yeah, they're up all night, loud music, shouting, crashing around."

1. 3 bedrooms
2. good sized kitchen, or potential for it
3. We're comfortable with the area
4. Location - close to transport links for commuting, would be nice to also be close to friends
5. A 'flow' that works for us

1) open plan living area/closed plan sleeping area
2) in cachement area for good doctor
3) big windows, good light
4) QUIET road - i.e. not a lot of traffic
5) transport links - close to busses and trains

haha

Oh yes, Ed has a point. More of a garden - and not one I have to share - would be good.

I'd love a garden too, but I think being central is a higher priority for me right now, and no chance of getting a garden round these parts for my budget.

1) well-kept and attractive building, age doesn't matter as long as it hasn't gone to seed
2) secure but not barracks-like (nothing that says "stay the hell out" to passersby)
3) good plumbing
4) a kitchen
5) hardwood floors make such a difference, you don't even know

actually my favorite style of building these days is the 1920s "hollywood"-style (medium-height, brick-exterior) apartment building (you know, for itinerant/single folk who worked in "the industry").

Otherwise, it's a great city! :)

I own and live alone but I consider myself to be very, very fortunate in that respect.

to me there seems to be a specific lack of appartments. most of the places in central london seems to be houses. am I wrong?

We've only been in our place since Feb but I'm having a hard time thinking about what our top critera really were. The whole process sucked so maybe i've blocked it from memory. Methinks. .

1. Location - We wanted to still be central to the city but cost made that a challenge
2. Cost - what we could spend was less than the average home price so that took a bit of work.
3. Structurally sound - We can and have done a lot of work ourselves. So many cosmetic things that were important to us (hard floors, etc) weren't important for the home to already have. But we did want all the major systems to be in good shape.
4. Not too "hood-y" - We theoretically live in the hood (only place we could afford) but did not want to have crack houses down the street. This latter requirement (along with bars on all the neighbors' windows) excluded a few otherwise good options.
5. At least 3 bedrooms, for room to grow.

our house rocks.

1. hardwoods/slate/tile/laminate....anything but carpet (unless its new shag carpet in the den)
2. shiny new kitchen counters, cabinets and appliances
3. air conditioning that feels like a hurricane
4. open plan
5. no dead bird in the upstairs closet

ill also forgive a lot for a pool

This is historical and cultural. London has never really had a tennemant/block of flats building culture. Speculartive development has always been aimed at the middle classes who traditionally like houses. When these fail (cf. Notting Hill as a prime example that failed almost from day one as a middle class development) the houses got split up into flats and drifted downmarket, only to be driven back upmarket in the last 20 years. As a result you get some shocking things built in the modern era as purpose built flats that no self respecting European would o anything other than laugh at.

There is some well built later stuff but it is isolated, the Barbican is a good example.

The Barbican is fabulous.

2. I don't like exterior brick (of the tract 'ranch' variety, McMansions, etc. - old brick buildings are aight)).

3. Hardwood, cement floors, tile, whatever. Carpet is evil.

4. Local streetplan - how often am I going to be stuck at the corner for twenty minutes waiting on an opening in traffic so I can turn left (ie traffic lights onto main roads are good).

5. a garage, to be converted into a workshop/studio

1. hardwood floors please please please
2. clean (if it's already trashed, there's no way i'll clean it up, so let's start with an even slate)
3. fairly streamlined (no cutesy detailing)
4. inexplicable factor: aha feeling: i could see myself living here (it wouldn't be great but neither would it suck completely)
5. historic building with lots of character would be nice, but this often comes into conflict with #2

I seriously doubt that!

xp

Most "brick" buildings are actually "brick veneer" ie are frame houses with a one-brick-thick layer on the exterior, which might as well be decorative. You can tell a true brick building from a brick veneer one by the "tie row", every seven or so bricks high, there will be another row of bricks laid perpendicularly, these help stabilize the brick as it is being laid.

I think.

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/1696/10128372jq7.jpg

i totally would've bought that place and overhauled it, put in hardwood and a pool and kicked back. they passed.

1a basement
1b that is watertight as a duck's ass with no trace of basement funk
2 good place to play D&D
3 close to work/good neighborhood for kid
4 no major rehabbing needed
5 off-street parking (I don't know why we felt this was important other than the city being notorious for auto theft, the garage is a pain in the ass so we just park on the street anyway but hey it's a nice feature when we want to sell)

6) Being able to walk anywhere worth getting to.

1) A second bedroom (and preferably a second bathroom)
2) Garage parking (I have a space in an uncovered parking lot)
3) An in-unit washer and dryer
4) More than one elevator (the one in my current building was out of service for several weeks this summer while they upgraded it)
5) A concierge
6) A Metro station within a 15-minute walk (preferably closer)

Milo, isn't there a reason we don't have basements in TX?

Maybe routing the water connection through a space that can be heated is needed where temps get below freezing?

you know he does. also a seperate skate park worthy bowl. pretty sweet.

That's not necessarily in order. (2) we didn't succeed with this time. (4) was achieved only after several thousand quid was spent and several months spent living in inches of brick dust.

setting up viewings for a 12 month rental tomorrow. priorities, in no partic order:

1: easy for ms mac to get to work
2: easy to heat- either a good BER or gas or oil ch (no electric storage heaters)
3: quiet neighbours, if neighbours there must be
4: nice, bright and modern if at all possible, or some approximation thereof
5: gots to be under a grand, the closer to 800 the better