We went over on Saturday in J's mum's car. She kindly stayed with the immobile F in the car while we went into the houses. We saw 5, and quite liked 2 of them.
The 2 we liked:
Bungalow with huge garden and 25ft conservatory
But not enough space inside - nearly, but not quite I reckon. Really nicely decorated and completely ready to move into though. And a brand new swimming pool in the garden. Conservatory was lovely, very spacious feel to it. But needed an extra room really.
Older house - very solid and lots of character
But no bath! And no central heating! Hmmmmm. Also traffic noise. And 3 floors, which is good and bad. Very handy for shops and station though. Super fireplaces and feel of older family home. Garden was OK too. Second viewing to be arranged.
The other ones:
This one is in a crap location
Just didn't like it.
This one is too close to a fuck-off huge pylon
Otherwise was OK but nothing special - had two sheds though! Desperately wanted to call the guy TwoSheds.
This one is too small, a bit poky
Lovely silver surfer type lady and her husband, broadbanded up and knowledgable about digital tv and cable ties. Over-loved cat, very fat British blue, on sofa.
Not much detail due to level of care required by sprainy foot girl
19.3.07
13.2.07
We don't like that house
Fickle fuckers ain't we?
OK I did like the house a lot. But the garden was utterly unfamilial. And the walk anywhere off the estate was not very pedestrian-friendly. And we have now done a complete U-turn and decided to look in Polegate!
Watch this space for more irrational behaviour shortly I expect.
OK I did like the house a lot. But the garden was utterly unfamilial. And the walk anywhere off the estate was not very pedestrian-friendly. And we have now done a complete U-turn and decided to look in Polegate!
Watch this space for more irrational behaviour shortly I expect.
9.2.07
We do like that house
It's lovely.
Sometime over the weekend, we're hoping to do the walk that J would have to get to work from there. It's twice as far as from here at least but then here it's only 10 or 15 mins.
The living-room seemed even bigger than last time we saw it. Close on 20 feet by 14 or so.
F's favourite selling-point, apart from the tiny pink room with the bunk beds, was the Disney Princess toothpaste in the bathroom.
a few pictures
Sometime over the weekend, we're hoping to do the walk that J would have to get to work from there. It's twice as far as from here at least but then here it's only 10 or 15 mins.
The living-room seemed even bigger than last time we saw it. Close on 20 feet by 14 or so.
F's favourite selling-point, apart from the tiny pink room with the bunk beds, was the Disney Princess toothpaste in the bathroom.
a few pictures
8.2.07
Small and safe
Little house down the road from us which we just had a look at. It is not very big, not a very big move, not a very big change, small and safe. Better view than we have, and roomier bathroom. Tiny kitchen but could be expanded as others have done in that road.
We didn't much take to it.
Affordable, moderate, sensible house. No zing no cojones.
No 'Kirsty and Phil' wow factor.
And the woman living in it now I have passed many times on the local paths walking her dogs and she has never once smiled back at my charming daughter. She seemed rather awkward and unforthcoming though wanting to sell.
Nah.
Tomorrow we're going to re-view the one on the edge of the 'roughish' estate that we saw last week. With the views.
If nothing else I hope to get fabulous pictures of the views, so wherever we end up living I can put them up! Pragmatic, that's me.
Will have measurements too
We didn't much take to it.
Affordable, moderate, sensible house. No zing no cojones.
No 'Kirsty and Phil' wow factor.
And the woman living in it now I have passed many times on the local paths walking her dogs and she has never once smiled back at my charming daughter. She seemed rather awkward and unforthcoming though wanting to sell.
Nah.
Tomorrow we're going to re-view the one on the edge of the 'roughish' estate that we saw last week. With the views.
If nothing else I hope to get fabulous pictures of the views, so wherever we end up living I can put them up! Pragmatic, that's me.
Will have measurements too
3.2.07
Really liked the one we saw yesterday
Pros:
Fantastic glorious views from garden and everywhere really
Good size living room
Nice size kitchen
Smart, modern feel - bamboo flooring, light and airy
Loads of storage
Little garden workshop
Greenhouse
Cons:
Bit of a trek to high street (but hey there's a bus!)
Kitchen cupboards horrible (don't really care!)
I really liked this house, sorry there's no online linkage.
Fantastic glorious views from garden and everywhere really
Good size living room
Nice size kitchen
Smart, modern feel - bamboo flooring, light and airy
Loads of storage
Little garden workshop
Greenhouse
Cons:
Bit of a trek to high street (but hey there's a bus!)
Kitchen cupboards horrible (don't really care!)
I really liked this house, sorry there's no online linkage.
1.2.07
Picking up a bit...
Tomorrow:
Looking at one right on the edge of the allegedly 'rough' estate. With 4 beds and easy access to Downs, sounds interesting, but think it is mid-terrace, which is a no-no. Still there's always soundproofing - start saving your egg boxes for me now, non-vegans! Do eggs still come in egg boxes?
Saturday:
this one is very close to where we live now, which is a plus. In process of arranging a viewing. In the less affordable but still do-able bracket. Have walked past it many times over last few months watching it being done up. So, if nothing else, that will be interesting to see inside.
And just spotted this one, also near where we are now, but more affordable and still ticking a few good boxes.
Looking at one right on the edge of the allegedly 'rough' estate. With 4 beds and easy access to Downs, sounds interesting, but think it is mid-terrace, which is a no-no. Still there's always soundproofing - start saving your egg boxes for me now, non-vegans! Do eggs still come in egg boxes?
Saturday:
this one is very close to where we live now, which is a plus. In process of arranging a viewing. In the less affordable but still do-able bracket. Have walked past it many times over last few months watching it being done up. So, if nothing else, that will be interesting to see inside.
And just spotted this one, also near where we are now, but more affordable and still ticking a few good boxes.
14.1.07
Changes and House No.3
This last week has seen some quite positive changes:
We now think we can go up to 250K house price, which makes quite a difference.
On the other hand that involves a very large monthly payment so if we can find something under 210K that would be good.
Having investigated a cheaper area of Lewes with a reputation of being 'rough' we've realized it's no rougher than most bits of Brighton that we've happily lived/worked/socialized in, it's just 'rough' in Lewes terms, which would be 'lah-de-effing-da' in some places.
So we can look for bargains in that area, there are some fairly spacious houses there. It also has a bus route and rumours of a corner shop, which are things I would like to have, but it's close enough to the central shops and to the other little run of shops near where J works. I quite fancy that area - it was built before people became car-dependent so it has more of a sociable feel to it, whereas the newer estate out Malling way has some of those features of an area where people were never expected to want to walk from their houses to anywhere, especially with a buggy or a toddler (not that I'm in that position now - just that that's how people used to bump into their neighbours). So you don't get much in the way of pavement or road safety features or local shops.
Blah blah oops, kicks soapbox back under sofa.
So I'm kind of favouring that area at the moment. The area we are in now is also good but there aren't many houses coming up in our price bracket and you get a bit less for your money. Still would be worth considering though, as would a few other areas in between which are less likely/favourable.
We looked at a house out to the East in a long road between the main out-road and an estate - always thought this road was a bit industrial but actually there are some really nice parts.
This house had some good features. It had a widened garage with loads of storage, power and light, accessible from kitchen, which would have made a good studio space for J. Kitchen was OK, good features, funny shape but nice. Bedrooms and living rooms OK. Garden a bit un-family with all pepples and raised beds and such.
We were seriously considering making an offer when the woman living there suddenly told us that a house was going to be built next door and that 'when the floods came' (a phrase you hear a lot here, bit biblical I always think), it was under 8 feet of water. Could see the estate agent thinking 'never book viewings when she's here'. Putting some other evidence together it turned out she was renting from ex-husband who was now selling and off to Spain for a new life - a fraught situation bound to generate some sabotaging behaviour I guess! Overall there weren't enough positives to outweigh the negatives.
So we continue our search, now including the 'rough' area, hoping to find somewhere with some of the features we've liked in houses so far: potential studio space (garage or other extra room), at least one of the bedrooms to be large, adequate downstairs space for dining area, rear garden with lawn, view.
We now think we can go up to 250K house price, which makes quite a difference.
On the other hand that involves a very large monthly payment so if we can find something under 210K that would be good.
Having investigated a cheaper area of Lewes with a reputation of being 'rough' we've realized it's no rougher than most bits of Brighton that we've happily lived/worked/socialized in, it's just 'rough' in Lewes terms, which would be 'lah-de-effing-da' in some places.
So we can look for bargains in that area, there are some fairly spacious houses there. It also has a bus route and rumours of a corner shop, which are things I would like to have, but it's close enough to the central shops and to the other little run of shops near where J works. I quite fancy that area - it was built before people became car-dependent so it has more of a sociable feel to it, whereas the newer estate out Malling way has some of those features of an area where people were never expected to want to walk from their houses to anywhere, especially with a buggy or a toddler (not that I'm in that position now - just that that's how people used to bump into their neighbours). So you don't get much in the way of pavement or road safety features or local shops.
Blah blah oops, kicks soapbox back under sofa.
So I'm kind of favouring that area at the moment. The area we are in now is also good but there aren't many houses coming up in our price bracket and you get a bit less for your money. Still would be worth considering though, as would a few other areas in between which are less likely/favourable.
We looked at a house out to the East in a long road between the main out-road and an estate - always thought this road was a bit industrial but actually there are some really nice parts.
This house had some good features. It had a widened garage with loads of storage, power and light, accessible from kitchen, which would have made a good studio space for J. Kitchen was OK, good features, funny shape but nice. Bedrooms and living rooms OK. Garden a bit un-family with all pepples and raised beds and such.
We were seriously considering making an offer when the woman living there suddenly told us that a house was going to be built next door and that 'when the floods came' (a phrase you hear a lot here, bit biblical I always think), it was under 8 feet of water. Could see the estate agent thinking 'never book viewings when she's here'. Putting some other evidence together it turned out she was renting from ex-husband who was now selling and off to Spain for a new life - a fraught situation bound to generate some sabotaging behaviour I guess! Overall there weren't enough positives to outweigh the negatives.
So we continue our search, now including the 'rough' area, hoping to find somewhere with some of the features we've liked in houses so far: potential studio space (garage or other extra room), at least one of the bedrooms to be large, adequate downstairs space for dining area, rear garden with lawn, view.
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