Cazzle (drummergirl) wrote, @ 2009-09-26 09:57:00

Houses, oh my god.
So! Our rental contract expires at this house in the middle of January. As we have lost a housemate, it has become Very Expensive just to live here, even before bills and food and such. We've been talking about buying a house for a couple of months now, more seriously since we renewed the contract for (what we hope will be) the last time, and thanks to Matt's family, we have got a (loan of a) decent deposit.

So, today, we have been looking at houses.

We would ideally like to live as close to town as we do now, i.e. about 10 minutes' walk to the centre, but we need a decent-sized garden for the bunnies, and possibly enough room to keep hens as well, so we're looking a couple of miles out of town. Our budget means we can afford a pretty reasonable abode, and we have so far seen two VERY NICE houses, two okay houses, and one poky little hobbit house with a yard, not a garden. (Though it was very modern and the kitchen was superb.)

We're having a quick break before we go to see another two. Out of the two we really liked, one was a bit further out than we wanted, and the other required a lot of work to make the garden bunny-proof. Interestingly, both of the houses that we loved were houses with kids. Please god no, not yet.

I'm stopping now, because I just had to delete a paragraph about laminate floors. Fuck me, I'm middle-aged already. In other news, I am offically enrolled as a student and I have begun to *gasp* study!

Barley disapproves of posts that are not directly about her.

Update:
We saw the last two. The first one was UTTERLY GORGEOUS, the ideal location (15 minutes to work for me, 10 minutes to the train station for Matt), had been sumptuously decorated, made great use of all available space, had an enormously-sized garden that was well fenced already, plus a garage - but it's more than we can afford. :( We'd need a much higher deposit, which we can't manage, sadly.

We went to the final house of the day, which was in a nice, quiet road with a lovely open view across the fields (we could just about see the house where we're currently living!) The house was spacious and had been recently decorated, modern but plain (inoffensive) and easy to do stuff with. The garden was a great size and fenced off, and was on different levels, with steps up to the top, which the buns could learn to handle. Unfortunately, the train line runs directly opposite the house, about 50 yards from the front door. Because Durham is along the main East Coast line, it's also used by freight trains which run overnight, every hour, on the hour. It's a major drawback. Less of a problem is the house behind - they've built some kind of decking arrangement, (without planning permission) and because of the height difference in the houses, if there's anybody on it, they can see right into your house and garden. Which would be offputting. I suppose you could plant big trees/sunflowers to mask it a bit, or put ivy along a trellis or something, but it makes the back garden feel kind of exposed.

All in all, we're not sure. I am having to resign myself to the fact that I am not going to live within reasonable walking distance of work. I don't want to cycle in during the cold, wet, dark winter months, but I don't like relying on public transport. Hmmmmmm. (And I can't drive in to work because the parking in the city centre is atrocious and very costly.)

Food for thought!

	bettiepie 2009-09-26 10:12 (link)
	I need a Brit to American English translation! What is the difference between a garden and a yard? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	drummergirl 2009-09-26 12:23 (link)
	Oh, I'm sorry! A garden has grass. A yard is paved/concrete flags/gravel, i.e. minus any actual lawn area, which is Very Bad because the bunnies need to nibble and dig and stuff. This time of year they spend about 4 or 5 hours in the garden each day, alternating between dozing and nomming. Charmed life, eh? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bettiepie 2009-09-26 18:48 (link)
	Man, the languages sound so similar... I've just read your update. Do you think there's any way you could ask for cash gifts for the wedding to put toward a larger deposit? Definitely don't go for the house across from the freight line, that would drive you batty. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bally 2009-09-27 04:25 (link)
	Ah, house-hunting. There's something I do not miss. Good luck to you with it all, though - sounds like your wants are reasonable, which is always a good place to start! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	cosmicavatar 2009-09-27 07:04 (link)
	Sumptuously! What a lovely word. I'm sure you'll work out the right place for you (cycling in the cold, wet and dark does not sound very nice, though, whatever happens). (Reply to this) (Thread)

callie_demeter 2009-09-27 16:11 (link)

If the freight trains honked and stuff all night long, that'd be a straight no for me. I've lived next to a DLR line for 6 months, and never got woken up by it - and I'm a pretty light sleeper these days. That said, I hope you could either get the first house for a better price, or something as good! Is there no way to haggle them down to your budget? I actually do envy you house hunting here, as it's not hunting for somewhere to rent or share with people, but something for YOU, and hopefully pretty permanent (unless you wanted to change location or house). I keep reading about friends buying houses these days (or learning of friends who bought a while back), and I'm envious! (Reply to this) (Thread)