buying a house, what do you look for?

[Redplague]

Hi,

Later this year the wife and I will be looking at buying a 3 or 4 bedroom house.. was just wondering what sort of things you would look for?

I am ideally looking for

semi rural location
plenty of storage spaces
garage or workshop
good sized garden

But what else should I keep an eye out for?

[pseudonym]

Check your environment agency:

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/

Areas at risk from flooding etc

[preppingsu]

Does it have or can you add alternative heating/cooking eg wood burner, Aga type stove?

How well can you see the rest of the area/street etc from the front and back?

Think about security - can people get into the back garden unseen?

How far is it to travel to work/school etc? Think about the time it would take to get back if something happened.

But storage or space to make your own storage would be a biggie for me!!

[Malthouse]

Interesting thread!

For me, the priorities would be...

1. Physical security, as said that includes flooding or being so remote that bad weather isolates it as well as being a sound place to stay safe.

2. Self sufficiency, log burners, water storage/source etc.

3. More than 2 floors and a secure storage area, i.e. a basement or heavily built outhouse.

4. Outbuildings for tools and gear and workshop space, room for chickens and similar.

[Triple_sod]

I'd also add neighbours and community into the mix.

Once read a post (can't remember if it was on here) by a prepper who'd found a seemingly ideal home in the country,
decent size house, fair bit of land, outbuildings, small village far enough away from any major town or city,
you get the picture.

Only trouble was (and its worth bearing in mind there's two sides to every story) the locals really didn't take to them.
From what I remember it was the old, 'outsiders moving in and thinking they're better than us' type scenario.
At any rate they started getting a lot of hassle from the local kids, vandalism, petty theft ect all pretty nasty,
until in the end they moved.

[steviesun]

I would also make sure that I wasn't going to be prevented from keeping whatever livestock would fit on the land. Many places won't allow people to keep chickens for example. Since most points are already covered.

[Redplague]

Thanks guys

[jansman]

I think most of it has been covered in the above! However, I always said if we ever moved it would NOT be near
A street corner
Have a street light outside
Not be right near shop(s)
A pub
A bus stop

This is from my experience of 25 years with all of that list contributing to crime/anti-social youths.
And bear in mind I live in a rural village!

[Yorkshire Andy]

I think most of it has been covered in the above! However, I always said if we ever moved it would NOT be near
A street corner
Have a street light outside
Not be right near shop(s)
A pub
A bus stop

This is from my experience of 25 years with all of that list contributing to crime/anti-social youths.
And bear in mind I live in a rural village!

well we must be in hell central

we are not on a bend or a junction however thats just asking to have a drunk driver park in your living room If i ended up in a house with that i think some raised flower beds would be my first prep



we have a street light outside which is acutally good it provided decent security lighting into the front yard and during a couple of power cuts it stays lit (must be off a different sub station / supply / phase) Which help mask that our house is lit from the preps.....

There is a pub at one end of the street which is good with the social aspect of getting to know people locally but we are on the other side of the road so the drunks pass on the other side of the road usually.....

there are 2 major bus stops which is great as the road gets ploughed / gritted in times of heavy snow so we can get out and about

and we have a small shop at the other end to the pub....


The only real issue we have had with anti social behavior was the local kids from one of the new housing estates pelting windows with snow balls.. But they soon moved on



My advice would be to visit the potential house at a few key hours

school kicking in / kicking out time.... whats the foot traffic like eg kids causing chaos and road traffic....

Friday night / sat night earlyish on say 8 pm how many kids are about getting drunk on white lightning round the area...

later on those evenings at pub chucking out time... even go into the pub and have a few and suss out the atmosphere

walk the back allys and ginnels in day light are they tidy and cared for or are they full of drug paraphernalia and daubed with graffiti ?


Do a search on google for the street / area name.... any recent flooding for example come up walk over a street or so and try and find someone washing their car/ tending to their garden and ask them about the area if you ask too close you might find they are friends with the neighbors (or want rid of them)

[jansman]

To be fair, the pub nearby has shut down. But the street corner and light(s) do attract scrotes like moths to a flame. It does go in cycles, at the moment it is quiet. However, I would still apply my original criteria.