Sloping gardens

So, I went to see it. Unfortunately, although there was no snow where I started out, the house is above the snowline and the whole area was absolutely covered. It was freezing cold and I got there an hour early, then had to wander about in the freezing snow until my viewing time. All in all, I was out for three hours and my post-COVID lungs are not at all happy with me now. The most I've done since I caught COVID before Christmas is the ten-minute walk up the road to the mini-Tesco. So, I mention all this to say that I was perhaps not in the best state to make sensible decisions about the biggest purchase of my life (to date).

The house was immaculate. Beautifully done up. All very tasteful. Kitchen was 8 years old and absolutely pristine. Electrics and boiler weren't new, but a lot newer than any of the houses I've seen so far (including the probate sale where the estate agents and vendors hadn't actually managed to *find* the boiler yet, but were sure there must be one...). The rooms were smaller than they look in the photos, but the house was also older than I expected (1936). You couldn't fit an adult single bed in the third "bedroom". However, I'm just buying for me, so the extra space is more for occasional guests and storage. Biggest negative in the house was that passersby would be looking straight into the living room from the street (as it's lower down) and you could feel a bit exposed even with a nice voile or blinds. The vendor was the one showing me around and was clearly very motivated for a quick sale after his previous buyers pulled out at the last minute leaving his onward purchase in danger.

It was hard to fully appreciate the garden in the snow! There was far too much decking, even if we put aside my general dislike of it, but still a good enough area of garden that was neither decked nor shaded by the trees at the bottom to grow a goodly number of veggies needing 6+ hours of sun, and I'm sure plenty of things like fruit bushes would do just fine lower down (based on my Mum's north-east and shaded by trees garden where she gets more currants, gooseberries and rhubarb than our family of five could polish off each year). And scope to remove levels of decking at a later date too. It did seem far less overlooked than I expected and the dodgy looking flats at the bottom are actually for the elderly and the vendor says he thinks a lot aren't occupied anyway. The tree at the top is a lovely established cooking apple tree. I didn't peer in the shed window, but the vendor said it was in good condition, and there's also a great under-the-house storage area that's the size of a small shed and remarkably dry.

All in all, it was the perfect house for a sensible first-time-buyer working full-time with little leftover time or energy to throw into renovating a house, even without a raging global pandemic in the background.

Hmm. 

But, here's the thing: apparently I'm not a sensible first-time-buyer being sure not to bite off more than they can chew   The house was perfect, but it just didn't do it for me. On paper, everything lined up and looked great. Writing it all out, I'm frustrated with myself for not wanting it! But I just don't. 

While I was wandering around waiting for my viewing (and trying not to freeze to death), I was able to walk past the Victorian money pit (with the huge garden) that is in need of the "full scheme of modernisation". Guess which house I've been thinking about all afternoon? I know that house is a step too far (even if I did watch the video walkthrough and get excited that it has a modern boiler and overall looks better than I expected) because I don't have the free time to do it justice, but is it too much to ask to find something in between perfect and money pit? Hopefully, I'll find my happy medium house soon!