Typical Grudges People have with their Property
Of course there are plenty of positives when it comes to property, it’s our safe haven / sanctuary, the well known location of ‘an English mans home is his castle‘ and for many it’s where we spend most of our lifestyle from relaxing to entertaining, bringing up our families to enjoying retirement – Where on earth could I place in this lot some negative vibes?
I’ve lived in many different styles of property in a variation of regions and countries, from renovation projects in France to one bedroom maisonettes in London, a villa with swimming pool in Spain to a detached 6 bedroom (ex guest house) by the Essex coastline. From remote locations to those close to the nightlife, seaside to countryside… Plenty of variation and yet I can still easily pin point in each property the particular annoyance that I had with each. I wish not to sound like Victor Meldrew here, in fact I am fortunate enough never to have had an issue with close neighbours, though what I would like to look into are the typical reasons people fall out of love with their property.
I want to take outside influences away from this article and this means the likes of roads becoming busier over the years to yellow / double yellow lines or parking permits being added, noisy neighbours moving in or new developments popping up to obscure that perfect view you once had. For now I wish to take a look at the property itself, from the land it is on (be it freehold or leasehold) to the property itself ie the four walls you live in.
Many people fall out of love with property as their lifestyles can change from new births adding numbers to divorces / deaths reducing them. Where once a property was perfect, we can all of a sudden feel cramped or the complete opposite and instead gradually we are unable to maintain the added floor space. Proximity to work / entertainment being key can suddenly become the least of your worries, instead where we put all our shoes at the front door or how many people we can have round to dinner takes president.
South Facing Garden: Depending on size of garden and the green fingers you may hold, garden space is important and an increasing factor will be the influence of the sun. From lazy days taking in the hot rays to working your magic with harvests, the appearance of the sun will have a great effect on how well you enjoy your garden space. Depending on the situation you are in, how close the neighbours are, size of garden, trees and much more, you ideally want to capture the sun as best as you can in the back garden and for this you need the famous old saying south facing garden. Even where I live today, there is envy from across the street to our side in that the sun rises from the east and settles in the west with us (especially in the Northern Hemisphere) and edges slightly southwards in its travels.
Cellar / Loft: There are many things we own that require very infrequent usage such as the Christmas decorations or, as many parent will know, children’s first clothes / toys etc. The loft area is the ideal place for these and more alike and it saves us from having to use up valuable space in our day to day living area. Cellars are an equal benefit to property for storage solutions or even, like myself, to satisfy the needs of wine collectors.
Spare Bedroom(s): “Don’t worry, I’ll get the spare bedroom ready for you” sounds great right? Not many though will be able to say this and instead either “don’t worry, I will sleep on the sofa” or “I’ll get the fold up bed out” is what we say. Depending on how many guests you have and if you are a muck in with the rest of us kind of person, it is awfully nice to be able to offer a spare bedroom to those that stay with us
Balcony / Garden: Outside space is vital I feel for our day to day lives, from a walk out to the shops to a stroll in the park. What about time spent outside within our own property boundary be it a garden to a balcony, getting out once and a while can help mentally and in regards to our health too. Having lived in an apartment previously I can certainly admit to craving some outside space especially during the warmer / sunny days when temptation to sun bath arises and desires to be gardening creep up. An apartment with a balcony seems a real temptation when you have no outside space, even a maisonette with garden (front or back) seems like a real dream situation. Reverse things and those of us with larger gardens, demanding lawns to keep, weeds to kill, patios to clean can suddenly desire reduced responsibilities thus smaller plots to manage.
Parking / Garage: A drive way with an in and out style set up is most desirable and especially for bigger families with multiple cars or those of us who receive frequent visitors. As we approach city centres then front drives reduce in standard houses and parking spaces less likely within apartment complexes. I’m sure we have all once wanted to be able to park up outside our own property so we can drop off the shopping, or that both our cars can fit on the drive or to accommodate our caravan / boat – The more space outside our property the better I feel, it will grow on you negatively if you haven’t that place to park outside your own property.
Entrance / Porch / Hallway: One of the big positive effects of entering a property is the entrance itself. From front doors that open straight in to the front lounge of those basic 2 up, 2 down houses to splendid grand hallways with chandeliers and stone flooring enticing you in. One of the biggest issues for me in smaller property was inviting guests in, just how far ‘in’ did they have to come before they could comfortably take off their jacket or remove their shoes , dare a few guests arrive at once and all had to squeeze up against the wall as I try to head forward to close the door behind them and invite them to shuffle in to the living room…
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