Ideas for house for single 40 year old

[danlightbulb]

Hi all.

Nearly 40, divorced, and about to be able to get on the property ladder again.

Im just wondering what sort of thing to go for though.

I could just go for a 'nice' traditional house. Or I could try and get something which can be more of a bachelor pad / man cave with the hope of having some parties etc and making the 2nd half of my life more fun.

Problem is I:
a) feel a bit silly and immature for thinking this way at nearly 40.

b) dont really know what a bachelor pad would look like if i was to try and build/buy one.

c) worried I could go to all this trouble and find I struggle to get people over to enjoy it with me.

My initial thoughts are id need a house with at least two living rooms, so that one can be a man cave / cinema / tech room and one can be more traditional. I would have liked a proper basement but houses with these are very rare where I live.

Im reasonable at DIY having installed my own kitchens and bathrooms in the past, so would be able to modernise a house fairly well over a period of time whilst living in it.

Id appreciate any ideas you all have on the subject.

Thanks.

 

[Distracted]

Bat cave.



That is all.

 

[malachi]

I'm going to be honest and this is not a joke. When I was looking for a place to buy the one thing which was high on my list. Making sure that area had good broadband speeds and I could get it to my house I was buying.

 

[danlightbulb]

Thats not an issue where i live (midlands), its all built up and well connected here.

Bat cave is good idea im just a few hundred million quid short on that one.

 

[Distracted]

Thats not an issue where i live (midlands), its all built up and well connected here.

Bat cave is good idea im just a few hundred million quid short on that one.

Keep saving. You know it makes sense.

I'm going to be honest and this is not a joke. When I was looking for a place to buy the one thing which was high on my list. Making sure that area had good broadband speeds and I could get it to my house I was buying.

This is a common consideration for those i know that are looking to rent or buy. It makes sense given how much we rely on the internet and our connection to it.

 

[malachi]

This is a common consideration for those i know that are looking to rent or buy. It makes sense given how much we rely on the internet and our connection to it.

If your are a man buying on your own the yes it is. But with a female partner different story

Thats not an issue where i live (midlands), its all built up and well connected here.

Sweet, same area as me

 

[SimonR]

I guess it’s about your lifestyle and what is important to you. My house is designed the way I want for me and my family. I really don’t care if others like or dislike it. I don’t show it off, but we do entertain.
I do have a lot of discrete technology and Home Automation, but again that’s about making life better for me and my family.
Buy a house for the way that you want to live. You can put an awful lot of technology in, without it looking like a chav palace, but it takes a lot of planning. Man caves can be way cool if done well, or TOWIE horror shows if done badly. Take your time and buy for you.
P.S. broadband was high on my list when I bought this house.

 

[danlightbulb]

Buy a house for the way that you want to live. You can put an awful lot of technology in, without it looking like a chav palace, but it takes a lot of planning. Man caves can be way cool if done well, or TOWIE horror shows if done badly. Take your time and buy for you.

Thanks. In all honesty i dont know what i want. Maybe not the same for everyone but divorce has meant me losing a lot of sense of purpose that i once had.

Id be interested in any ideas you have or examples of the chavvy towie stuff so i can avoid those mistakes and build something with some class to it.

 

[malachi]

I can tell you one to avoid without it looking like a chav palace. Don't buy a cheap 50inch plus TV which happens to be a unbranded supermarket make.

But as you are on here, you know that already

And carpet your place, if you go laminated flooring. Make sure it's not cheap flooring, i made that mistake.

 

[bimbleuk]

I have no idea on decor and relied on my sis to at least get colours right in it and not just end up painting everything magnolia! Nothing over the top just subtle colours on a few walls with majority still being plain.

Carpets in a bachelor pad probably not a good idea

I've only got carpet in my bedroom now as it's cosier and the spare bedroom is my VR space and gaming room. Laminate/hard flooring much easier to whip round with a vacuum if you get a last minute visitor.

Now I've switched to driving an EV I would not buy a house without off road parking for charging and this may be a thing quicker than people think. I'd prefer a detached house next and as I'm almost 50 I want my space and maybe a workshop so as Bungalows usually come with decent land I'm looking that way next.

Maybe town/city flat would suit if you want some fun before properly settling down again.

 

[WYNIR0]

A properly set up kill room is essential.

 

[Participant]

What specific area of The Midlands, which is huge, do you currently live in, and is it a requirement that you remain there?

What's your budget for a house?

Will you be dating / thinking about a new family?

Personally at your age I'd forget this notion of a party palace where you'll have hundreds of mates round playing pool and watching footy every evening. Surely many of them will have families now and be too busy to pretend they're extras in a Hangover film.

Create a comfortable home first and foremost, where any women you invite round won't think you a massive man child that can't let go of his youth and needs to grow up.

Of course provide for fun and entertainment, just don't build the whole place around it.

 

[danlightbulb]

Maybe town/city flat would suit if you want some fun before properly settling down again.

I did briefly look at this option but a one bed flat in Birmingham centre would be all of my budget, so its not realistic.

What specific area of The Midlands, which is huge, do you currently live in, and is it a requirement that you remain there?

Im looking at the area north of birmingham / south to south east of Walsall. This is Wednesbury through to south walsall through to great barr. Im currently near Dudley.

Realistically I cant see me moving further than this as then Id be even further away from current friends and family. This area is good for work whilst maintaining easy access to birmingham for occasional nights out.

What's your budget for a house?

£180k. In my area of choice that can get me a 3 bed house with garage for my mountain bike and driveway for my car.

Will you be dating / thinking about a new family?

Hopefully. New family, really dont know as Im nearly 40. Potentially might meet someone who already has children. Who knows, might be alone for rest of life so need to prepare for that option too.

Personally at your age I'd forget this notion of a party palace where you'll have hundreds of mates round playing pool and watching footy every evening. Surely many of them will have families now and be too busy to pretend they're extras in a Hangover film.

Yes youre right. The best I could hope for would be running a poker night or something every couple of months.

Create a comfortable home first and foremost, where any women you invite round won't think you a massive man child that can't let go of his youth and needs to grow up.

Of course provide for fun and entertainment, just don't build the whole place around it.

Yes this would be my objective, just want it to look both cool and also tasteful, hence the request for ideas.

 

[Mark M]

As someone of a similar age I would be looking at discrete tech rather than in your face look at me stuff. Maybe a concealed projector for movies/sport and a wall mounted tv for everyday use. Multi room audio is currently on my research list as is WiFi switches and sockets. Some mood lighting with led strip and a robot hoover

End of the day it’s your house pal so do it however you want. Chuck a bar in if you’ve got lots of single friends and they’re likely to be round every weekend or just have a drinks cupboard if not.

 

[LabR@t]

Quiet neighbors.

 

[d_brennen]

Do you have kids from the previous marriage? If so, somewhere near and suitable for them would be high on my list

 

[bimbleuk]

Quiet neighbors.

Yes a good one and I've been very lucky being surrounded with To Let properties and from some recent threads clearly allocated parking spaces. The walls are definitely well insulated for sound in my house.

When I bought my ex-rental I had a choice of 2 identical properties from the same landlord with one not having any off road parking so an easy choice despite the terrible state it had been left in after the last tenants.

 

[SimonR]

I guess, following the advice on a lot of home programs and from estate agents, start with magnolia / white walls. That will give you a blank canvas and an idea of your space. I would suggest maybe a little Cat 5e/6 infrastructure as a starting point. Think where you want your TV(s) and maybe a couple of wired wireless access points and where you could run cables back to as a Node 0.
Hue lights are nice but can get expensive quickly, alternatives are smart switches or ZWave modules.
All of this is pretty discrete but can add a lot of functionality.
Try and avoid too much chrome / animal print / black leather / gloss black / glass furniture Unless you are an interior designer it often looks cheap even if it isn’t.
It may sound girlie, but buy some interior style magazines they will give you a sense of what you like and don’t like. Don’t have all of your toys on display, it’s great for teenagers bedrooms and Richer Sounds showrooms but looks tacky in a house. Planning is the key. Anyone can put a flat screen on a wall, but sadly 99% look awful due to trunking and trailing power / hdmi cables. Take the time and effort to chase in cables, put a socket behind the TV. The effect is night and day. A nicely ‘floated’ TV with no cables or trunking looks lovely and stylish. But it takes effort and planning.
I could go on but my advice is start clean and simple. Take your time to plan what you want. Ask the estate agent for the floor plan, these are great for your future planning of everything from cabling to room layout. With a decent plan you can then work out your sequence of jobs which will lead to a much nicer finish in the long run.

 

[Terminal_Boy]

Small, low maintenance garden is a must. Decking, a coupe of chairs, a few pot plants and a BBQ.

 

[danlightbulb]

Do you have kids from the previous marriage? If so, somewhere near and suitable for them would be high on my list

Well the short version is im not seeing them. This isnt the place for the long version. I dont know if/when they will want contact again so Im not going to revolve my choices around that, but its a reason for not going too far away.

Small, low maintenance garden is a must. Decking, a coupe of chairs, a few pot plants and a BBQ.

Actually im tending towards a larger garden so i can make something good of it as a hobby.

Ask the estate agent for the floor plan, these are great for your future planning of everything from cabling to room layout. With a decent plan you can then work out your sequence of jobs which will lead to a much nicer finish in the long run.

As i havent got the house yet, i have some freedom in choosing a house that has the right room layout / shape to start with to make planning easier. For example I could avoid awkward or small rooms, or fireplaces.

What would be the ideal layout of the house? Is it two rooms (eg a separate living room and dining room) or one larger combined one? a lot of houses, especially ones with integral garages, only tend to have one living room. I guess ideally, downstairs would have several rooms so one could be a home gym, one a cinema room, one a family room etc. But I cant get a big enough house for that.