how a buying agent chooses their own family home

Buying agents spend their time finding the right home for their clients but what happens when it comes to their own property? Prime Purchase managing director Charlie Wells kicks off our new series into what the buying agent purchases when they are buying for themselves

When a property search involves a couple, inevitably one will be more dominant when it comes to the decision-making – in this instance, it was my wife, who needed to be within a 15-minute drive of her family’s farm, where her business was based. Beyond that, I am happy to say, our wish list was aligned. Not a huge geographic area to work with; a tricky client brief for this very busy buying agent.

The non-negotiable part of our search was attractive land, mature trees and ideally some water, or the ability to create a pond. We are both from country backgrounds, having grown up, ‘living the dream’ on our respective parent’s farms. Five acres or 50, it didn’t really matter, but no compromise on this point. We wanted land for privacy and protection, and to play at being farmers (I would hate to be called a small holder!) Eventually, we ended up with 15 acres, with enough space for our dogs, sheep, pigs, horses, chickens, children, and a large vegetable patch.

The house itself, and what it looked like, didn’t matter so much as we were happy to take on a project. We needed four bedrooms and ended up with five. Schools were important – at the time, my daughter was eight years old, and her younger sisters had not yet arrived so proximity to good schools was crucial. We are only a mile from Cheam and 12 miles from Elstree School, so we have these, as well as others, to choose from.

As well as what we did want, there were things we didn’t want, and one of these was to be in a village with close neighbours. We needed to be able to make a noise and not be deluged by complaints from our neighbours. Tractors, chainsaws, animals, children, and lots of parties are crucial to our idea of unwinding. We both come from large families, so being able to gather them all under one roof was very important to us.

The '600-yard double bank trout stream' - as described  by the selling agent

Another massive no-no – one which many clients share – is that we didn’t want a footpath running across our immediate property. That’s not to say there isn’t a footpath for miles around; there is one on the edge of our land which gives direct access to a bridal path network – useful for exercising dogs, horses, and children.

We also needed additional buildings to store stuff – the Land Rover, tractors, bee-keeping equipment, gardening and country sports paraphernalia. There is an annexe which could accommodate a parent in due course. Until then, it’s let and generates some useful extra income.

What I hadn’t appreciated when we bought our house is just how centrally located, we are in terms of roads, yet it is still quiet. My commute into London can be one day a week or three, and the proximity to Newbury and Basingstoke stations (a 15 to 20-minute drive), giving us fantastic trains into Paddington and Waterloo, makes a real difference.

I originally identified our house for one of my developer clients on the basis that its position was very good, even if the house wasn’t and perhaps needed knocking down. When my client didn’t buy it, mainly because he was deterred by the neighbour’s collection of old cars scattered all over his yard and spilling onto the road, we decided to, redesigning it rather than knocking it down. The neighbour and all his cars have now gone so there is a lesson to be learnt there perhaps.

We have created our perfect family home. Some would say the ceilings are too low, others would want more of a statement, but we love it. An attractive red brick Hampshire farmhouse, with wonderful, mature gardens, long views in a small valley, with a babbling brook at the bottom. The selling agent described our little stream as ‘a 600-yard double bank trout stream’, which was stretching it a bit, although there are very small wild brown trout in it. We have far too many animals, and more firewood than we will ever need but it is a happy home where we can make as much noise as we like entertaining family and friends.