First Timers... A Tale Of Two Choices!

EagerLearner

Dear MoneySavers,

Having only bought Martin's excellent book 2 weeks ago, we are very new to this site but loving the savings/tips so far. In 2006 alone we have reduced our outgoings by £400 (no more Blockbuster online, FirstDirect Premium £9.50 a month thing we don't use etc) and saved a further £300 on mortgage advice - thank you Martin!

We are first time buyers and would appreciate the advice of anyone who has already purchased a property. We are considering Newhaven, Sussex as the only affordable place for us (we are priced out of Brighton & Hove). The choices are as follows:

CHOICE A - A terraced property, 2 bedroom (no garden), small kitchen that could suffice. Residential road, would have one neighbour downstairs and another above us. Some roof work being carried out at the moment, some water damage in corner of bedroom that is being remedied. No double glazing. Has allocated car parking. Easy-ish to move into. No chain. Price stated by seller: £116,950.

CHOICE B - A 1 bedroom flat in shared building that used to be a convent. Nothing too exciting (ie, we thought it might look like a convent in some way, but it doesn't really) but does have lovely large windows in every room so lots of light, and reasonable views as it's on the highest point in the town. We smelled some damp in the bedroom but nothing major (then again, she had opened the bedroom and bathroom windows so we could fully see the view etc, so who knows...). Current owners have started putting in a new kitchen and will continue to put it in gradually, but the more they put in the higher the selling price will be. They work full time so find it hard to monitor the work etc and do bits on the weekend. If we buy it as is, it will have no kitchen at all or flooring, so we will need to put one in and are assuming £2k for this and extra items in the flat. Apparently has mahogany boards under carpet etc. Downside is that it's on a third floor and the building has communal hallways, maybe 25 flats in total. When we come to sell, this communal aspect may put people off. There is a weekly fire alarm (probably not a problem as we will be out between 06:30am and 18:00pm). 77 years left on lease. No chain. Price stated by seller is £100,000. We put in an offer of £95,000 and within 1 hour got a response of £97,500. There are currently 3 flats for sale in this building, all between £95ish and £105k,

Anyway, our hearts want the latter one with large windows, because we feel it could be worth putting in the work. More and more first timers will come into this area that have been forced out of Brighton and we may make money from it. However, we know Option A is the safer choice as it's 2 bedroom with allocated parking and it allows for a baby, should we choose to have one in the next few years (it's not something we have in mind right now though).

Sooooo... question is, do you have any advice for us...?

Bewildered FirstTimers

BobProperty

First impressions are that the second one is being done up by an amateur developer of the "Property Ladder" type. Also how can it have mahogany boards under carpet and still have "no flooring"? If the mahogany is so good why isn't it a feature, or is it in poor condition or do they need the carpet down to stop the noise? If it's on the 3rd floor is there a lift? And it smells of damp after she had had the windows open?
Balance the possibility of moving with the possibilty of starting a family. Would you be likely to move anyway? I can tell you like the second flat, but could you improve the first one in the time of your ownership to boost it's resale value when you move on?

Dora_the_Explorer_5

Re the seond property. Large windows are lovely - but if they're not double glazed the heating bills in the winter will be enormous. If you could smell damp in the bedroom even though the window was open then you would need to have it throughly surveyed for damp thorughout. The boards may well be mahogany but if there's a gale of wind blowing up from the gaps you'll probably have to spend a fortune getting the gaps filled professionally or put down carpet, so you'd never see them anyway. On the plus side an ex convent may have been more sturdily built than property no. 1
Deciding is always difficult and it usually helps to write down all the things you like and dislike about each property and then see what the differences are and what they mean to you personally. Hope thishelps and good luck
You'll also have to pay service charges and ground rent which will probably be different for each property.

EagerLearner

Thanks for the advice - we know choice B is the riskier one, however it would be the least expensive per month, if the survey went well. The whole place is carpeted, apart from kitchen (has been gutted) & bathroom (vinyl). We also suspect that with such tall rooms, heating will be expensive. According to the vendor, whom we met, the windows had all been painted shut or been stuck, and only opened this month, hence dampness?

On the other side of the coin, choice A is still not double glazed, but has 2 bedrooms and a cosier feel. Possible to do up and still make some money (we hope). Apart from doing a survey on both, I guess we still have some thinking to do. Choice A has allocated parking, which in a few years could be worth a fair bit.

If anyone has further advice, please do let us know as we plan to make an offer within the next 7 days.

Thank you

Sophie & Damon

BobProperty

Coming back with a few more comments:

EagerLearner wrote:

Thanks for the advice - we know choice B is the riskier one, however it would be the least expensive per month, if the survey went well.

I'm not sure. The first one will be easier to heat. What are the service charges?

EagerLearner wrote:

The whole place is carpeted, apart from kitchen (has been gutted) & bathroom (vinyl). We also suspect that with such tall rooms, heating will be expensive. According to the vendor, whom we met, the windows had all been painted shut or been stuck, and only opened this month, hence dampness?

Only opened this month? What was the builder doing? Half the builders I have come across can't work without the windows open as it gets too hot for them. I'm worried this is being "done up" very quickly to sell, which could mean short cuts, cheapness and poor finish. You don't know what kitchen is going in yet, or what fittings and appliances are included.

EagerLearner wrote:

On the other side of the coin, choice A is still not double glazed, but has 2 bedrooms and a cosier feel. Possible to do up and still make some money (we hope). Apart from doing a survey on both, I guess we still have some thinking to do. Choice A has allocated parking, which in a few years could be worth a fair bit.

You seem quite concerned about the parking, what is the situation at the other flat. Is parking likely to be more of an issue in the future? How many cars do you have now/want?

EagerLearner

Choice B has not had open windows until recently, we don't know quite why - sorry I wasn't clear, there are no builders there, only the owners trying to 'do up' the kitchen in what looks like an amateurish way - they said the low price was because there would be no kitchen now, but in a few months it would be finished and the flat would be more expensive. We can't figure out why they would buy a kitchen and then take their sweet time to install it, or not install it at all?! The mother of the owner showed us around and said neighbours etc aren't a problem and that the flat is very warm, but the damp put us off a bit and we realised heating would be harder. But they are original windows and offer lots of lovely light...

Maintenance on both flats would be £700ish a year. Lease remaining on the above flat is around 77 years whereby the 'safe' 2 bed option flat is around 83 years, we're not sure whether this has an impact?

Parking is a concern for us because we work in Brighton and we know how the property boom here has impacted parking in Brighton - if all first timers start to migrate to Newhaven to get on the property ladder, parking will probably become a premium there too... We don't have a car now but would hope to get one within a year or so after re-decorating etc.

Sorry for waffling, we just wanted to give as much onfo as possible....

Sophie & Damon

EagerLearner

Maybe this will help - actual pics etc!

Property A (2 bedroom, terraced type)
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-8127413.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=buy

Property B (1 bedroom, part of converted convent)
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-7628606.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=buy

On property B, there are 3 other flats for sale in that building right now, all quite low prices, which also makes us wonder why they're all selling now? Could be coincidence.

Sophie & Damon

Sophie

Spendless

Hi

I was in neg equity with my 1st house within a year of buying. What happened is when the prices dropped people 'leapfrogged' over the starter homes in order to get somewhere bigger for their money.

If that was to happen again you might find yourself stuck in a one bedroomed flat, possibly with a child or wanting a baby and stuck. At least with the 2 bedroomed place you would be able to stay there.

Just something you might wish to consider.

Good Luck whatever you choose.

silvercar

option B would not be my choice; 77 year lease will need extending soon. Weekly fire alarm is off putting. No-one puts in a decent kitchen for £2k. 3rd floor with no lift is also offputting. Check out the service charge on this one, is there a building fund for major repairs?

Dora_the_Explorer_5

Hope this helps. Property A: Parking may become difficult but once it becomes really difficult then the council could probably make it resident permit parking. The longer lease will make it more mortgageable but how much is the ground rent? £700 a year for maintentance seems a bit on the steep side, unless it covers things like cleaning, heating and lighting of common areas.
Property B: if the windows have been 'painted up' and not opened I don't think that would make the place feel and be damp as it's surrounded by other occupied properties and heated communal areas. Single glazing and the height of the rooms - the heating bills could be considerable - I speak from bitter experience. Sounds like the owners are faffing about a bit which could mean they might faff about a bit during conveyancing. One bedroom - if the worst happens and you're living there for the next 15 years, do you fancy sharing a bedroom with a teenager?
Thanks for posting the url's - I'm just off to have a nose.

Ian_W

Hi Sophie,
It's always difficult from Agents photos & particulars to be sure about property you haven't visited, some real dogs look good and vice versa, but on the face of it No1 would be my choice.

It has 2 reasonable size bedrooms and that will effect the value when you come to sell and appeal to a wider audience of potential buyers, for the reasons others have outlined. It has a longer lease and allocated parking which are also a bonus. The front facade looks like a nice well kept victorian villa.

I do see what you mean about light in prop 2 and it does have some nice views but the outside of the building is, well, to put it diplomatically - UGLY! Looks more like a 1950's Secondary Modern that a convent. You've mentioned there are a couple of others for sale in the same block. Have you viewed them? If not I would suggest you do before making your mind up, as Dora says the owners of this one are faffing about, particularly about the kitchen, if they're serious about selling it.

It's good to get others views on a property but it's far more important that the property feels right for you. BoL.