New Build Townhouses

t1gger

SavingSteve wrote: »

I'm sure OP has had to save hard to get to 90k, calling them lucky with no basis is kind of pathetic.

That's what I was going to say! Could have work for 40 years for that! Who knows (OP don't come back and tell us you won it on a horse!)

Jazzyjeff_2

Some from parents and the rest savings from me and my partner. I've almost always worked during college, Uni Holidays, and as soon as I left uni. Luckily from my degree and further Accountancy study I have managed to get a well paid job.

Richard_Webster

One of the things about townhouses with three storeys is that often they are the only ones of their kind in an area, so a builder can simply invent a price for them as there are no direct comparables of second hand 5-20 year old houses with which comparisons can be made.

QTPie

We live in a 3 storey townhouse which is lovely.

All I would say is - like any home really - think seriously about how long you intend to keep the property and will it suit you for that time?

When we bought ours, I was expecting to stay here for 10/15 years, but we have outgrown it sooner than I expected: I am not sure that I considered the medium term future, specifically for us, carefully enough. So five years into living there, and having outgrown it, we have picked a VERY bad time to try to move on!

However, saying that, LOTS of different types of people live in the neighbouring townhouses (professional couples, older couples, families with one or two kids): so it is horses for courses. Different people want different things out of a home and at different points in their lives.

So think about how long you intend to keep the house, what changes you foresee during those years (like starting a family) and whether the house would still meet your needs. But, as I said, I think that applies to any property you buy: don't just look at the now, look at the future too.

Sounds like a lovely home, hope that you will be very happy

QT

Jazzyjeff_2

QTPie wrote: »

We live in a 3 storey townhouse which is lovely.

All I would say is - like any home really - think seriously about how long you intend to keep the property and will it suit you for that time?

When we bought ours, I was expecting to stay here for 10/15 years, but we have outgrown it sooner than I expected: I am not sure that I considered the medium term future, specifically for us, carefully enough. So five years into living there, and having outgrown it, we have picked a VERY bad time to try to move on!

However, saying that, LOTS of different types of people live in the neighbouring townhouses (professional couples, older couples, families with one or two kids): so it is horses for courses. Different people want different things out of a home and at different points in their lives.

So think about how long you intend to keep the house, what changes you foresee during those years (like starting a family) and whether the house would still meet your needs. But, as I said, I think that applies to any property you buy: don't just look at the now, look at the future too.

Sounds like a lovely home, hope that you will be very happy

QT

Can I ask why you outgrew it?? We thought it would be perfect for when we eventually have kids as they would have their own floor to make noise etc without getting moaned at!! Also masses of space & storage for a family, garden is the only small thing but I hate gardening anyway so that's a plus!!

GDB2222

As Richard said, it is very difficult to get comparable prices for townhouses sometimes.

I would ask yourself a different question from the points raised above, namely: what happens if you do not buy this particular house now?if the developers have only sold one or two houses over the last six months, is it likely that this house will still be available if you wait another six months or a year? With average house prices dropping at the rate of 1% to 2% a month, you could easily be looking at another £50,000 off the price if you wait until the end of 2009. That assumes that the trend in prices continues. Personally, I think that is extremely likely, but you may disagree. Presumably, if you are looking at buying now, you have pretty much formed the view that prices are not going to continue to fall for much longer. Otherwise, it makes no sense to buy now and see most if not all of your deposit whittled away by further falls in house prices.

QTPie

Jazzyjeff wrote: »

Can I ask why you outgrew it?? We thought it would be perfect for when we eventually have kids as they would have their own floor to make noise etc without getting moaned at!! Also masses of space & storage for a family, garden is the only small thing but I hate gardening anyway so that's a plus!!

Well it depends very much how the layout of the townhouse is structured and what you are looking for.

Ours is four bedrooms: two good sized doubles (one with very nice en-suite shower room) and two singles (one is used as a study, the other set up as a single bedroom. We have a "nice sized but not huge" living room (16ft x 11ft ish), a seperate dining room, a good sized kitchen breakfast room (but no seperate utility room) and a small garden (28ft by 16ft, professionally landscaped - very pretty and very easy maintenance).

It is a LOVELY house and has been great for us, but - realistically with a child - I would like:
- a bigger bedroom for them (a small single doesn't give them much room at all - the small single doesn't have built in wardrobes). I wouldn't want to use the other double for them because we would loose our guest bedroom.
- a seperate utility room: I appreciate that babies you tend to have a LOT of washing and things - I want to be able to "get rid of it" rather than have the kitchen constantly overrun with laundry.
- a bigger garden: our garden is a fantastic little sun trap and place fro grown-up entertaining/BBQing etc, but it isn't a kid friendly garden. We have a communal garden here too, but you would have to supervise younger kids there (since they could easily get onto the road etc).
- more fridge/freezer space than we currently have (nowhere to put anything bigger)
- preferably a "family room" too: so we can have some family space and some seperate adult space.
- personally i would also like a little more privacy too (we are in a terraced townhouse): not a huge thing, but I feel too overlooked.

Now we are looking at semi-detached Victorian/Edwardian type properties: generally over 3 floors too, but more rooms, bigger rooms and a bigger, more private garden.

I think that the most important things when buying a house are location and potential (not just what the house can offer you now, but what it can offer in the future - can it grow with you?). New builds tend to have been developed to the maximum of their potential already (in most cases). You can always change the fixtures and fittings, but you can't add to the size of the plot or extend if their isn't room.

There are a number of families happily living in the neighbouring townhomes to us: two doors down have a teenage girl and a boy who is about 6/7, last Summer a couple with two girls under 10 moved in a few doors away. So this type of townhome certainly DOES suit some families.

As I said, though, it all depends on "what your specific townhome has to offer", "what you want medium term" and "how you see your life going". One could say that "you can always move on", but - as I am currently experiencing - that is not always easy... BUT you may not be in the same stage of life as me: I am looking for a home that I will want to keep for the next 30+ years now...

Hope that helps

QT

Jazzyjeff_2

GDB2222 wrote: »

As Richard said, it is very difficult to get comparable prices for townhouses sometimes.

I would ask yourself a different question from the points raised above, namely: what happens if you do not buy this particular house now?if the developers have only sold one or two houses over the last six months, is it likely that this house will still be available if you wait another six months or a year? With average house prices dropping at the rate of 1% to 2% a month, you could easily be looking at another £50,000 off the price if you wait until the end of 2009. That assumes that the trend in prices continues. Personally, I think that is extremely likely, but you may disagree. Presumably, if you are looking at buying now, you have pretty much formed the view that prices are not going to continue to fall for much longer. Otherwise, it makes no sense to buy now and see most if not all of your deposit whittled away by further falls in house prices.

Is there not a counter argument that less new properties are currently being built due to the current economy / falling prices so IF a developer is desperate enough you could make an offer and get a house cheaper now than when mortgages have picked up / economy is recovering / and there is more demand leading to closer to asking price offers....Also as demand picks up the 'better' houses will be snapped up first.

It's all about the right price and right opportunity...

dgl1001

The warrenty with Zurich fine and nothing to worry about. it is no different from an NHBC one.

please be careful about buying a townhouse. although the idea of seems attractive, they can become impractical because of the constraint use of the strairs which may be a problem if/ when you have children. In terms of values against traditional two story properties, it is easy. The top floor has no sales value. They may tell you its has, but buyers are not interested in the third floor element. Your valuation should therefore be based on the first two floors. Hope this helps

Jazzyjeff_2

This is very useful thanks.

QTPie wrote: »

Well it depends very much how the layout of the townhouse is structured and what you are looking for.

Ours is four bedrooms: two good sized doubles (one with very nice en-suite shower room) and two singles (one is used as a study, the other set up as a single bedroom. We have a "nice sized but not huge" living room (16ft x 11ft ish), a seperate dining room, a good sized kitchen breakfast room (but no seperate utility room) and a small garden (28ft by 16ft, professionally landscaped - very pretty and very easy maintenance).

It is a LOVELY house and has been great for us, but - realistically with a child - I would like:
- a bigger bedroom for them (a small single doesn't give them much room at all - the small single doesn't have built in wardrobes). I wouldn't want to use the other double for them because we would loose our guest bedroom. - this has 3 very big bedrooms so ok with 2 kids but then a small room more a study so no guest room
- a seperate utility room: I appreciate that babies you tend to have a LOT of washing and things - I want to be able to "get rid of it" rather than have the kitchen constantly overrun with laundry. - utility in the garage so better than nothing but I guess not as good as a separate toom.
- a bigger garden: our garden is a fantastic little sun trap and place fro grown-up entertaining/BBQing etc, but it isn't a kid friendly garden. We have a communal garden here too, but you would have to supervise younger kids there (since they could easily get onto the road etc). - small garden
- more fridge/freezer space than we currently have (nowhere to put anything bigger) - lots of space & plumbing in the garage
- preferably a "family room" too: so we can have some family space and some seperate adult space. - big lounge but no family room
- personally i would also like a little more privacy too (we are in a terraced townhouse): not a huge thing, but I feel too overlooked. - not very overlooked as a big Semi backing onto a wide road with big houses.

Now we are looking at semi-detached Victorian/Edwardian type properties: generally over 3 floors too, but more rooms, bigger rooms and a bigger, more private garden.

I think that the most important things when buying a house are location and potential (not just what the house can offer you now, but what it can offer in the future - can it grow with you?). New builds tend to have been developed to the maximum of their potential already (in most cases). You can always change the fixtures and fittings, but you can't add to the size of the plot or extend if their isn't room.

There are a number of families happily living in the neighbouring townhomes to us: two doors down have a teenage girl and a boy who is about 6/7, last Summer a couple with two girls under 10 moved in a few doors away. So this type of townhome certainly DOES suit some families.

As I said, though, it all depends on "what your specific townhome has to offer", "what you want medium term" and "how you see your life going". One could say that "you can always move on", but - as I am currently experiencing - that is not always easy... BUT you may not be in the same stage of life as me: I am looking for a home that I will want to keep for the next 30+ years now...

Hope that helps

QT