new house vs old house

febop

Me and my boyfriend have a mortgage, deposit and offer on a brand new house all sorted but now were a bit confused. We have seen another house (and older property) in a better area, slightly bigger with a huge garden for about the same price. The only problem is that it needs modernisation just a bit of cosmetic but also needs central heating and maybe rewiring so were not sure what to do. We are a bit concerned about whether the modern property is going to retain its value (others on the road went for 40 grand more before the builders went bust) better than the older property (the closest ones went for about 30/40 grand more before the house prices plummeted). We are not sure what to do any advice would be fantastic

Wickedkitten

Well, are you buying it as an investment or to live in? We are buying ours to live in for ages so space to grow in is essential. Also how much of a difference in price is there? I don't know about your area, but here it is a LOT cheaper to get an older house and do it up than it is to buy a new one that has already been done for you, and personally I wouldn't touch a new build with a bargepole.

Mind, if you already have your mortgage offer and then decided to get the other house, you would have to get it surveyed all over and again and reapply for a new mortgage, but who is to say which house would be better for you really. Only you can really decide.

hamblettamaud

i personally would rather go for the character of an older house every time, but provided that it was in reasonably good nick. the thought of having to replace kitchen, central heating, roof, damp course, wiring, floors, windows etc would be disheartening. the large garden is a definite plus though.

febop

The older property is up for 134950 (two doors down a slightly smaller but fully done is up for 149 but both have been on the market for a while)and the new property was up for 135000 but we got a grand knocked off as the one next door went for 178000 in august 07 so we keep getting told its very cheap but the ea and mortgage broker but theres been quite a few problem with it being an unadopted road and not finished and things so were getting pretty sick of that line. We really want a home where we can bring up a family and theres loads of scope for extra space in the older property but it probally needs 10 grand worth or work in the next couple of years so were a bit torn whether in the long term its worth it because it will really cripple us until the heating and wirings done

febop

The man who had it before kept it in wonderfu condition and it still has all the period features and beautiful stained glass windows and the front but the kitchen is pretty dire

Doozergirl

Get 10,000 off the old house to cover that work. Honestly, bigger house, bigger garden? Negotiate. If the finished house is on for 149,000 then 135,000 doesn't stand up to it properly.

I can't believe you only got a grand off the new one.

Must try harder!

febop

i know first time buyers and i think we sort of got done by mortgage broker who put in the offer for us:)Do banks still let you put the extra onto mortgage to increase house value for renovations or am i just wishful thinking:)

QTPie

Hi

It really depends what you want out of a house... this may change depending on where you are in your life.

From a newer house, you can expect that it is "ready to move into", little hassle, easy to maintain, most likely on a small plot with little in the way of garden (this suits many busy people who don't want to spend their spare time tending an enormous garden...). However, more often than not, new builds have smaller rooms and very little room for expansion or improvement. Some people don't mind about this.

With an older house, you generally get a relatively larger plot, bigger garden, relatively bigger room sizes, generally less housing density. BUT you can bet that there will be things that you need or want to do (and could be big stuff - like rewiring, reroofing etc).

I think that, generally, older houses have a lot more "potential", but it just depends whether you can be bothered to put the time and effort into an older house in order to reap the rewards (which are probably higher). Alternatively the "instant gratification" of a new build may suit you better...

We are currently in a new build (a very nice one, but very limited potential), but are looking to sell and buy an older property that can grow with us over the next 30 years... The newbuild has been very good for us, but we need something else going forward (and couldn't afford a large 4/5 bedroom new build on a good sized plot in this area even if we wanted one - it would cost £1m+ :eek: )

QT

hamblettamaud

febop wrote: »

The man who had it before kept it in wonderfu condition and it still has all the period features and beautiful stained glass windows

but these are great selling points. a good kitchen can be put in for about £6,000. (i wish i could recommend homebase for that but i can't because in my case the salesman turned out to be a liar and a fraudster and honestly i won't say any more than that about him.)

Wickedkitten

Doozergirl wrote: »

Get 10,000 off the old house to cover that work. Honestly, bigger house, bigger garden? Negotiate. If the finished house is on for 149,000 then 135,000 doesn't stand up to it properly.

I can't believe you only got a grand off the new one.

Must try harder!

Yes yes yes, hell, it's not like you have to do all of the work in one go. Replace the kitchen with something that you can live with that is cheap for now and do the rest of the work as time and budget permits.

QTPie

Wickedkitten wrote: »

Yes yes yes, hell, it's not like you have to do all of the work in one go. Replace the kitchen with something that you can live with that is cheap for now and do the rest of the work as time and budget permits.

I think this is a really good point.

Originally when I was looking at older houses I was thinking how much it would cost (in total) to do it up as I liked... Now I think more realistically - "what can I live with for a while?" (and think of it as a longer term project). YES, I HAVE to get rid of the bright orange walls, BUT I can live with that "not ideal" kitchen and without an en-suite for a few years...

QT