I found a nice house with low energy efficiency, should I buy it?

mitchaa

Tojo..Do not let a few select wrist slitters on MSE influence your decision into buying a house.

Lots of IFS in their arguments, none of them have crystal balls. They do not know the area or type of house etc, so none are qualified bar you into the decision making process.

If i were an anonymous 1st poster on here where no-one knew anything about me and i informed the board that i had bought early 2007, 99.9% of the posts heading my way would be telling me that i was now in 20% negative equity.

Of course, complete rubbish, but it's the point of my post.

toja

Mitchaa (are you in Mitcham?) – in the middle of 2007 I desperately wanted to get on the property ladder and was considering to buy small studio flat in purpose built block with electric heating, because that was the only property I could afford. Thanks God I did not buy, as it would have been rubbish which ever way you look at it.

House prices will probably drop further but 1) I will be not wasting for rent 2) I will be benefiting from fixed low interest mortgage which are available now 3) my family will benefit from more quality life (at least we will have space for the 2nd baby).
Anyway, probably I should not be explaining myself about these personal points here…

What matters now most: will low energy efficiency result in high maintenance cost, need of expensive improvements and the property being not attractive to buyers when I want to sell it later.

penguine

I like characterful Victorian properties but I take the energy efficiency ratings pretty seriously. Gas prices rocketed up last year and although they have now gone down (somewhat) I have some concerns they'll go again in the future, so when we're ready to buy a house I expect we will probably go with one that can be more easily insulated.

However I agree with those who say you should be worrying more about falling house prices than the energy efficiency ratings. House prices always go down in a recession -- they're interlinked with the wider economy. In the 1990s house prices fell for several years then remained stable for several years before going back up again. This time around, with banks and even some countries pushed to the brink of economic collapse, is not likely to be any different.

Rent is not wasted money when house prices are falling several percentage points every month.

toja

I am looking at other properties but this one i still like it.

mambury

toja wrote: »

I am looking at other properties but this one i still like it.

If you like it buy it!

I live in a stone built cottages built approx 1800/1850 (no one really KNows!)
and the walls are 3 foot thick solid stone. Its cool in the summer and it might not be that warm in the winter, we have several drafts!

BUt I love it. Its my HOME not just a house.

If you feel you can live there long term, buy it
If you are worried in anyway about loosing money on it, don;t buy it.

Everytime I moved and bought a house I did so because I loved the house, area etc not to make money. We were lucky that we did make money, but thats a plus and its only a number on a peice of paper at the end of the day.

Let me know what you decide.......

I;d love to know.

Mambury

Really2

toja wrote: »

Thanks for your posts, guys.

Actually, I really like the property the way it is, but I need to think of the maintenance cost and that I will be selling it in the future. Rating F will not help much as it is below England average. I also must admit that my husband is not a handy man, so if we want to improve efficiency, we will have to hire DYI for every single work to be done.

I am not interested in “new” properties, as I live in one of these now and I hate it. It looks quite ok inside but I hate electric heating and dampness. The property prices might drop further but I have 50k for deposit and 1 year old baby and I more care about the family’s healthiness and happiness, to be honest.

I quite sure the price can be negotiated in respect to the rating as there will be many things in need of modernisation. The first thing we will have to do loft and hot water tank insulation, then sort out with boilers (which are two separate for hot water and heating), then put regulated radiators and room thermostat, and then to think how to insulate outer walls. This property is freehold so I will be organising works without someone’s pressure.

The pipe does not scare me that much as I am not planning extension but might scare someone who will buy after me (?).

I rate energy efficiency as a future sticking point and should be looked at when "pricing a house"

I have a modern 5 bed detached and it costs around £80 Per month to run during winter.
My brother as a 17th century 3 bed ex-farm house (about half the size of my house) around £400 per month during winter (yes it as gas central heating)

Also the maintenance on that house is a lot more as old houses need constant attention.

So it depends you can have your old country cottage dream.... But running it can be a nightmare:)

Don't go in-between 1950-late 70's they truly are appalling

Davesnave

Really2 wrote: »

Don't go in-between 1950-late 70's they truly are appalling

Can we have a bit more info to back that up?

Obviously, if you go very much pre-War you'll likely have no cavity wall, and there are even some 50s houses round our way which are solid, but I can't see what's particularly odd about this 'age-group.'

My last house was in the middle band D and fell into this group. If I'd done the cavities, increased the loft insulation & changed the boiler, it would have been at least C, but I sold it instead.:D

What's appalling is the overall construction standard of some new builds, though of course there are others that are fine, because you just can't generalise. A bit of Googling will begin to reveal some builders to avoid, though thanks to the complexities of sub-contracting, standards site to site, and even phase to phase, may vary a lot.

Really2

Davesnave wrote: »

Can we have a bit more info to back that up?

.

Mainly to do with the suspended wooden floors (When its windy it does cool the house)
also the woodwork in general of thouse era of houses was poor (mainly due to not using properly seasoned timber) so the wood does tend to warp and creak a hell of a lot.

I am not saying 50-70s houses are less efficient than older ones just that the build is not great mainly due down to poor woodwork.

So sorry not great was a general coment not really regarding energy efficiancy.

Davesnave

Really2 wrote: »

Mainly to do with the suspended wooden floors (When its windy it does cool the house)
also the woodwork in general of thouse era of houses was poor (mainly due to not using properly seasoned timber) so the wood does tend to warp and creak a hell of a lot.

I am not saying 50-70s houses are less efficient than older ones just that the build is not great mainly due down to poor woodwork.

So sorry not great was a general coment not really regarding energy efficiancy.

OK I understand regarding the suspended floors. I had half & half, but it was a mixed blessing because I needed to increase ventilation under the wood floors because of the radon.

OP is talking about a first floor flat. I once had a Georgian 5th floor (penthouse :rotfl:) flat which was never very cold thanks to everyone else's heat coming up from below. Good tomatoes & sunbathing on the lead bit between the two roofs as well!

energysavingguy

I have found that the Energy performance certificate that I had done for my home was of great use. I'm set to save massive amounts in the future on the few changes that had been highlighted to me.