no gas and cess pit - what does that mean to me?

Greenwellies_2

WOW,

Thanks for the replies.

I went to view the property this morning.
It has a cesspool, at drains off the liquid, and the sludge gets removed once a year for about £80. So I'm not overly worried about that.
There is no central heating, the hot water is run by immersion heater :eek:
We like the house, but it needs a LOT of work.
Granny has lived their all her life and didn't heat it, so there are(quite) a few patches of damp in the bedrooms.

The house needs new electrics, some form of boiler/ heating, a makeover in the kitchen (cheap units (1980's), not thoughtfully placed).....

The roof is in good nick, the terrace had a fire (about 20 years ago) and the entire roof was replaced, and it looks very sound. no dips, no missing tiles etc.

The biggest concern is the sitting room, it's got exceptionally high ceiling, and a tiny window. therefore the natural light there is very poor. There is no obvious other way of putting light in, other than having lots of standing lamps!

My other concern is the valuation. The road it is on has homes that have sold for £2.6 M (fair enough!!!) down to these little cottages.
This one is on for £220k The houses either side, they've been extensively re-modelled and extended having a larger garden (they purchased part of the original garden for this house), but sold for £400K in 2007.....

Like everyone, I want to pay minimal for this, and the seller (daughter, Mum died; leaving home to her and Sister) We spoke about what she wanted for the house and she said she'd have to speak to sister, but if we offered 215, she'd accept.

I was thinking around 195..... but zoopla came back at 350!

I think it's another sleepless night....

Thanks

GW

withabix

Forget Zoopla - it's nonsense. I have an identical house to my next door neighbour. Because there is more sales history for the house next door, it is worth 40% more than mine, according to Zoopla :rolleyes:

Older 'cess pits' are very similar to septic tanks in the way they are used and maintained - ie they discharge liquid to the ground. Newer ones are fully sealed and these are the only type you can install now.

Oil is potentially a very expensive heat source, due to the fact that oils is priced in US Dollars, meaning that oil price to UK customers is affected by both the 'barrel' price and also the exchange rate.

You may be best going for NEW storage heaters and making sure that you are actually on an E7 meter. If you are re-wiring, you can get a dual circuit for the storage heaters - one circuit which only work on the E7 times and a second circuit for short boost periods of 'direct' heat. Similarly you need a time controller on your immersion heater and preferably a new tank with two elements at different levels in the tank - a lower one that only works at night and a higher one a 'boost' button.

A 1920s house MAY have cavity walls - our old 1902 house in Lytham did. However, early cavity walls may be unsuitable for insulation, as the cavity ties can encourage moisture tracking to the inner leaf from the outer - resulting in damp. All cavity insulation installers will do a fibre optic camera survey of the cavity and none will touch the job if the ties are anything less than perfect or have any mortar bridging.

Mary_Hartnell

Would this be the classic terrace layout:.
two up two down?
A stair in the middle and a half width galley kitchen sticking out the back into the rear "yard"?.
Is the bathroom, which must have been built later, on top of the kitchen or on the ground floor behind the kitchen?

The dark sitting room? Is this the front parlour?
Presumably you don't want to change the front appearance, by putting in a bigger window?
A lot of old cottages had a silver ball (a bit like an upturned gold fish bowl) on the front window cill in an attempt to get more light up to the ceiling

Mary

PS We are all making amazing assumptions about this place, perhaps it has been rendered or tile hung to keep out any damp?
I've a feeling that Greenwellies is no Sarah Beeny, nor has she shown someone with experience round it. We also need to know if she and her partner can survive 1 year of builders or 2 years of DIY, while keeping a marriage and job together?
Obviously we should not be given the actual address ('cos someone might nick it from under her nose) but perhaps Greenwellies could find something similar on one of the property sites, preferably one with a plan of each floor, and then we could give more creative advice.
A private message to Doozergirl, inviting her to join in the debate, might result in advice from someone with lots of practical experience.

As a long time house price bear, I'm wondering if the current government "Alice in Wonderland" adventure of printing 75,000.000.000 quid will result in a return to inflation and rising house prices.
After doing up a wreck, if you know what you are doing, means that you will have turned funny money into a home, using cheap builders and materials. However the job must be an investment to minimise future outgoings. cos this country is maxed out on its international credit card, and somehow we have all got to pay it back.

pawpurrs

If next door solf for 400k refurbished on first glance it doesnt sound overpriced to me, and the road sounds like its a nice area?

Greenwellies_2

Responses in pink

Mary_Hartnell wrote: »

Would this be the classic terrace layout:.
two up two down?
Nope! it's 'L' Shaped. the front of the house is wider than the back, with the sitting room at the front backing on to the neighbours property at the rear. The upstairs layout is identical too, so there is no flying freehold issue. So as you come into the property, there is the staircase to your side, sitting room to other side; the hallway to the kitchen behind the staircase, and the bathroom (Single storey extension) beyond the kitchen


The dark sitting room? Is this the front parlour?
Presumably you don't want to change the front appearance, by putting in a bigger window?
We could, if we found a builder who could do the work 'in keeping' with the cottage, without doing what the neighbours did and end up rendering the property!

A lot of old cottages had a silver ball (a bit like an upturned gold fish bowl) on the front window cill in an attempt to get more light up to the ceiling (I'll google that later)

Mary

PS We are all making amazing assumptions about this place, perhaps it has been rendered or tile hung to keep out any damp? Nope, brick, but it needs re-pointing
I've a feeling that Greenwellies is no Sarah Beeny, nor has she shown someone with experience round it. (Daughter of a surveyor, so have 'some insights')
We also need to know if she and her partner can survive 1 year of builders or 2 years of DIY, while keeping a marriage and job together? Done that with 2 small children, working all the hours God sent, then went on to have a surprise baby too

Obviously we should not be given the actual address ('cos someone might nick it from under her nose) but perhaps Greenwellies could find something similar on one of the property sites, preferably one with a plan of each floor, and then we could give more creative advice. I've seen one like this before, but it was a more modern council hose many years ago, I can't remember the area, but I'm sure that I've now described it as 'L' shaped, that'll help
A private message to Doozergirl, inviting her to join in the debate, might result in advice from someone with lots of practical experience.

As a long time house price bear, I'm wondering if the current government "Alice in Wonderland" adventure of printing 75,000.000.000 quid will result in a return to inflation and rising house prices. _ Flippin hope not, it's taken us ages to be able to move on the property ladder
After doing up a wreck, if you know what you are doing, means that you will have turned funny money into a home, using cheap builders and materials. However the job must be an investment to minimise future outgoings. cos this country is maxed out on its international credit card, and somehow we have all got to pay it back.
We're quite well versed on DIY, and know (good) electricians, roofer, We can fit kitchen, bathroom, flooring ourselves, know a plasterer, but it all come at a price, and that's why I do all this sort of research first before falling in love with a place, only to find it's too much. OH and I were talking today about what an aga would mean to us, we have limited amount of time as it is, plus the additional commute to London..... we'll be exhausted. However, on the up side, we now have a fairly grown up family now, so they'll be able to do their bit too (when they're not commuting too!!!

Thanks for this advice. It's good to talk to people so that I've not got a rose tinted view.



GW

Greenwellies_2

pawpurrs wrote: »

If next door solf for 400k refurbished on first glance it doesnt sound overpriced to me, and the road sounds like its a nice area?

It's quite rural, but has a pub and bus stop within walking distance. It's on a fast, but not necessarily busy road, and quite close to a tourist attraction

See your inbox.



GW

cte1111

The other problem with buying in a more out of the way place is actually finding builders to do the work needed. There are likely to be fewer firms in the area, and finding someone with space in their schedules might be difficult. So you could end up stuck for a while before you can get the work done.

My first house was a pretty cottage in a beautiful spot. I did find the darkness difficult to live with, and now live in an ugly 60s house with huge windows that is wonderfully light. I think if your instincts are saying no, then you should walk away from this house. There is no rush, as people are saying, house prices are unlikely to rise in the near future.

Mary_Hartnell

We also need to know if she and her partner can survive 1 year of builders or 2 years of DIY, while keeping a marriage and job together? Done that with 2 small children, working all the hours God sent, then went on to have a surprise baby too

Congratulations.
Am I right in understanding that a previous owner sold off the bit of garden behind the front room to next door?
What a pity?

Greenwellies_2

cte1111 wrote: »

There is no rush, as people are saying, house prices are unlikely to rise in the near future.

We are in a rush! our FTB want to get into our home, it's been best part of 2 months now, with nothing happening in our purchase chain (want to buy a cottage but people at the top of the chain will not be rushed into buying anything)

GW

Greenwellies_2

Mary_Hartnell wrote: »

We also need to know if she and her partner can survive 1 year of builders or 2 years of DIY, while keeping a marriage and job together? Done that with 2 small children, working all the hours God sent, then went on to have a surprise baby too

Congratulations.
Am I right in understanding that a previous owner sold off the bit of garden behind the front room to next door?
What a pity?

They certainly sold the garden, but I'm wondering whether they sold a room of the house too? I have no real idea, although the window for the neighbours house is in our garden, so in part I think it could have been?

GW