Which property?

hethmar

Is there a third choice Genuinely, neither of these sound perfect for you do they? And whilst you wont get perfection, going for gold and ending up with silver or bronze is better than trying to decide between two bronze.

The terrace house wont sell well to a family with just a 10 ft garden. The detached house I get the feeling is in a dodgey area?

Id not jump at either of them if I were you, plenty of time to choose something that you are happy with.

typeractive

Thanks hethmar,

I'm going to look at these again tomorrow (as you know from my previous thread). I am swaying towards the terraced at the moment. There are quite a few properties alongside the house that have kids. It had a nice vibe of safety, you know when kids toys are left outside on the garden over night (not in a mess) - not sure if that well describes what I mean. It felt quite comfortable. I think it would be marketable to families.

I'll try not to jump into anything, though I am wanting to buy something for a low market value and hopefully adjust it as necessary over time / with my savings. I think these properties have a lot of potential in comparison to a lot of other properties I have considered. More rooms, garage, location close to a lot of local amenities - well within walking distance.

However I am not tyring to convince myself and I FULLY welcome everyone's thoughts. Thanks again

hethmar

I really wish you all the best, but remember its a buyers market at the moment and probably will be for the next few years. Dont buy something that doesnt really appeal to you strongly.

Enjoy your visits Oh and try to speak to the neighbours at both places. You never know what they may be like and as the houses are both empty you wont be able to ask anyone

typeractive

hethmar wrote: »

I really wish you all the best, but remember its a buyers market at the moment and probably will be for the next few years. Dont buy something that doesnt really appeal to you strongly.

Yeah, thanks for that. The first property (terraced) has fallen through sale now twice. It is up for 75k, the previous offer was 73k (allegedly), they have said the bottom figure they can take is now 71k. My original offer was 65k. I was hoping of going for 67.5k.. I'd like to go for less if I could (well I guess we all would like that)

Enjoy your visits Oh and try to speak to the neighbours at both places. You never know what they may be like and as the houses are both empty you wont be able to ask anyone

I will. My sister knows one chap that lives in the street. We have contacted him (he's lived there for years), and I asked quite a lot of questions. He said it all seems good. One grumpy neighbour at one end of the street over parking, though I'd be using the garage and as long as it's all safe and not on anyone else's property I couldn't care less about him. The other property - I think is a bit rough to be honest. It has a reputation, and although I don't think it's as bad as it was, it's still a bit of a rep. Don't get me wrong - it ain't the bronx! lol I ain't that mad.

alexlyne

Saw this thread and I'm intrigued... why did people pay 120K plus for these houses 2 years ago? what state were they in then? what have these people done to their homes?!!

I'm just interested to know, it's not that important really.

typeractive

alexlyne wrote: »

Saw this thread and I'm intrigued... why did people pay 120K plus for these houses 2 years ago?

I'm just guessing that it was purely the way the market was. I can't foresee any other reasons. My friend had planned to buy, rennovate and sell for a big profit. The market crashed, he ran out of finances and ended up repossessed

To be honest I err on the side of caution when buying a bloomin jacket! :rotfl: I could never see the property fetching his ideals, though it was too late.

what state were they in then? what have these people done to their homes?!!

I'm just interested to know, it's not that important really.

Well the one my friend bought was derelict. The other home (terraced) I can only imagine was mainly in need of modernisation and a bit of rennovation. It's much more structurally sound, and probably has an equal amount of work to complete.

typeractive

Well after viewing both properties today I'm more clear on the decision. My best mate (plasterer) and my uncle (brick layer) came with me to view the terraced. Then I went to see the detached with my mum and my uncle (plasterer knows that house inside out from all the work he did - so no need to come :rotfl:)

So:

Terraced,
Structurally sound, has a nice feel about the property, catches the sun nicely, views out onto a little turf of lawn, needs fully decorating, needs kitchen sorting (I need to look more into this as it has a lead pipe coming through to supply the water), central heating needs installing, rewired, and decor. Nice and quiet outside the front, even with a busy road, equally quiet out the back.

Detached.
Needs a lot of work doing on the outside of the building, needs ground works sorting / levelled throughout, paved, walled/fenced etc, needs central heating installed, needs kitchen fitted, needs bathroom fitted, needs decorating throughout, no garage. The view from the living room is not quite as nice - faces a large fence with the neighbours upstairs properties to look in and see what I'm eating for tea :rotfl:. The space that the property offers really is fantastic, making the property very verastile and open to lots of personalisation. The street was busy with lots of kids running around enjoying the sun swearing away and not caring

Summary:

Seems like a lot more work is needed with the detached. The area is less desireable. I also checked insurance quotes on my car for both areas just for more investigation, the detached is 11% more than I currently pay at home, the terraced is 6% more than what I pay at home. I think taking the detached house to the nicer location would be the key - purely because I love stuff like grand designs etc - shame it's not quite possible.

That advice of: "the cheapest house in the best location over the most expensive house in a rough area might just be true" There is still a lot of investigation I need to do, and prep myself to ensure the offer is correct. I need to discuss it with my best mate as we haven't had a chance to shoot the breeze and compare properly. As others have said not to rush into anything, I still think I need to move swiflty.

Thanks for all the help, support and advice people. It truly is appreciated when you take the time to read my enormously long threads / posts. It's difficult to not make posts sound biased when asking for advice and I try to weigh everything up.

Cheers :beer:

hethmar

I think your heart is clearly with the terraced house but do spend the weekend looking at anything else that is on the market, just in case something seems a better bet

Paley71

I'd say the terraced too.
We moved recently and were looking for a semi with a drive...ended up with an end terrace but it's in such a fantastic location that I smile to myself every morning when I open the curtains!

typeractive

hethmar wrote: »

I think your heart is clearly with the terraced house but do spend the weekend looking at anything else that is on the market, just in case something seems a better bet

Thanks hethmar. As it happens I have just spotted another property that is for sale within the same budgets - fresh on the market today. 3 bed semi detached, driveway, garage and a massive garden. Once more perhaps not in the most crediatble area, though it looks like it is no need of work - well certainly not like the others I have been looking at.

I'm just in the middle of drafting a response to the vendor of the terraced to negoriate on price. They want 71k at present, I offered 65k, I'd like to get them to 67.5k which is reasonable given the work and the fact that a lender may not give the monies until some work is carried out - work that I would be paying for. Thus being the case I am explaining that I would still be willing to carry out the work. Obviously I need to have some cash to be able to do that! If they want it shifting as it's just sitting there then surely that is in there interests. Is there anything else I can add that might help them accept my offer? Knowingly it is a buyers market and there are more properties out there - they know I have been looking at the other property also.

cheers