Dilemma over property offer

stormCat99

Hi,

I'll apologise up front if you read this and think, how long is a piece of string, as I know it is difficult to answer. But I'm just after some general feedback really as to people's opinions as we're really unsure.

We've been looking at properties on and off for around 2 years, and in the village we live in (and want to stay in) there has never been anything at all similar to one that just came on the market at the start of May. So we know it is very unique and will potentially attract a lot of interest because of it.

To explain, it is well located, but most importantly is on a VERY extensive plot, and has gorgeous uninterrupted views and is totally not overlooked. This is very very rare within the village - you usually have to go further out to a non-walkable distance to get anything like this.

At present, it's a 5 bed, dormer bungalow. On at £395k. This is pretty expensive - other 5 beds in the area are more £340k - £370k tops, in good condition. This one has not been touched for years, and although is structurally sound, needs total gutting - full redecoration in all rooms, new kitchen, bathrooms, plus rewiring. It also doesn't have double glazing and will not have good insulation.

That is the minimum anyone would have to do to it to make it truly liveable. However we also want to put an extension on. Have already talked to an architect, and in a couple of days we will be taking a builder round for a ball-park quote.

We're assuming it'll cost at the very least around £100k to do the extension, and totally redo the interior throughout, prob more. On top of current asking price this would be total of £495k for what would end up as a 4 bed house (one of the bedrooms is currently downstairs and would be redesignated), and really is extremely expensive for this area.

In one respect, it sounds mad for us to think of spending so much, but on the other hand we KNOW that nothing even vaguely similar IN THIS AREA has cropped up for over 2 years, which makes it extremely desirable to us. We'd be looking to buy to stay for years and years, rather than selling anytime soon.

So, really, I'm trying to work out how much we might go in at for an offer. Under normal circumstances, for a £395k house I'd maybe start around £350k. However even at that price, it is a lot for the state it's in - but then you're paying for the uniqueness, the views etc. Seems hard to quantify.

We're also aware there have been a LOT of viewings on it, cars coming and going all the time so not just EA hype. Others have obviously seen the same potential that we have. Plus not been on market long so vendor prob not overly 'desperate' right now.

Sorry if I've waffled, but given the above, what sort of asking price would you go in at? I don't want him to think we're not serious by going in too low, or indeed have someone else swoop in with a better offer, but also don't want to pay more than we have to (of course!) We won't be placing an offer until the builder has looked with us, but I'm assuming min £100k work for now and want to be prepared to place offer asap.

Thank you for reading!

1echidna

380k if I comfortably had the money for the purchase and work to done. I base this on what I guess the house is worth to you as an ideal for you to live in as a home for a long time. Just an opinion, but I would also think hard about whether your impression now is likely to last, and how comfortable you are about paying a market premium on getting what you ideally want.

stormCat99

Well neither of us are at all impulsive and would certainly not go in head first without thinking it through fully. However, having looked at so many properties over the last couple of years, we're in a position to be absolutely sure when we find something that meets all our requirements.

I suppose my main (only?) concern is that we may end up paying more overall (including renovation costs) for the house than anything equivalent. But then anything equivalent doesn't exist in the village so in a way, it is worth it to us. Trying to keep our sensible heads on though as well.

1echidna

Sounds reasonable to me. Good luck.

Catblue

Hard to find anything these days on a good sized plot - that alone might be why there are so many people interested. Might also appeal to developers who want to divide up the plot and stick more houses on the land.

If the house is in a conservation area (or if there are other planning restrictions in force) then you may not be able to extend as you had hoped. Speak to your local planning officer first.

£375K might be a good first offer if you are really set on the place.

stormCat99

Catblue wrote: »

Hard to find anything these days on a good sized plot - that alone might be why there are so many people interested. Might also appeal to developers who want to divide up the plot and stick more houses on the land.

If the house is in a conservation area (or if there are other planning restrictions in force) then you may not be able to extend as you had hoped. Speak to your local planning officer first.

£375K might be a good first offer if you are really set on the place.

There is a clause which prevents anyone from dividing the land or building lots of houses there, however we could do whatever we like to the house - including knocking it down and starting over (not that we'd do that), and of course subject to normal planning rules. No conservation area or anything but obviously would need to go through normal planning rules.

We're calling planning dept first thing to make initial enquiries, so fingers crossed with that.

We're both really excited to have found somewhere at last that seems ideal, however very frustrated that there are beautiful properties outside the village at less of a premium, but that is just how it is I suppose.

poppysarah

No other planning restrictions in force?

JayZed

I agree with the replies upthread - it's worth paying over the odds if it really is the place you want to make your home for years to come. It's clear you're not just falling in love with this place on a whim. So yes, I'd go in fairly high, perhaps £370K.

One question you should ask yourselves: how will you feel if you buy the property but end up being refused permission for the extension? Will it still be your dream home?

stormCat99

Just a quick update. We've spoken to the planning department and been able to confirm that there are definitely no planning restrictions in force. So our extension plans would just need to pass normal planning rules.

If we couldn't get planning permission at all, then I think yes we would be disappointed as there's really only room for 2 bedrooms (plus bathroom) upstairs at the moment. However, I'd hope that if there were any issues, we could rework things to come to some sort of compromise, after all we dont' want anything huge or unusual, we just want to finish off the dormer extension that has already been started on the property.

I'm quite surprised that the general feeling on here is that we wouldn't be completely mad to spend over the odds on this property - although glad as well! I can see it from one persepective with a clear head, and it does sound mildly absurd, but as you've all picked up, this is a very unique plot and a very unusual opportunity. I think we may well be putting an offer in on Friday, so it might turn out to be a long weekend

1echidna

I suspect that very few MSEs determine a specification for everything they want in life and then go out and then purchase at lowest cost. I suspect just about all of us have foibles, desire for a little bit of luxury, brand awareness etc and spend more than we strictly need on something or other and probably quite a few things To me, at least, it is not wasting money it is just living.