First time buyer... safe investment?

Pavel_S

Hi everyone,

I've made my final choice between two properties, one is in Bishops Itchington, another is in Mickleton in the Cotswolds.

Both are almost the same price (within 3%) and both have a lot of plus and minus points. My question is which is better in terms of an investment?

The house in Bishops Itchington is almost perfect, it is a 2 bedroom end terrace 100 year old cottage, with GCH, double glazing a conservatory and two double bedrooms. It needs no modernization whatsoever.

The one in Mickleton is a 2 bedroom terraced house, about 25 years old. It has single glazed windows, old storage heaters, needs a bit of a lick of paint, but has a very nice kitchen, has a wooden office-type outbuilding in its garden, and has a garage with light and power.


I realise that's a brief summary, but in terms of what's happening with prices, I would expect that the Mickleton house would be much easier to sell on in the future, even if it might not be the better one to live in at present.. Would its lack of GCH and Double glazing be a serious negative when it comes to selling it?

I'm just wondering how different these two would be in terms of investment.. Is a Glos postcode and Cotswolds location really a guarantee of price stability? (They seem to have decreased much less than in places in South Warks).

Cheers,
Pavel

DVardysShadow

Your question is unanswerable. The immediate surrounds make a tremendous difference as do the communities and the general locations. Schools too, but you are vulnerable to a change of Headmaster - schools can become unfashionable quickly. And the time-scale over which you consider the investment is also relevant.

BitterAndTwisted

Is there such a thing as a "safe investment"? Even the price of gold can go down. Why not buy a lovely house that you want to be happy living in?

gallygirl

I would not consider buying a modern house without DG & GCH unless the cost of adding these (plus the disruption) was factored into the price. How much will you need to spend on Mickleton to bring it up to standard (now add 40-50% as we always underestimate ). Does that cost plus asking price still make it reasonably priced?

DK why you think Mickelton would be easier to sell on if 1st one is almost perfect & certainly sounds more attractive .

Go with the one your heart says.

JoolzS

Buy the property that you can see being a home in 15 years time.

Your current plans may be to move in five years, but plans can get scuppered and you can end up living in the same place for many years. This happened to me - and I am so happy that I bought a home, rather than a house, around fifteen years ago! That home is a smallish flat - but it is big enough for DH and I, and has been for all those fifteen years (I think it's actually been eighteen years).

We have nice neighbours, good parking, a huge kitchen for the size of the place, and whenever we've considered moving we've looked at around five or six properties and realised that it simply isn't worth the cost (both on the mortgage and actual moving costs) to leave our lovely, occasionally slightly too small flat.

I also just re-read the original post - I would never, ever, ever again buy a property with night storage heating unless I had the money to replace it on the day I moved in.

Julie

Pavel_S

I think the dilemma here is that the house in mickleton is in a place I'd like to live in, and has a garage (very important as I like to tinker with cars), but the actual house itself inside, the one I'd want to live in (and that is better fitted out etc.) is the one in bishops itchington.

That's what makes it difficult is that there's not one thats a sensible and one an intuitive choice, they're both a compromise, which is why I wanted to see what each one is like in terms of an investment (since I'll have to figure out for myself which one I want to live in most!)

Thanks everyone for your replies so far

Pavel

DVardysShadow

OK, because you cannot decide in terms of your needs being met, you are looking at the investment potential. I would suggest that you refactor your requirements as needs and wants and you choose the one which meets all of your needs and most of your wants. Or you look further.