Should we go ahead?

going2die_rich

mr.broderick wrote:

Ive never bought a house as an investment, always as a home.

Yes but a good home is an investment as it means others will want it for the fact it's a good home so pay more when you want to sell.

Hence the reason you get some areas more expensive than others even though they were built at the same time and are of the same size but one has no or little crime while the other is a bad area to live in so makes people want to avoid it therefore pay more for that nicer area.

Dan29

sandraa wrote:

Hi everyone...

My husband and I are in a tricky situation and really could do with some sound advises!

We are in the process of buying our first home, the offer has been accepted, mortgage arranged, solicitors are working on our case and we are waiting for exchange of contract.

THE PROBLEM:

This is a 2 bed terrased house in a "nice" estate in surrey. Well we though nice but we just realised by speking to neighbours that it is actually about 50% owned by the council. AND the houses on both sides of the properties are still owned by the council.

We contacted estate agent about it and discovered that it is in fact an ex-council house. And we were not told before, neither was it spotted during surveying.

We are now thinking about pulling off has we believe it is a risky investment and it is over priced.

It was on the market for £212000 and our offer was accepted at £206000.
But we did not know that it was an ex-council house in a council estate!

Should we lower our offer? If so by how much?
Or should we just pull out?

PLEASE HELP WE ARE SOOOOOO CONFUSED!!!!


Thank you for your time. :A

Assuming you do still want to live there, unless it's substantially cheaper than other similar, non ex-LA, houses in the area, I'd reduce the offer to a level comparable with similar ex-LA houses in the area.

I think the fact you weren't given the full information about the house is a good reason to reduce your offer.

I'm afraid that whatever the individual views of people here about council houses, you will find it more difficult to sell than a non ex-LA house, or will at least have to put it on the market at an appropriate level when you do decide to sell, as obviously you're better off being honest in your description of it.

If house prices fall during the time you live there, this may make it even more difficult to sell as the difference in asking price between your house and other similar, non ex-LA, houses will be less.

going2die_rich

mr.broderick wrote:

mmm thats interesting thinking about a £16000 chip cause of an old car parked in neighbouring drive, my mum is currently selling her house for £357000..next door has a g reg nissan micra what the old lady uses to go to the shops gonna tell my mum to get her to shift it !!

I don't think her decision to drop the price by £16k was based on the car, more it being an ex council property therefore having the chance that other council owned properties may have the sort of neighbours you'd rather avoid.

If a street was full of brand new cars obviously you'd think it was a good area. It's only natural to gage the street by the others already there.

sandraa_2

mr.broderick wrote:

mmm thats interesting thinking about a £16000 chip cause of an old car parked in neighbouring drive, my mum is currently selling her house for £357000..next door has a g reg nissan micra what the old lady uses to go to the shops gonna tell my mum to get her to shift it !!

I know many people making lower offer or simply being put off by neighbourinh crappy car!

If I had a house worth £357000 and was selling it... I would seroiusly think about renting a bmw and park it in my driveway...

Silly but it might work :rotfl:

sandraa_2

going2die_rich wrote:

I don't think her decision to drop the price by £16k was based on the car, more it being an ex council property therefore having the chance that other council owned properties may have the sort of neighbours you'd rather avoid.

If a street was full of brand new cars obviously you'd think it was a good area. It's only natural to gage the street by the others already there.

You are absolutly right!

sandraa_2

going2die_rich wrote:

I don't think her decision to drop the price by £16k was based on the car, more it being an ex council property therefore having the chance that other council owned properties may have the sort of neighbours you'd rather avoid.

If a street was full of brand new cars obviously you'd think it was a good area. It's only natural to gage the street by the others already there.

You are absolutly right!

undercoat11

Just wanted to add that our neighbours have a beautiful brand new Mercedes. Their house is immaculate. However, they are the nastiest and most unneighbourly people I have ever had the misfortune to meet - so don't judge a book by its cover!

Red_Panda_2

Hi, I have just moved from a rented house on a nice new housing area where they all have nice flash cars and all looks very posh, but a lot of the houses were rented out and some of the tenants were a nightmare, revving cars all night, loud music etc.
I have just bought my first house which is an ex-council where its about 50/50 council tenants and owned. The council are putting new roof tiles on the still council houses so you can now tell which are which and it has surprised me that some of the houses with the nicest people, lovely well looked after gardens are still council. I dont think just because they are council to assume they are going to be trouble.
Also with the ones still owned by the council you have to remember they have to abide by certain rules/guidelines and if there are problems you have somewhere to compain to. Unlike private owned houses, who can you complain to if they are the neighbours from hell??
My mum has been a council tenant her entire life, and has never upset or caused any problems, just keeps herself to herself.

undercoat11

Have to agree, Red Panda. Our neighbours are owner occupiers - loud music and their kids hanging around outside - snogging on our drive! There is no one to complain to because if you do, you can't sell your house afterwards! At least if they had been council tenants we could have done something about it, but we are a bit stuck really. The snogger has since grown up a bit, and must now snog in the house, because she hasn't frequented our drive recently!

PoorDave

In my experience, living in a "council estate" type area, you are not up against just the tenants who still rent in the area, and thus may not have the best interests of your house as an investment at heart, some of the owners in such an area bought using the "right to buy" scheme for council tenants. These people (in my street, in some cases) still don't treat the area the same way you would if it was more of a "leafy suburb".

For reference, we live in an ex-council 3 bed house. Most of our neighbours are nice enough, but it only takes a few bad houses (and the crowds of people, inc police!) this can attract, to make you want to move. So we're going to.