The other problem - sold but nowhere to go!

Doozergirl

What's in the centre of that 20 mile radius do you think? See if we can help you look

kiddy_guy

10 mile area radius from Wellesbourne.

Doozergirl

You probably will struggle at that price range, tbf if you don't want a new build. I can find a few that I'd be happy with on first glance but I'm not far away and my home is that price range and probably doesn't quite fulfill your ideal criteria. It had four beds, detached, plenty of parking, character, garden is ok, possibly a bit small, but the house is near the road which isn't a particularly quiet one although it's village. Whilst I'm happy with the dog and and the cat died of natural causes, the front garden is essentially a footpath round to the side. My house would easily be pushing £500k near Stratford so you're really pushing it on that side of the M40 unless you step into Worcs.

I had another house, even nearer Stratford. Good village, no parking, 3 bed semi, fabulous garden, loads of character, a lot smaller than my house now, identical in price. Was a struggle with 2 kids really.

Liked these on first glance but I don't really know the areas in any detail, I guessed at Lighthorne, so Wellesbourne isn't far.
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/new-homes/property-26771272.html?premiumA=true
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-32571977.html
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-31101899.html?premiumA=true
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-28044184.html
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-32591051.html
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-16626333.html
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-16974720.html

Can see such pretty, little houses in places like Barford, Snitterfield, Hatton, Claverdon etc and that's the area we centred our search when we first moved to the Midlands. And there's a reason we don't live there; because it's insanely expensive for character property.

What about somewhere by the motorway for ease of access, but outside the search zone, would you find something lovely there?

LittleMissAspie

tyllwyd wrote: »

I've seen a few people on the boards who have done that recently - but you need to be able to raise the deposit and mortgage on the new house without having access to the capital from your old one, so it isn't an option for everyone. And - especially at the moment - you are gambling that your original house will sell easily and at the price you want. It might work out, or it might be a very expensive mistake.

I know it will be difficult. Plan is to pay off first mortgage then live mortgage-free but saving up for next deposit, then borrow maximum allowed. Sell old house for as much as possible while selling within time allowed to avoid CGT. If it's a slow market you just have to drop the price. Then pay off some of new mortgage with proceeds. We'll end up in the same position but it means we can take our time choosing the next house. The worst mistake would be to be rushed into buying the wrong house because we're trying not to lose a buyer.

kiddy_guy

Doozergirl wrote: »

You probably will struggle at that price range, tbf if you don't want a new build. I can find a few that I'd be happy with on first glance but I'm not far away and my home is that price range and probably doesn't quite fulfill your ideal criteria. It had four beds, detached, plenty of parking, character, garden is ok, possibly a bit small, but the house is near the road which isn't a particularly quiet one although it's village. Whilst I'm happy with the dog and and the cat died of natural causes, the front garden is essentially a footpath round to the side. My house would easily be pushing £500k near Stratford so you're really pushing it on that side of the M40 unless you step into Worcs.

I had another house, even nearer Stratford. Good village, no parking, 3 bed semi, fabulous garden, loads of character, a lot smaller than my house now, identical in price. Was a struggle with 2 kids really.

Liked these on first glance but I don't really know the areas in any detail, I guessed at Lighthorne, so Wellesbourne isn't far.
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/new-homes/property-26771272.html?premiumA=true
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-32571977.html
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-31101899.html?premiumA=true
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-28044184.html
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-32591051.html
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-16626333.html
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-16974720.html

Can see such pretty, little houses in places like Barford, Snitterfield, Hatton, Claverdon etc and that's the area we centred our search when we first moved to the Midlands. And there's a reason we don't live there; because it's insanely expensive for character property.

What about somewhere by the motorway for ease of access, but outside the search zone, would you find something lovely there?

Thanks for going to the effort of looking. I've seen all of those, and just to give you an understanding of why they've all been passed or viewed:

First one is Banbury - outside of area, and going the wrong direction for both of us. The better half works in SW Brum.

No.2 has no garden. No. 3 is a good call - we actually viewed it, but the area is not great. No.4 has no garden.

No.5 is great - we've already got a viewing arranged.
No.6 is a bungalow - sorry I've should have caveated that I'm not an OAP and therefore bunga's are out!

No.7 again we've viewed and the 3rd bedroom is no more than a cupboard.

So of the 7, 1 is potentially good, we've viewed 2 others and ruled out. Of the remaining 4, 2 have no garden so to speak, 1 is out of area, and 1 is a bungalow.

I'll accept that the bunga is the only point that I should have previously raised. The rest are fair calls, but ruled out for various reasons sadly...Thanks though...keep 'em coming!

Doozergirl

Cool. Great feedback. Can you tell me where she works and where you work? I know where we're heading to house wise. Number 5 is SSTC tonight , the market has started moving again and the good stuff that has stuck for a few months is starting to sell.

Could work sometimes be work from home, commutable by train, visit clients via car directly from house? I think it will make a difference if she is working in Brum - you could potentially cut both commutes and find something more like 5, possibly even without the house attached?

kiddy_guy

Bromsgrove, Leicester.

Sadly both require us to work from our locations at these places which can only be accessed by car realistically. Home working is out...

Doozergirl

Well I know one of those areas quite well!

You can do a draw-a-search on rightmove. Have a look at living near to the M42 junctions as it will cut your commute times as you can travel faster on those roads. Google maps says it's 1hr 6minutes from Bromsgrove to Leicester, so whilst I'm sure it will take longer in rush hour, being near the motorway will cut 'faffing' time. So at the moment you're sharing a total commute time of over 2 hours, it possibly doesn't need to be so. And bear in mind that travelling West from Junctions 3a-1 of the M42 are quiet in the morning so you can do that section in 11 minutes So you can widen your search area probably, but it's probably fair to say that character properties don't come cheap and there aren't all that many of a decent size in that price range. I haven't looked much in the lower price ranges in your area, but look for houses with space to the side that you could possibly extend etc.

And also start to consider a more modern house in the areas too. It doesn't have to be 'new build' but that's the sort of house where your budget will stretch further in a 'character' area. There are some more modern houses that need a bit of work around Dorridge and Knowle. It wouldn't be half bad living in lovely areas like that with the amenities they provide, in a more modern house that perhaps you'd made your own.
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-23576107.html

Or start viewing more houses in a smaller area - I think your criteria is so wide that you need to start narrowing down on things more like schools and amenities and finding a genuine preference for an area.

I've been looking for sensibly sized four beds, admittedly, I think there's more than a few possibilities in the small three bed section of the market but with a growing family, I'd aim bigger to save yourself having to move again.

Do you really need to move? It sounds like you're not entirely sure and whilst you seem to have made a good deal, you're struggling to find what you need.

Shame I know a slightly different area than you're looking at. I could have been more help!

Doozergirl

I saw this and thought of you:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-16011030.html

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-28948150.html

There are a couple of other possibilities if you look at what else they have on - a couple of auction ones there.

cathh70

kiddy_guy wrote: »

Hi both

Thanks for the replies.

We can't flyer drop as we actually are relatively unfussed on location - anywhere from Warwick, Leamington, Stratford, Southam or outlying villages. The search is a 10 mile radius so covers 10 miles north, south, east, west from a central point. I'm relatively confident we've covered any search areas.

There is 1 maybe, but it's a point of last resort to some degree.

I'm hoping that somebody might be able to point me to a search engine/website for houses I don't know about already, or how I can find about repos/auctions or anything else that doesn't come to the "normal" places, like Rightmove etc...

Please be aware when choosing a location that the High Speed Rail Link will be routed through the area, especially near Southam, up past Kenilworth.
http://highspeedrail.dft.gov.uk/sites/highspeedrail.dft.gov.uk/files/HS2-ARP-00-DR-RW-04220.pdf