Updated****16/3 i've got one! I'm stressed, can't find anything to buy

teameffort

spirit wrote: »

Ok, it's between these 2 houses. Both are empty and keen to sell quickly.

this one has got a mahooosive garden (+ point) but is north facing. the kitchen is decent enough, replacement windows, heating system is fine. It need a bathroom as it has a 'champagne' coloured one - looks darker than champagne, more like biscuit really. Not such a brilliant area though. some ex council houses round the corner and within sniffing distance (when the wind is in the wrong direction) of the sewage treatment works on Lower Way.


http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-16154853.html

Or this one which is further away and not within sniffing distance. It's on an estate very popular with families for the Kennet school (not appliable for me) and is all privately owned and well kept. South facing garden of a decent size and looks out over a green. Bathroom is fine here but will need a kitchen in the not too distant future. Both houses have roughly the same size kitchen.

The only - point with this one is that it has no sitting room window at the front and has borrowed light from the internal double doors.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-32783603.html


Can i have people's opinions please?

There might not be any light at the front from the second property, is this due to the garage? if so you could always convert it to a bigger front room with window. but i would ave to say the first property feels more spacious, the kitchen is much better.

i know how hard it is to find what your after, we've looked at loads and they are all in need of major building work , still i'm sure i'll get a feeling when the right one comes along, as will you. Good Luck

spirit

Thanks everyone, I'm still mulling it over. I went back to property 2 yesterday- the one with the integral garage. It is dark in the living room and even if you used the dining room end as the sitting room, you'd still have a dead area by the stairs.

On another part of the estate, some people have converted the garage into the kitchen and have an L shaped sitting/ dining room. That would be quite expensive to do. The other thing that concerned me is the neighbouring houses don't look that well looked after. the adjoining house has a beaten up old car on the drive, curtains that are never drawn etc.


http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-18144279.html
This is a house round the corner from property one. This one is advertised £1k cheaper than prop 1 yet it has a garage. these owners have taken out the kitchen/dining room wall to make a bigger kitchen/diner.

If I go for prop 1 it would be a private sale as I found out about it from our work intranet. I placed a wanted ad and the owner contacted me direct. He said his contract with his agent had expired even though that agent had shown someone else round yesterday. so, given that my own selling agent thinks it's on for too much, what would be a good offer?

There's one final property to consider, I'm seeing this one tomorrow.
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-
18166650.html


It's nearer to my original brief of a 2 bed and price range, this one doesn't have a garage but at that price I could afford to put one in. It's a quiet road too which is great for me and the cats.

ClareyFairy

That house u mention which is round the corner with the wall removed between the dinner and kitchen is the one I like, as mentioned above, could still negotiate on price... but at the end of the day I;d go with your gut instinct and which house ticks the most boxes for you.

Consider whether you mind doing work ... new garage, bathroom, changing layout or whether this move is about relaxing and enjoying your house.

Good Luck with your search I hope u find the one thats right for you

peaches48

:T:)

spirit wrote: »

rightmove.co.uk/ property-for-sale/property-18144279.html

This is a house round the corner from property one. This one is advertised £1k cheaper than prop 1 yet it has a garage. these owners have taken out the kitchen/dining room wall to make a bigger kitchen/diner.

If I go for prop 1 it would be a private sale as I found out about it from our work intranet. I placed a wanted ad and the owner contacted me direct. He said his contract with his agent had expired even though that agent had shown someone else round yesterday. so, given that my own selling agent thinks it's on for too much, what would be a good offer?

Definitely this one!.... The work has been done, you have a garage, conservatory and a beautiful kitchen. The road also seems much quieter. The back garden has some nice trees and shrubs that screens you from your neighbours. Internally it looks as if it has been recently decorated and the colour scheme is not 'in your face' so you can move in and redecorate as and when you feel like it.
The only quibble I would have (but that's me), is that the garage is detached; I would guess that the side entrance was not wide enough to build it at the side of the house. Is there enough room for you to drive your car easily into the garage when it's dark (possible to have flood lights to assist), always assuming you like to put your car away at night.... if not the garage is ample space for storing or turning into an office.
I don't know what the average price for houses are in that particular road, but doing a search for your neighbours houses at the The Land Registry or 192.com should give you house sold prices of them and the date.
Have you viewed this one at different times of the day.... commuter time and school out runs. And as you are close to the A4.... have you heard any traffic noise from there?

Best of luck....

spirit

ClareyFairy wrote: »

That house u mention which is round the corner with the wall removed between the dinner and kitchen is the one I like, as mentioned above, could still negotiate on price... but at the end of the day I;d go with your gut instinct and which house ticks the most boxes for you.

Consider whether you mind doing work ... new garage, bathroom, changing layout or whether this move is about relaxing and enjoying your house.

Good Luck with your search I hope u find the one thats right for you

Good points CF, Ashbourne way is for sale with the same agent who has sold my house and who is selling the one I'm looking at tomorrow. I'll sound the agent out when I see him.

I don't mind doing work, I never take decoration into account when viewing houses since I do all that myself. When I bought this house 10 months ago, it had not been touched since new 30 years ago. It needed everything doing from electrics, windows, kitchen and bathroom. When I moved in I had everything bar the absolute essentials put in the garage. I lived for 6 weeks with a mattress on the bedroom floor since I had workmen in. I had floorboards up by the sparky, windows out, 2 internal walls bashed down.

So i don't mind doing work. I love painting, sanding down etc.

SuzieSue

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-18144279.html

I like this one, especially the kitchen diner. The only thing that would put me off would be that the sink is so far from the cooker.

Rautavaara

I too cannot find anything to buy. Those that I have liked, have had some sort of problem that would be risky for a first time buyer. London is such a rip-off. It can make things quite depressing at times.

angel1976

I posted earlier on this thread. We finally had our offer accepted on a house we saw 3 months ago. The vendors were hell-bent on getting a certain price for their house and we already offered our max so today, they finally called to say they will take our offer! :T I can't believe it as we loved it from day one, been to see a lot more houses but kept coming back to this one...

Rautavaara I saw you on other threads but can't remember what the story with you is. Whereabouts are you buying in London? We are in SE London.

Rautavaara

angel1976 wrote: »

Rautavaara I saw you on other threads but can't remember what the story with you is. Whereabouts are you buying in London? We are in SE London.

Hi - I'm looking in west/south-west London. It's tricky for me as I can't be too far out from central or where I work as I can't drive at the moment for medical reasons, so good transport links are essential.

I'm starting to think that despite what is happening in the rest of the UK I am still priced out of the market here in London, even with a deposit over £70K And all I want is a one bedroom!

angel1976

*Rautavaara* That's mad! Have you looked at Earlsfield? I think it's only a stop out from Clapham Junction but very cheap for London as it has no tube... A friend of ours lived there and it seemed a nice, overlooked part of London... How long have you been looking for? You have a good deposit. Good luck!