Viewing a house

System

The house is over the road from me, the old lady commited suicide a couple of years after her hubby died (about 6 monthls ago). She suffered from depression after he died which i think reflected in the house. They lived in the same house as long as i remember, about 30 years. They only have one child, she is older than me. The family had money but obviously didnt want to spend it which is reflected in the house. The house will still be on the market in 10 years time unless they drop the price as i have seen far nicer houses in the area for just an extra 10k more. To be honest, i think they are just jumping on the bandwaggon - ask as much as they can, for as little as possible.

FJSRiDER

Judi wrote:

i think they are just jumping on the bandwaggon - ask as much as they can, for as little as possible.

It is their house and it is their prerogative - and you would probably do the same in their position wouldn't you? :rolleyes:

System

FJSRiDER wrote:

It is their house and it is their prerogative - and you would probably do the same in their position wouldn't you? :rolleyes:

Yes and no.

I have had my house valued by 3 different companies. The values vary by as much as £5,000. I havent put it on the market yet, but when i do i will want to sell it. I will use those quotes as my guide. I will settle for a middle figure. Its quite obvious by the estate agent who was selling the house we had viewed, that they hadnt been guided by the estate agents valuation (If you remember, i was told by the estate agent that they would have put a more realistic figure on the house - roughly £150k). My main gripe though was the outbuildings they had used to promote the sale of the house, needed tearing down. Yes, the house was mainly double glazed, but they needed replacing too as the seals had gone on several of the windows.

dougk_2

You have to remember you are paying for the land as well as the house. How much are building plots in the area - how big is the garden? The outbildings are there so can be replaced/repaired.... you may not need planning permission to do that, but if they were not there you may have trouble getting the PP!

Also just beacuse a house doesn't have UPVC windows doesn't mean they need to be replaced - the broken sealed units can be replaced without the frames. Personally speaking I don't like UPVC!

Maybe the house was overpriced but offer £100k would be an insult!

System

Doug, your right, it did have a large garden. I will give it that. Anyone know what land is worth?

FJSRiDER

Judi wrote:

I have had my house valued by 3 different companies. The values vary by as much as £5,000. I havent put it on the market yet, but when i do i will want to sell it. I will use those quotes as my guide. I will settle for a middle figure.

A £'5k' variation is nothing on a £150k house. Look at the local property pages and talk to people selling their houses you may find the 'real' price to be different. A house is worth exactly what someone else will pay for it not what a third party thinks it is 'worth'.

Judi wrote:

Its quite obvious by the estate agent who was selling the house we had viewed, that they hadnt been guided by the estate agents valuation (If you remember, i was told by the estate agent that they would have put a more realistic figure on the house - roughly £150k). My main gripe though was the outbuildings they had used to promote the sale of the house, needed tearing down. Yes, the house was mainly double glazed, but they needed replacing too as the seals had gone on several of the windows.

None of that matters - if you had somewhere else to live, didn't 'need' the money you would also ask as much as you could for an empty property -wouldn't you?

System

Guys, i thankyou for putting me right on a few areas, but i still wouldnt buy it. Someone will though no doubt.

dougk_2

Judi wrote:

Doug, your right, it did have a large garden. I will give it that. Anyone know what land is worth?

This could be why the owners have in their minds priced it high.... it may be possible (if they believe permission would be granted) to build an additional house on the site , or demolish and redevelop.

Land prices vary form area to area... a plot big enough to build 4 houses here near Reading could go for anything up to £600k for instance.

nbt

Doug's got a point. there's a 4 bed detached house near us that would normally be worth around 500k - sorry, that would normally be marketed for 500k or so. it's on the martket for around one million, the idea being that the purchaser will tear it down and build on the rather extensive plot, the sale being subject to PP being approved.

It's been on for a few months now, maybe because there's currently a moratorium on new build in the area!

System

One other point, MrJudi did ask the estate agent what it would be worth when all the work was done, and she reconed it would go for £200,000.

So we would need to spend less than £20,000 to break even as to what it would be worth. (if that makes sense?)