Which of the following houses do you like best?

Strapped

car25 wrote: »

Jody, I used to do a paper round to the lane on your "really would like to live" house, does the garden have an entrance onto the footpath by the school? I think it could have been the doctors house/surgery (going back a fair few years now).

The flat roof on the extension would put me off house 2.

Do you live in the area currently? Your house no. 3 and no. 4 would I fear suffer from aircraft noise due to flight path and the proximity of the runway.

No. 5 you would probably hear motorway noise/hum.

I was going to say the same re. aircraft noise for #4 particularly. Not the peaceful secluded location I think you're looking for!

I like the look of house #1 but it's on the main drag through Smallfield, and also I notice that the garden faces east, which would be a deal-breaker for me. (I know, so fussy ).

Strapped

You might want to check this out: http://www.gatwickairport.com/Documents/Noise/2009%20Noise%20Contours.pdf

Loanranger

The "kitty" is a cushion ...
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33901012.html

namecheck

1 or 4 (from a quick look). However, I don't know the area - or what you would be looking for (eg large garden, number of bedrooms etc etc).

girl_withno_name

Loanranger wrote: »

The "kitty" is a cushion ...
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33901012.html

Why "kitty"? The same cat appears in three different pictures in different positions, so it'd have to be a pretty mobile cushion!

Uk_Lover

3 for me, loads of potential (loft extention etc)

I also like your last one.
If it were me looking at that price range I'd be looking for properties that may have some land to sell off to a developer. Around my way which isn't that far from there all the houses like these have filled in the gaps between each house. Obviously you lose a bit of land and privacy but it could mean that house you thought you couldn't afford suddenly becomes viable.

JodyBPM

car25 wrote: »

Jody, I used to do a paper round to the lane on your "really would like to live" house, does the garden have an entrance onto the footpath by the school? I think it could have been the doctors house/surgery (going back a fair few years now).

The flat roof on the extension would put me off house 2.

Do you live in the area currently? Your house no. 3 and no. 4 would I fear suffer from aircraft noise due to flight path and the proximity of the runway.

No. 5 you would probably hear motorway noise/hum.

I used to go to Dr Wilox at the surgery when I was a child. I don't think this house is the old surgery, but a very similar one in the same road. Perhaps next-door?

I agree that the flightpath is a concern for No.4 (I didn't mention that as its local knowledge, that I couldn't expect people online to know, but I know the area well and am aware of it) I wouldn't have thought it was so much of a problem for house 3. TBH, in this area between the M23, M25 and Gatwick there's always likely to be some level of noise, which we are prepared for, and I think we'd take each house on a case by case basis making sure we listen out for any noises during viewings. To be honest, the reason we are probably favouring Smallfield as a location is because you can get *considerably* more for you money there than in surrounding areas partially because of the noise form the airport/M23 and partially, I suspect, because its a slightly charmless village, with all the inconvenience of being far away from stations etc, but without the chocolate box prettiness of other villages. We're OK with that, we think its a reasonable trade, its a pleasant enough location, and one we are comfortable and familiar with, and are prepared to put up with the downsides for a better property and garden.

All in all I think (excluding the one I can't afford) I think that No.4 is probably the best option, but I think that relative to the other things on the market (and in view of the aircraft noise) its quite severely overpriced. I'd probably not really feel that it was our "forever" house, and I don't think I'd want to pay more than around £350Kish for it. Number 3 is a strong contender too, but I worry about the costs mounting up in view of the amount of work needed.

JodyBPM

Uk_Lover wrote: »

3 for me, loads of potential (loft extention etc)

I also like your last one.
If it were me looking at that price range I'd be looking for properties that may have some land to sell off to a developer. Around my way which isn't that far from there all the houses like these have filled in the gaps between each house. Obviously you lose a bit of land and privacy but it could mean that house you thought you couldn't afford suddenly becomes viable.

I'm very drawn to no 3 too, and I think if you could put a loft extension in it could be fabulous. I think this one probably has the potential to be a forever home, but asking price plus cost of renovations plus cost of extension might become unaffordable for us.

We particularly want a large garden and a more secluded location, so I wouldn't really want to sell off land for building tbh.

Uk_Lover

We particularly want a large garden and a more secluded location, so I wouldn't really want to sell off land for building tbh.[/QUOTE]


Fair enough, was just an idea.
to me 3 doesn't look too bad inside. Needs updating ( Kitchen , Batrhroom, decorating) so wouldn't have to cost that much. You don't have to spend 20k on the kitchen to make it look nice.
The gardens and the pure size of the plot is what makes it so appealing to me. Wish i had a spare 400k !!

JodyBPM

Uk_Lover wrote: »

We particularly want a large garden and a more secluded location, so I wouldn't really want to sell off land for building tbh.

Fair enough, was just an idea.
to me 3 doesn't look too bad inside. Needs updating ( Kitchen , Batrhroom, decorating) so wouldn't have to cost that much. You don't have to spend 20k on the kitchen to make it look nice.
The gardens and the pure size of the plot is what makes it so appealing to me. Wish i had a spare 400k !![/QUOTE]

And I'd say a very sensible idea for most people, but we're a welly boot wearing, chicken keeping type of family, and the big draw about house 3 is, as you say, the gardens and the size of the plot. I'd be inclined to think that if this house was in a standard 100' plot, I wouldn't have even considered it. I think it is still a valid consideration if it became our "forever" home - what we love in our 30s may well become too much in our 50s/60s and I guess there could always be the possibility of building a house for one of the children in the garden if they/we were so inclined when they are grown up and settling down with families of their own!