Kerb appeal?

DuckEggGingham

Hi all!

We are starting to look at properties as FTB's. We have found a house that ticks every box, there is nothing I would change in it, we could move right in and start our lives.

I am just trying to work out if kerb appeal is important to me. It is an ex council house which does not bother me in the slightest as we love the size of the rooms that these properties tend to have. But in the area we are looking some of the old council houses are not the prettiest

I am so far from a 'snob' its unreal, common as muck me lol! So why am I shying away from what would be a perfect house over the kerb appeal?

We are on a very small budget and understand we have to compromise on some stuff due to our budget, is kerb appeal one of those compromises?

Is kerb appeal important to you?

I have also noted from the sold house prices that this house sold for approx 25k more then any other house back in 2007 and the asking price of this house now compared to others is beyond the 'top' end and because of what was paid in 2007 I have a feeling the sellers wont be able to afford to drop to what the other houses are tending to sell for yet we have a mind (if decide this is the one) to go in and offer about 20K less then its listed, but arrggh I will stupidly feel so bad doing that! The vendors are really nice! I am going to be lousy at this house buying lark, I just know it

Sorry for the very newbie questions/thinking aloud!

Ciderarmy1987

The main problem that you have to consider here is not how much things are going to bother you but will they bother people who you will want to sell to in the future.

If other houses on the street are run down with rubbish outside etc that is usually not a good sign.

We saw a house very similar to this and we spent an hour after work sat in our car talking to people as they came home. Very glad we did as we got a lo of negative responses and decided against moving forward with the house.

If you do decide that you are still sure about the house then it is important that you decide on a max price and stick to it. Somebody elses bad luck/timing shouldn't mean that you are out of pocket. But to be honest even if you do agree a price if it is too high the banks wont agree to lend you the money anyway,

Look carefully at sold prices of similar houses and use this to decide what your max should be, as this is what a valuer is going to do!

Good luck with whatever decision you decide to make

mrsbmartin

Worry less about the exterior of the house and more about the area...does it feel safe? What is it like at midnight on a Saturday night? What comes up when you google that street and the ones adjacent? What are the prices like for houses of a similar size 10 streets along?

In the village we are looking to buy in the typical house for our budget is a classic 2 up, 2 down cottage with a small yard in a basic state of repair. However, there is an ex council estate just 4 mins walk from the village centre where we could get a large 3 bed that was modernised and still have £20k left in the budget. The area is full of scruffs that are happy to leave mattresses outside the house etc - it's honestly the case that you turn a corner and walk out of the chocolate box and into the chatsworth estate!! We wouldn't buy there even if the properties were half the price.

If the area feels safe and you have no concerns - it just happens to be that ugly pebble dash then the exterior can be 'tarted up' with new rendor (if necessary), paint and some flowers. Just don't buy the best house on the worst street as you will end up losing out financially.

BTW - before anyone suggests it - I am true council estate stock (I disowned my family as they were just too darn hillbilly and I got out of there asap but I'm no snob).

Davesnave

Kerb appeal isn't that important, or I wouldn't be where I am now, but the area and the neighbours are, as is the possibility of increasing the appeal at a later date.

Our last house was well presented externally, but neighbours to either side, though nice people, really let us down with their shabby exteriors. That was not on an ex-council estate, but in a middle-class area of a World Heritage city, where prices exceeded £300k! There are no guarantees long term, unfortunately.

DuckEggGingham

Thank you all for the input. You all gave me so much to think about.

I think it is a case of trying to buy the best house we can and trying to close our eyes and ears to the surroundings, not so much down to the 'look' of the house we like but more-so in general around the area. I tried telling myself street view caught it all on a bad day lol but in person that doesn't seem to be the case.

Maybe back to the drawing board.

Thank you all again.

yoyoegg

When you say 'kerb appeal', seems it's more about location.

The dowdiest house in a good location will always be a better than a done-up place in a sink-estate.

Do you really want to be living on your nerves, dealing with neighbour's "domestics" spilling into the street, cars up on bricks, feral kids hassling you at the corner shop to buy them cider, barking dogs 24/7, bizzies chasing TWOKers around every Saturday etc.

julieb1987

We have just bought an ex-council house, on a council estate. The only thing that came up on the valuation survey was "this may put potential future buyers off". Luckily we know the area well, a lot of friends have bought around there (majority of houses are privately owned). The house is perfect for us (or will be after we've finished decorating), and we plan on living there for a long time. At the moment we're not bothered about future buyers. To us this house is a home, not an investment. Somewhere we can start a family.

Do you plan on it being your "forever home"? If so, do a little bit of research about the area, but don't let the little things put you off.

shegar

Im also no way a snob, I was in a council house for 18 years.......But when we had a chance to move on and buy our own place we never wanted to view council houses............

Like people say " you can always tell a council house".......If you have doubts then dont do it, like others have said you will have problems when you try to sell it too.......

If your still interested in the house , then go there 11 o clock on a friday and saturday evening to see whats going on, and also at other times to see what sort of people live in the houses nearby, research it well id say.............Dont rush it.....Good luck...

itzmee

We bought an ex-council house because we loved the size of the rooms and were impressed at the amount of storage space it had! It had great kerb appeal but the next door neighbour's house was quite run down, which did frustrate us somewhat. However fast forward 6 years the neighbours must have come into some money as they replaced their 40+ year old doors and windows, painted the front and back of the house and their house now looks fab - sadly ours now looks quite tatty next to it!

lessonlearned

The old adage is "worst house, best street".

You can easily change the external appearance of a run down house but you cannot improve a run down area.

Compromise on the house if you have to, but not the location.

Davesnave

shegar wrote: »

Like people say " you can always tell a council house".......If you have doubts then dont do it, like others have said you will have problems when you try to sell it too.......

If your still interested in the house , then go there 11 o clock on a friday and saturday evening to see whats going on, and also at other times to see what sort of people live in the houses nearby, research it well id say.............Dont rush it.....Good luck...

There are certainly places where the former council houses still sell well, even if you can tell. They aren't all on huge estates.

In Somerset & Devon, where I come from, almost every village has its row of council houses, or should I say "ex-council houses," because the tenants would have been fools not to buy them. I expect this is repeated country-wide. No shortage of demand for most of those.

In the city where I last lived, two small estates were built next to each other in the 80s, one being council and one private. There, you would now be hard-pressed to tell which was which, except for the greater amount of communal parking in one. Again, the ex-council properties are in demand, albeit at a slightly lower price.

I'd agree with the research part completely. I know some people didn't turn up for viewings because of our scruffy neighbours, who were an accountant, a teacher, a senior nurse, a social worker and a legal specialist. Hardly your weekend trouble makers!