Finally saw the light and now scrabbling towards it, one OP at a time!

skint_spice

Good luck!

newgirly

Good luck viewing the house

fothers365

Busy and spendy few days.

WE went to see the victorian house and it was as beautiful as we thought it would be. After a manic few days of cleaning and tidying we got our house valued yesterday by the agent that was dealing with that house. If we were to sell we would use them as they they do fantastic pictures and layouts etc.

Anyway, they valued ours at £175k. I wasn't sure what they were going to say but was hoping £180K or a little more. It is difficult to tell as there aren't many similar properties in the immediate vicintity.

Our LTV is therefore 72.7% currently.

We should really get another couple of valuations too. The properties with that agent do seem to sell more quickly than other agents in town. Possibly because their valuations are more realisitc combined with there photos etc? They only opened in January and are a breath of fresh air compared to the other agents in town (and there are a lot).

WE could afford the nice victorian house mortgage wise but the ltv wouldn't be great and my worry with it is that something could easily go wrong with the property and cost a lot to fix. From experience with the old house we live in they constantly need to seem little jobs done that add up.

There is another new house we like, built 2007, right beside a great school. It is on a little cul de sac with just a few other simialr properties and has been on sale since Jan for 310k. I think that is basically what they bought it for. I am not sure how open to offers they would be. WE haven't looked round yet but I think if we are stretching ourselves it may be better to do it with a newer house that would hopefully be less of a money drain.
Also, it is right on the edge of the country side and quiet so the girls could play out when they are bigger. The old house is on a busy-ish road and near a busy road.


The other option would be rather than going for it mortage wise and not wanting to move again to maybe get a 'newish' interim house for the next 10 years or so then see after that.

The mortgage level for the stretch ones would be what we are doing anyway for OPs so it is manageable.


Sorry for another long post. I like just getting my thoughts out my head as they start to make me dizzy.:)

MallyGirl

I love period houses - ours is Victorian. I am tall and when I walk into a more modern house all the ceilings feel very low whereas ours are 10ft up. That being said, they are money pits. It depends on how well the old property has been maintained. We bought one where the same lady had lived there for 50 years so we knew we were in for a lot of work - we had to light coal in a backburner in the kitchen to get hot water for example. This stuff does take cash but it also takes time and causes disruption. I would not have taken this on with small children around - it was bad enough with pets. There is nothing quite like the jump to your heart as you spot a cat tail disappearing under the floorboards!
Good luck in your quest