First time buyers looking for advice!

hoMEOWner

My partner and I are first time buyers, looking to buy near Birmingham. This weekend, we found a property we fell in love with and have put in an offer - very exciting!

In our limited opinion, we think the property is a great buy - it is a 2 bed flat in a very sought after location with great transport links to Birmingham city centre, a huge country park 5 minutes walk away and within walking distance of the town centre/local amenities. Not only that but the flat itself is great - it is in a great building, run by a good management company (There are 3 other flats in the building), has a great communal garden (Unheard of in our price range & useful as we have dogs), brand new kitchen and bathroom and has good quality new flooring throughout.

Quite frankly, it is a dream as it ticks all the boxes for us and everything else we have viewed so far has either been very small or required a lot of work doing to it.

The one snag with this property is that the building itself has a series of shops on the ground floor and one of these shops is a soon-to-open restaurant. Before anyone mentions it, we already know we can get a mortgage for this property and have double checked that we can get buildings and contents insurance for the property.

The shops/restaurant don't bother us (They have complied with regulations for insulating against noise/smells & the property itself was very quiet), the main issue we are having is that we are worried about buying and then having to drop the price ridiculously to try and sell it. FWIW, the property is very competitively priced at £95,000 - roughly £30,000 cheaper than similar flats in this area and the cheapest property I have actually seen around here.

Basically, is this a terrible idea? And is there anything we should be checking with this property? I'm pretty sure they couldn't put something like a take away or a nightclub in this area because of the type of place it is (Posh!) but is there a way to make sure that certain shops can't be built there AND what rights would we have to protect ourselves if something did happen e.g. we get lots of noise from the restaurant or someone tried to open a bookies under us?

Ciderarmy1987

I think that if you are worried about what could happen to with the shops below and that there are certain types of shops that you dont want to live above and think that it could be a big issue for you, then it is probably best for you to walk away.

If however the other pluses out way this negative then proceed.

If you are unsure, think about the worst type of usage for the shop and use this to help you decide.

hoMEOWner

Ciderarmy1987 wrote: »

I think that if you are worried about what could happen to with the shops below and that there are certain types of shops that you dont want to live above and think that it could be a big issue for you, then it is probably best for you to walk away.

If however the other pluses out way this negative then proceed.

If you are unsure, think about the worst type of usage for the shop and use this to help you decide.

Thanks for the advice! It's not necessarily that there are certain types of shops that we don't want to live above, more that we think it might put potential buyers off in the future.

My partner and I can only afford to rent in a less than desirable area with a high crime rate as rent around here is so expensive so for us, the move to the nicer area and all that it brings is worth it for us. I think the compromise of living above shops/restaurant is roughly in line with the compromises we expected to make as first time buyers looking in this area of the UK, with a comparatively small budget but we understand that other buyers may not feel the same.

The_Cats_Been_Sick wrote: »

You might find out of there is a restrictive covenant from the local authority planning office. However, these could be appealed, so there no certainty an 'adult' shop won't be opened in the row.

I'd be more worried about the apparent low price. Is there 'planning blight' because something has already be agreed and/or are the leaseholders facing eye watering charges for re-roof, re-render or asbestos has been found in the building.

Thanks for the advice, shall call the local planning office at some point this week to check about restrictive covenants. I doubt an 'adult shop' is at all likely in this area but maybe another restaurant is a possibility :rotfl:

I shall check for a 'planning blight' and anything about potential building works but the price is roughly in keeping with what the other properties in the building have sold for in the past (slightly lower potentially but not by vast amounts) but I know the reasons the owner is selling and I think that seems fairly explanatory for the price (Wanting to buy property with the money).

As far as expensive building works in the pipeline, the building has been re-roofed recently I think, as well as being double glazed semi-recently (and our unit specifically has had a new boiler fitted within the last 5 years). Don't know about asbestos but are sellers and management companies bound to reveal this stuff to us if they know/we ask?

Will this sort of thing & potential big building works nearby be discovered by the solicitors if we proceed with the sale or is that something we have to research ourselves?

ETA: We're fairly understanding of the pitfalls but regarding rubbish, noise pollution etc. as far as I'm aware, don't they have to comply with certain regulations? I know they have already had to fit a suspended ceiling with a certain type of insulation and followed other building regs.

I don't think they are planning home deliveries and I think they have to have a different permit to operate as a take-away.