Worth the extra £10k

DLTAG89

Me and DH are currently looking at buying our first home. We have just been given a lump sum of £90k, £11k of which is paying of depts so thats leaves us with £79k.

We applied for a mortgage 6 months ago and we got offered £65k, but since then DH will have had a payrise, we will have also paid of our depts and we will have a big deposit so hoping this time we can get a mortgage for £70k, with a £60/£65k deposit (hope i'm making sense with all these numbers) so are looking at houses around the £145/£135k mark in the hopes to get about 10% off the asking price.

We have found 2 houses and we like them both equally. House 1 and house 2 . . .

House 1 http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-35187635.html

House 2 http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-39140671.html

House 2 is slightly bigger and has been a little more taken care of (in terms of decorating anyway) than house 1 but obv house 1 is £10k cheaper. We are also hoping if we went for house 1 we would get it under the £125k mark so will avoid paying stamp duty. Location wise they are both pretty much the same so that doesnt factor anything in.

With both houses we have said we would like to convert the garage but would probably do this sooner with house 1 with the kitchen being quite a bit smaller (i think the measurements on rightmove are wrong). The only slight difference is the windows, house 1 has wooden windows that arnt in the best of conditions and house 2 had new UPVC windows in 2007 so this could save us money in the long run. Also they both come with no chain. Would you say house 2 is worth the extra £10k?

Ultimately i know this is only something that can be decided by me and DH but we are still very new to this and really would appreciate any advice, thanks :beer:

I_have_spoken

Unless you can get below £125,000, I'd go for the costlier property. It looks like a proper home, the other one is a doll's house.

wannahouse

I_have_spoken wrote: »

Unless you can get below £125,000, I'd go for the costlier property. It looks like a proper home, the other one is a doll's house.

they both look a similar size to me???/

Sparx

Just so you know House 1 (currently £125k) was listed originally 19/01/2012 @ £150k.

So looks like it isn't selling for some reason and they've dropped it quite a chunk.. So you'll probably get it for even less..

Unless there is something majorly wrong with it!

DLTAG89

Yeah i noticed house 1 had been on the market a while which set alarm bells off (I always check the houses on other websites too like zoopla as they all seem to give different info). Maybe it could be the windows putting people off as every other house on the estate has new UPVC ones so compared the house does look quite shabby (when its not actually that bad)

She said she was open to negotiation when we went to view the house and also said she wanted a quick sale. From what we could see nothing was majorly wrong but that could all change when we had a survey done.

Idiophreak

Personally I'd probably go for the first one...

It costs less...If you get the second one for 135, you're pushing your lending to the maximum, which suggests that a) you may need to have quite a "mean" quality of life and b) you would be quite exposed to rate rises.

It needs new windows...The other house has 6 year old windows. These days you'll be lucky if you get to 10 years without at least some of the glass failing, or feeling like replacing the whole lot. I don't believe you'd "save money in the long run" with the second house...if you accept that you'll buy new windows every 15 years, say - "in the long run" it will cost you just the same - only with house 1 you'd be starting at the beginning of a 15 year cycle.

Save stamp duty - which would pay for a few of the windows.

Converting the garage would be more doable with more disposable income.

Both look lovely, though

[Deleted User]

although of little relevance, it's debt.

Lovelyjoolz

Sparx wrote: »

Just so you know House 1 (currently £125k) was listed originally 19/01/2012 @ £150k.

This Property Bee shows House one as being on the market since September 2011! Which does beg the question, what is wrong with it??

21 June 2013 09:05:08

• Detailed Description found: SUMMARYSituated in a cul-de-sac location is this delightful three bedroom detached property. In brief comprising of Entrance, cloakroom, through lounge with dining area, kitchen, landing, three bedroo...

18 June 2013 01:27:18

• Brief Description changed: OPEN HOUSE SUNDAY 9TH JUNE 10AM-1PM**Situated Situated in a cul-de-sac location is this delightful three bedroom detached property. In brief comprising of Entrance, cloakroom, through lounge with dining area, kitchen, landing, three bedrooms and house bathroom. With gardens to front and rear, driveway and garage.

29 May 2013 20:18:50

• Brief Description changed: Situated OPEN HOUSE SUNDAY 9TH JUNE 10AM-1PM**Situated in a cul-de-sac location is this delightful three bedroom detached property. In brief comprising of Entrance, cloakroom, through lounge with dining area, kitchen, landing, three bedrooms and house bathroom. With gardens to front and rear, driveway and garage.

17 May 2013 09:51:42

• Price changed: £140,000 £135,000

08 March 2013 22:00:24

• Status changed: Available null

15 February 2013 19:33:18

• Status changed: null Available

03 January 2013 15:02:44

• Status changed: Available null

14 October 2012 00:49:46

• Status changed: No Chain Available

24 March 2012 15:07:35

• Price changed: Offers in Region of £150,000 £140,000

28 October 2011 12:35:28

• Status changed: Available No Chain

08 October 2011 14:29:10

• Status changed: Premium Listing Available

08 October 2011 14:17:24

• Price changed: Offers in Region of £150,000

29 September 2011 16:01:35

• Status changed: Available Premium Listing

18 September 2011 16:04:50

• Brief Description found: Situated in a cul-de-sac location is this delightful three bedroom detached property. In brief comprising of Entrance, cloakroom, through lounge with dining area, kitchen, landing, three bedrooms and ...
• Price found: £150,000
• Status found: Available

dominoman

Personally I'd go for House 2, on looks alone. Bit both are nice.

It makes it sting that for that money here I can't even afford a one-bed ex-council studio flat...

Given that the agents are different you could always put a slightly cheeky bid on both and see who bites. If both accept then just quickly pull out of the other one so you don't mess the seller about.

Idiophreak

dominoman wrote: »

It makes it sting that for that money here I can't even afford a one-bed ex-council studio flat...

Just what I thought, too...either of those places would be 350+ round here

DLTAG89

If only house prices were the same all over the country, would like life that little bit easier.

We went to view house 1 last night, father in law wanted to see it so we aranged another viewing and think we found the reason its not sold. There were a lot of asian people around so they would probably put a lot of people off.

We have just found out this morning too that the bank will lend us a bit more than we thought too with it still being afforadble so are upping the price bracket slightly.