ex council semi detached vs terraced private

first_time_buyer.....

Should I go for an ex council semi detached (built in 1930s) freehold - asking price £115k or end terraced private property (built in 1910-1920), leasehold - asking price £145k. The terraced house is about 20m sqr larger. Both in same area, most council houses are private owned. Which one would you go for?
I haven't put any offer in for the end terraced but I put offer of £110k in for the ex council semidetached n it got accepted but in less than a week after my offer was accepted, the vendor pulled out of sale and now its back on the market. Initially I was planning to buy a new build and paid £500, the vendor wouldn't want to reduce an extra £500. Ive put an offer for £110k now as I was worried I might missed an opportunity. It hasnt been accepted yet though

DTDfanBoy

Perhaps you could rephrase your second paragraph, I've read it three times and it still makes very little sense.

~Beanie~

first_time_buyer..... wrote: »

I haven't put any offer in for the end terraced but I put offer of £110k in for the ex council semidetached n it got accepted but in less than a week after my offer was accepted, the vendor pulled out of sale and now its back on the market. Initially I was planning to buy a new build and paid £500, the vendor wouldn't want to reduce an extra £500. Ive put an offer for £110k now as I was worried I might missed an opportunity. It hasnt been accepted yet though

Eh? So you offered £110k which was accepted and then later the vendor changed his mind, rejected it and put it back on the market?

Is the new build a different house and have you offered £110k on this one as well? If not, can you clarify please.

first_time_buyer.....

Sorry i could have made it clearer.

i put an offer in for for £110k for the ex council semi detached house, the vendor accepted my offer but after a few days the agent came back to me and say that the vendor pulled out of sale because his relationship has just broken down

I was quite disappointed as it happened to me 3 times now so I decided to go for new build instead (145k). I've reserved a plot and paid £500 reservation fee

2 days after I paid the reservation fee to reserve a plot, the agent contacted me and asked if I'm still interested in that house as the vendor has now sorted out their problems and willing to sell their house. I booked a viewing so that I can discuss things with them directly and ask if he's willing to knock off an extra £500 and he rejected

I viewed another property in the same area, it's an end terraced property and the asking price is £145k. its not an ex council and it's slightly bigger. This is the first time i viewed terraced as I wasn't too keen on terraced but I'm surprised of the size.. may be because it's older, hence bigger

I can't decide if I should go for the end terrace or semi detached (ex council).. I'm not too bothered about the £500, I mean it would be great if i could have that back .. I'm just surprised the vendor would reject that because 109500 and 110000 don't make too much difference and obviously if he hasn't pulled out of sale, I wouldn't have paid that. The original asking price was £114500.

Hedgehog99

If all in the same area, then focus on just the properties themselves. How well-maintained? How much work would you want to do/cost of work? Household bills - fuel type, level of insulation, double glazing? Council tax band? Anything to hinder selling (electric substation, mobile phone mast, busy roads, next to a pelican crossing?) In the terrace, do you know which of the neighbours' rooms are against your wall? How good is the sound insulation?

G_M

For goodness sake! How can anyone here tell you?

Which house do you prefer? Which can you see yourself living in happily?

How much money have you got? Will the more expensive one stretch you?

How do you feel about having close neighbours either side?

How do you feel about having (I'm guessing) the council manage rpeiars etc (or is the ex-council freehold with no strings)

What are the neighbours like in each property (you have checked yes?)? Do you care?

This is all so personal that asking on a forum is..... potty!

MysteryMe

Well for what it's worth I would favour a freehold over leasehold and a semi detached over terrace. I would put in an offer with the £500 knocked off, the vendor's EA may talk him into accepting it. However you are the one who is going to live in the house so it's up to you!

Cheeky_Monkey

Personally, I wouldn't buy a leasehold house or, for that matter, a freehold flat!!!

tizerbelle

Cheeky_Monkey wrote: »

Personally, I wouldn't buy a leasehold house or, for that matter, a freehold flat!!!

Not all leasehold houses are bad. If I were looking to move again, there is no way I would consider a "new" leasehold property but depending on your area, many leasehold properties are "old" leaseholds (especially Victorian terraces). Mine is. No service charges and the ground rent is £1.14 a year paid in two instalments of 57p. There are 880 years left on the lease.

I was in a similar position to OP when I bought - most properties I looked at were either ex-council semi or victorian terraces but I wanted two reception rooms and the council semis in my price range only had one. So I plumped for the terrace.

But for the OP, we're looking at two different price brackets. Obviously no stamp duty on the semi but he/she will have to find that £1450 for the terrace (or the new build) in addition to all the other costs.

TBagpuss

As the second house is an end terrace it is effectively a semi.
Do you feel that the extra space you would get would be worth the extra £35K to you personally?

What is the ground rent on the leasehold property? My first house was a leasehold - it had been built in around 1905 and was on a 999 lease. The ground rent was about £1 a year. There were some restrictive covenants but they only prevented me from running a tannery, slaughterhouse or brothel from the house so were not onerous! My second house was freehold but had been built by a housing association and there was a service charge - because it was more modern, (originally sold off in the early 90s, I think) and the service charges were much higher and could go up.

So while normally I'd prefer freehold to leasehold, in those cases the leasehold was actually much better!

Look at the hosues themselves and how you feel about them. Do you like the lay out? What outside space does each have, and how does that fit with what you want?
Why is the end terrace so much more expensive? does it have specifics that the other doesn't, such as off-street parking, more bedrooms, bigger gardens, or is it down to location or style?

first_time_buyer.....

G_M wrote: »

For goodness sake! How can anyone here tell you?

Which house do you prefer? Which can you see yourself living in happily?

How much money have you got? Will the more expensive one stretch you?

How do you feel about having close neighbours either side?

How do you feel about having (I'm guessing) the council manage rpeiars etc (or is the ex-council freehold with no strings)

What are the neighbours like in each property (you have checked yes?)? Do you care?

This is all so personal that asking on a forum is..... potty!

the reason why I asked this question is because most ppl I asked said that they wouldn't go for leasehold properties and they wouldn't buy a property in a council estate in any circumstances but with what I can afford, I don't think have much options..

but I'm worried if i go for any of this, there may be risk that I may not be able to sell the property. but because of what I can afford, I realise I don't have much choice and had to compromise, but I just want to know which one most ppl would avoid, a leasehold private end terraced or an ex LA semi detached?