Would you view it?

nodiscount

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that...
I think it has charm.

lindyloo47

tealady wrote: »

Why isn't there a picture of the bathroom and there is no size given for bedroom 3? I would want to know those before even setting foot in the street!
Personally I would dismiss this out of hand as there is no off road parking (I don't drive) it is something you will neverbe able to change and lugging heavy shopping from whereever you can find to park will be a PITA. Still its horses for courses I suppose.

I live not too far away from this house and it is fair to say that approximately 90% of Portsmouth consists of houses like this with no parking. It is a nuisance but if you want to live in the city it is something that everybody has to deal with.
I lived in a very similar house when first married, in a very similar state, when we left it was a lovely family home.
If you have the vision and, I guess, the pennies, I would definitely go for it.

hcb42

if there has already been an issue with getting a mortgage, then I dont see how you will be able to buy it if not a cash buyer.

I can see its potential and have done up an old house before, but I think this needs more than doing a bit as and when to get it into a liveable condition

Argghhh

have you found other similiar houses to see what their selling values are (when modernised) if they are not selling easily for 180k + then i would not offer more than 90k on this property

littlepinkbiscuits

I like it, reminds me of my house when I purchased it 20 years ago, an homage to 1960's decor it was the cheapest in the street then, now it's the most expensive

The neighbouring properties look to be in good order (also looks like urban renewal went down the road a few decades ago). If the price is good for that street and you have done your research then go for it, if you can arrange finance and are up for the work. Agree that the square footage looks to be over three times what it probably is, that's a mansion if true!

Edited to add: just checked on sold house prices and this year's average price for that road is £153k, so it appears to be realistically priced.

SnooksNJ

I'm scared.

AnnieBox

I had a lot more input on this then I thought I would have! Thanks for all your responses

Following a lot of advice my partner and I decided to cancel the viewing, however when I called to advise them, they asked the inevitable question of ‘why’. I advised them it was due to the previous full retention and the fact that we do not currently have enough finances available to do work until the retention is lifted and the chap was very confused by this.

The EA advised that they are the first company to market this property and they are the only people who have set foot in it, in order to do the photos and valuation, he has assured me that no mortgage has even been instructed on the property and no surveyors have even in to give an assessment. He asked who I spoke to and apparently it was someone quite new to the branch and he believes that she may have mixed it up with a different property. This does actually make sense as she originally sent me confirmation for a property in Gosport, not Portsmouth!

So I have decided to keep my viewing for the house but to go in with an open mind and to pay a lot of attention to it. We will also be taking along mum who has a lot of experience viewing and buying run down houses like this. I do obviously want to get the ‘feeling’ in a house I consider buying and loving it is very important to me but I am completely aware of the fact that this is a house where the decision needs to be made mostly with my head.

LEJC

I think on the face of it ....its a great property...
What you have to be careful of is that its not overpriced.
you have to get the balance right about how much its going to cost you to bring it back to life and make sure that you factor that into any offer that you may make.


Almost 3 years ago we did up something similar....our total renovation budget was £42k and at the end of it we ended up with a house worth not a great deal more than its "modernised" counterparts...but we spent 18 months getting it just as we wanted it...
I guess its all centred round if you are buying this house to live in and do up because its all you can afford at the moment...or are you not finding the "done up" house you want.
It isnt much fun living in a house whilst theres no heating,electrics,every wall needs plastering and some of them rebuilding but having said that its a fantastic feeling when its done and you have created it just as you want.
Just be realistic about how much it will cost to refit.....


These type of properties are not for everyone but there is a great satisfaction that you get when you know that its doable...
We used a mixture of trades to help with the refurb,and some bits we did ourselves,at times it was very hard but it can also be addictive...
It wasnt always plain sailing and a contingency fund is always needed...
We would have gone over our renovation budget by at least 20% if we had not been able to do some of the work ourselves....

rosie383

Sounds as if you are doing it right. Let us know how you feel after you view it. I have seen a fair few properties on rightmove which have looked perfect for us but took perhaps one minute once I actually viewed to know it wasn't for me.

jc808

on the other side of the coin:

could this 'retention - unmortgageable' thing be a fiction concocted by a nefarious EA with a BTL friend who lines his pockets with brown paper envelopes....

'You dont want that one, guv'