Living near a secondary school

osaddict

Guys,

We have found a nice house which seems pretty much perfect for us, however, for some reason, nobody else has put a offer in...

Here's the rough timeline..
On the market for 330.
I offer 320, seller asks for more, I offer 2.5k more

At this point I withdraw my offer as I'm getting paranoid that nobody else has offered, in a market where most houses get a fair few offers (Essex/East London border).

Seller says he will now accept my original £320k offer, so clearly still no offers.

There are a few things we can think of that would put people off:

1. It needs some work inside, but not tons.
2. There's cat6 cable all over the house (tidy though, properly done!)
3. It's on a main road
4. It's 1 door down from a 'middle of the road' secondary school.

We're convinced it's the last one that's putting people off, but we could be wrong.

As we work full time we're not too bothered about the school, we figure it won't make much difference to us, but it may do to a potential buyer.

Would you purchase a property next to a school? In this property's defence it has crossing zig zags outside so nobody would block your drive.

We're concerned that we might have problems selling it in the future, so, I was going to go for it if I could get it for say 310, but I'm still not sure.

Parking and noise seem to be the main complaints when you look on Google - neither of which bother us and the parking isn't an issue in this case. A colleague mentioned litter but I'm not to worried about that and when we did a viewing the general area (admittidly on a Saturday) didn't look untidy.

Long post and a bit of a ramble, thanks if you've read this far... opinions most welcome!

Thanks!!

Pete9501

You need to view it about 8.30am in the morning and 3pm in the afternoon to see what happens. I nearly offered on a similar property with a footpath along one side until I viewed at school chucking out time. 700 kids used the footpath rather than the main entrance.

Still in its favour, should be quiet at the weekend and school holidays. You are going to be next to something unless cash is no object, so what will it be? railway line, chip shop, busy A road?

No other offers puts you in a strong position, how about offering even less and let them stew

osaddict

No offers does put me in a good position but I'm worried that if you 'listen to the market' no offers means nobody else wants it! The optimist in me would think that's because of the work or stuff but the pessimist would think its because of the school.

I'm going to try and visit at those times, or have a friend do so. I expect my findings to be 800 kids walking past the house to get to school, some on their own, many in groups, some being loud and obnoxious, but that's secondary school! By which time I'd be in the office or on the tube. Hmm

Thanks for the feedback

SailorSam

We bought next to the local Comp. The sellers said the kids were Ok they never had any problems with them.
Just after moving in we were having lunch in the back kitchen when we noticed a gang of them running across the garden and climbing the fence as a short-cut back to school. We had loads of litter in the garden all the time, coke cans; crisp bags; chip papers. Other neighbours had cars damaged and milk taken from the step.
When we got news that the school was to close, everyone was so pleased i thought the celebrations may lead to street parties.

silvercar

All you need is for the school to improve and the entry criteria to become "distance from school" and you will be sitting on a gold mine!

bouicca21

I used to live 5 mins down the road from a secondary school. That was fine. Next door is a different matter. Pete9501 is spot on - go and look at it at the beginning and end of the school day. Parents will not obey the zig zag lines they'll be driving in and out of the gates if they possibly can, because the poor little darlings can't possibly walk as far as a safe parking spot. There may be school buses too.

Also will your back garden back on to playground or playing fields? Mine did. You had to admire the ability of the kids to climb over an 8 foot fence to retrieve their footballs, even if you were saddened by their lack of football skills. Footballs also regularly landed on next door's greenhouse, so the glass was always new.

DRP

I lived opposite a comp for 8 years, never had any problems.

As others say, very quiet in the evenings and weekends.

I would do my research by getting down there at the appropriate times for couple of days in the next few weeks.

The main road thing (A-road?) would put me off more tbh.

Davesnave

The areas where my kids and their friends attended secondary school were posh ones, and the private institutions were in even more up-market parts of the city. I couldn't afford to buy in any of those places, where prices were far from depressed.

Now I live in the country, with the local comp just visible about a mile away. There's a brief flurry of activity at the beginning and end of the school day, but as more than half the children travel here by bus, it's hardly an exodus. Houses near the school are not shunned.

So, surprise, surprise, it all depends upon the locality and the school. I worked for a couple of decades in a primary school, surrounded by houses. There were very few complaints about behaviour and litter. People who bought next door to us tended to have families, but some of the older residents actually liked to see a bit of life and chat to the kids...

Of course, nowadays they wouldn't dare! :eek:

osaddict

I have no idea if this will work or not, however:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Sanders+School/@51.5498844,0.2163532,185m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x47d8bae6e25e9dab:0x97fe4722449d1641?hl=en

If it doesn't go into Google Maps and the Earth view, type in 'Sanders School' - if you look to the right and see two trampolines the house I'm looking at would be the second one.

So, as you can see, the main school playing fields and stuff are quite a way away from the property so I'm convinced things like balls and teenagers coming over the fence wouldn't happen.

On a side note, would it be odd to phone the school and ask if residents had made complaints?!

Paully232000

osaddict wrote: »

Guys,

We have found a nice house which seems pretty much perfect for us, however, for some reason, nobody else has put a offer in...

Here's the rough timeline..
On the market for 330.
I offer 320, seller asks for more, I offer 2.5k more

At this point I withdraw my offer as I'm getting paranoid that nobody else has offered, in a market where most houses get a fair few offers (Essex/East London border).

Seller says he will now accept my original £320k offer, so clearly still no offers.

There are a few things we can think of that would put people off:

1. It needs some work inside, but not tons.
2. There's cat6 cable all over the house (tidy though, properly done!)
3. It's on a main road
4. It's 1 door down from a 'middle of the road' secondary school.

We're convinced it's the last one that's putting people off, but we could be wrong.

As we work full time we're not too bothered about the school, we figure it won't make much difference to us, but it may do to a potential buyer.

Would you purchase a property next to a school? In this property's defence it has crossing zig zags outside so nobody would block your drive.

We're concerned that we might have problems selling it in the future, so, I was going to go for it if I could get it for say 310, but I'm still not sure.

Parking and noise seem to be the main complaints when you look on Google - neither of which bother us and the parking isn't an issue in this case. A colleague mentioned litter but I'm not to worried about that and when we did a viewing the general area (admittidly on a Saturday) didn't look untidy.

Long post and a bit of a ramble, thanks if you've read this far... opinions most welcome!

Thanks!!

Don't be too sure about this, some of the parents at my child's primary school are blind to them.

osaddict

Hmm, I guess you're right, however, I guess I don't know unless I have a bit of a scoping mission - which is difficult at the moment.