The Nice People Thread, No.16: A Universe of Niceness.

LydiaJ

PasturesNew wrote: »

Some won't even show you the insides.... some that do show you "OAP hoarder clutter" ... and I'm thinking "Might need to live in a caravan in the garden for a year while that's tidied up a bit! But I can do that"

Even if it's full of OAP hoarder clutter, it should be empty by the time you take possession.

PasturesNew

LydiaJ wrote: »

Even if it's full of OAP hoarder clutter, it should be empty by the time you take possession.

Yes, but you're still left with an empty "hovel like" interior ... super grubby as nobody's been able to/cared to give it a really good clean for 20 years

So you can't really "live in it" as it all needs ripping out, electrics checked, etc ... floors relaid .... decorated throughout ....

I'm talking "REALLY grotty"... the sorts of places you'd never accept a mug of tea in

I don't mind a bit of 1960s decor/carpets .... but some just never heard of the word "clean" .... at all.

Pyxis

PasturesNew wrote: »

Yes, but you're still left with an empty "hovel like" interior ... super grubby as nobody's been able to/cared to give it a really good clean for 20 years

So you can't really "live in it" as it all needs ripping out, electrics checked, etc ... floors relaid .... decorated throughout ....

I'm talking "REALLY grotty"... the sorts of places you'd never accept a mug of tea in

I don't mind a bit of 1960s decor/carpets .... but some just never heard of the word "clean" .... at all.

On the other hand, people like me, who also left a little house that needed refurbishment, gave it a very thorough clean before departing, including tops of curtain rails and visible pipework, skirtings and picture rails, tops of doors, plus de-hairing and bleaching bath/basin plug holes, etc., so not everyone leaves houses like a pig-sty.

GDB2222

It's beginning to look like someone will buy it! You don't have to sell unless you can find somewhere to move to, though.

GDB2222

Pyxis wrote: »

On the other hand, people like me, who also left a little house that needed refurbishment, gave it a very thorough clean before departing, including tops of curtain rails and visible pipework, skirtings and picture rails, tops of doors, plus de-hairing and bleaching bath/basin plug holes, etc., so not everyone leaves houses like a pig-sty.

To be fair to the other vendors, you have the advantage over them, as you are still alive.

Pyxis

GDB2222 wrote: »

To be fair to the other vendors, you have the advantage over them, as you are still alive.

:rotfl:

How do you know the owners are dead?


And anyway, there is still the beneficiary!
Unless, of course, the price reflects the fact that it is filthy.

PasturesNew

GDB2222 wrote: »

It's beginning to look like someone will buy it! You don't have to sell unless you can find somewhere to move to, though.

Yes, it'll suit somebody. The agent was strong on that if it'd been the man deciding today it'd have been sold. There's never been a problem selling these before - and the new ones built last year went too .... it's just that "slow down in the market" that's hitting me.

I've not found anything I fancy yet.

I have an A List of houses to view. These meet the essential criteria (rough location, budget, orientation, parking arrangements, general landscape being right (e.g. not a woodland setting and no open land/paths alongside).

If a house on the A list sells, I mark it as A-SOLD. I have 21 in the A-SOLD list .... and 35 in the A List.

Then there's the B List. Just to make me feel better really, that there'll be "something" to buy ..... but I really don't see me actually viewing the B List.

Then there's the "Over Budget" list .... just keeping an eye on what I could afford if I had £50k more that would've made it to the A List

Then there's the vast Z List - properties dismissed for a variety of good reasons. There are about 500 on that list.

You can't say I'm not looking

First I load "all houses" from £50k below and up to £25k above my budget.
Then I look through to see where they are, many are not where I'd really like....
Then I ignore what it looks like and look at the layout. Then the sq footage. Then I see the orientation. And only then will I look at the photos.
I then jot down the essentials/facts on my spreadsheet - and make a decision as to which list it goes onto.
When a property's reduced, I update the spreadsheet with lots of information... depending on how few properties there are to consider and if I want to waste more time looking/checking things like crime stats, which council tax band is it, how much did it sell for last time, which identical neighbours have sold and for how much and how different were they to this one....

When it comes down to it I will "know the one" just because I've done so much hard thinking about what's actually important - rather than dismissing houses because "that's not what I was after". e.g. there's absolutely no way I want a pebble dashed 2 bed semi 1920s house .... but I still checked it out on my essential criteria (which it failed) ... "just in case".

At the right price, some things/work can be done; if something's £10k over top of budget then no work can be considered. So every single house is entirely different to the last one and all the aspects are considered by me without prejudice.

A 1930s lilac coloured semi detached house even made it to my list yesterday! That's when you know you're getting desperate

The "perfect" one would be a 2+box detached bungalow with a conservatory, garage/side drive, non-estate position, in one of 4 postcode areas, S-SSW facing garden and all done out inside just how I'd like it ... oh and a utility room ... and a brick built garden store. An en-suite wouldn't go amiss either

One of my "A list" houses I think will have to bite the dust as it's 1/4 mile from the bus stop and only on one bus route - and half the people on the bus will be from "the really really rough/avoid it estate" half a mile along the road.... I'd like several bus routes within 200-300 yards...

Pyxis

Are you allowing for the asking price being merely an asking price?

That is to say, if a house is, say, £15k (or even a bit more) over budget at its asking price, you could still put it on your A list and negotiate the price down.

PasturesNew

Here are some stats lifted directly from RM for this week.

167 Dwellings I can afford.
124 are not flats.
Then I had to look above budget.
4 made the A List ... but.

1/ Directly adjacent to a vast sewage farm, right by a "cut through" path to the back of an industrial estate.

2/ Over budget by £25k. Been in the same family 40 years, so lots of sentimental attachment to the price... and it's a good road so probably won't drop.

3/ Over budget by £15k. It's lilac and 1930s.

4/ In budget, £20k spare. A bit of general OAP clutter/sorting out, couple of wheelchairs and strollers dotted around. 1980s pine kitchen and the usual "grubby" bathroom ... but £20k should cover that.

So this week it comes down to just 1 that's actually possible

PasturesNew

Pyxis wrote: »

Are you allowing for the asking price being merely an asking price?

That is to say, if a house is, say, £15k (or even a bit more) over budget at its asking price, you could still put it on your A list and negotiate the price down.

I am having to guess everything at the moment because I don't know what mine will sell for.... if I assumed mine would fly off the shelf at full asking price and I could knock £15-20k off anybody else's ... my list would be bigger.

I'm being "conservative" so as to not disappoint myself... while keeping an eye on "over budget" things, so I am aware what's floating about that MIGHT drop in price. LOADS are dropping in price ... some have been on for up to 5-6 months though.