Is this house too risky?

Help1234

Dear all,

My partner and I are first-time buyers. We have seen this house on rightmove that would meet our needs. We really like inside the house - the rooms are nice and large and we think it has good potential when we style it to our own taste. However, we have some concerns:

The house has been on the market for a very long time and has been put on and took off again over a period of since August 2014. We are concerned therefore, in a few years time if we decide to sell the house we may not be able to. We are not entirely sure of the reason why it has not sold.
We think it could be possibly due to the street view. It hasn't been updated since 2009 where it shows derelict buildings. However, it has now been redeveloped with houses and flats.
We also think it could possibly be when people view the house, building work (from redeveloping the street with houses and flats) is still ongoing (looks to be completed very soon) but this may be causing an increase in cars, which may be making parking not the best.
There is a concreted window, which is rather unsightly. We would seek to brick this up if we were to buy it (and the next door neighbour says they would be happy for us to do this).
We think the pictures don't do the property justice. There is no picture of the dining room, bathroom or second bedroom, despite that these rooms are perfectly fine. The pictures are also less attractive than the home in real life.

What are people's thoughts?
Link to the property: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-43454783.html

alchemist.1

Seems like you have made your mind up. Without knowing the area it's very difficult for anyone to say.

Theres been a boom in property being sold over the last few years and now slowing down. just ask the estate agent why it hasnt sold.

Might just be something as simple as the price they were asking for.

Help1234

Thanks - I haven't made up my mind I am just overly-anxious I suppose as a first-time buyer.

Help1234

I have spoke to the estate agent. They said they have had lots of viewings and 3 offers, but all fell through due to the buyers circumstances. However, my partner did ask the vendor whether she had had any offers and he is not really sure what she said.
The estate agent said they have 3 more viewings booked in for the house

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

Looking at it on street view, surrounded by industrial units and as you say derelict sites, I would expect it to be a hell of a lot cheaper than a similar house in a purely residential street.

If the industrial units and sites all get developed, then it will be a lot nicer. While it is ongoing, though, you wouldn't pay as much as you would on a nice street, because you have no guarantee it will be a nice street. You are taking a chance on what the redevelopment ends up being like. It's a big gamble.

Plus, when the flats and houses are all completed, I wouldn't expect parking to necessarily get better. It could get worse once people actually move in. Another risk.

It could end up being a great buy or a disaster; most people don't like taking the chance.

EachPenny

Is the 'concreted window' actually a window which has been bricked up, or is it just an external decorative feature?

The 'window' appears to span the boundaries between two houses, so if it is a 'real' window it would suggest there is a room in the house which is partly above the neighbour's entrance hall. There is no floor plan to confirm this though. If this really is the situation then it might explain the difficulty in selling.

I notice that for the whole terrace the positions and sizes of the upstairs windows (above the front doors) is inconsistent - it isn't a terrace of identical (or mirror image) houses, there is something rather strange going on.

bxboards

Honestly speaking, from looking at google streetview, the place looks like a complete dump / slum area, although from Wikipedia Sandbach looks quite a nice area so odd.

Also the price has been up and down, there was a price decrease to 125k then a further price increase to 128.5k three months later. So the current price isn't really a reduction and it's been on the market for coming up to 3 years.

I think the house is over-priced. Do not buy with any 'hope' value that it might increase due to improvements. The area surrounding it is so bad, anything will be an improvement, but that won't add value in itself.

Put an offer in at 95k...

LoopyLoops

I was also wondering about the window appearing to be over the two houses. Seems a little strange?

Help1234

Hi all,

Thanks for all your comments. I agree the street view makes it look like a total dump. But the streetview is from 2009 and it's very different now. The flats/houses are mostly all complete, with just a few finishing touches being done to some right at the end of the road. I would predict everything to be done in probably around 3 months or less. It looks complete to me already but there are still some builders there. Therefore I can already see how it is going to be. These flats/houses all have their own parking as well so we don't expect the parking to become worse.
I will see if I can try and upload photos of the street how it is now.

The 'window' is concreted and I don't know if it ever was a real window. It is above both houses. We spoke to the neighbour and they said they would be more than happy to consent to us bricking it properly should we go ahead and buy it.

With all this added info, would people consider it and what would they think about offering? Still £95k?

Help1234

This was that derelict house opposite:

martinthebandit

The three previous offers that fell through would worry me.

I would be concerned that the surveys they may have had done had flagged up something untoward.