Is this house too risky?

EachPenny

EachPenny wrote: »

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.

The window.

Before worrying about all the other issues to do with the neighbourhood you need to get clarity on what is going on behind that 'window'. What does the floor plan look like? Is there really only one room at the front of the house?

Don't focus on 'bricking it up', find out what it is doing there in the first place. Buildings convey a story to you if you look for the signs - in this case it could be telling you why people are not interested in buying.

Help1234

EachPenny wrote: »

The window.

Before worrying about all the other issues to do with the neighbourhood you need to get clarity on what is going on behind that 'window'. What does the floor plan look like? Is there really only one room at the front of the house?

Don't focus on 'bricking it up', find out what it is doing there in the first place. Buildings convey a story to you if you look for the signs - in this case it could be telling you why people are not interested in buying.

Hi, this is a picture of when you first walk in:



Behind the photo is the stairs and then to the left when you walk through there is a door, which leads to open plan living and dining room. Kitchen is at the back.

Slinky

n217970 wrote: »

Except it normally gets cheaper much faster then the 25 years, better LTV rates as the mortgage is paid down and house price rises (hopefully) allow remortgaging onto better deals combined with raising rental prices.

For example after 7 years of home ownership I am only paying £150 a month more on my mortgage for a 4 bed detached in a high priced village (locally speaking) then my friend is paying in rent on a 3 bed end terrace ex council - If we had not moved from our 3 bed ex council semi I would actually have bene paying about £300 a month less then him. I certainly wasn't spending £3600 a year in maintenance.

With the BOE rate at quarter percent, seriously how do you think mortgages will ever be cheaper than they are now? There's only one way for them to go and it isn't down.

SuboJvR

Help1234 wrote: »

Hi, this is a picture of when you first walk in:



Behind the photo is the stairs and then to the left when you walk through there is a door, which leads to open plan living and dining room. Kitchen is at the back.

The issue is what's going on upstairs. What does the room look like with the concreted window?

Look at this:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-39307758.html

In that house the front door opens into the living room. I think something is odd about the one you're looking at - and that potentially the door on the left of the front door (i.e. the one with the radiator on) as you walk into it may have been the neighbour's old boundary...

Help1234

SuboJvR wrote: »

The issue is what's going on upstairs. What does the room look like with the concreted window?

Look at this:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-39307758.html

In that house the front door opens into the living room. I think something is odd about the one you're looking at - and that potentially the door on the left of the front door (i.e. the one with the radiator on) as you walk into it may have been the neighbour's old boundary...

The room behind the 'window' is the main bedroom, which can be seen on the 5th photo here:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-43454783.html

Apologies I don't have a picture of directly behind the window but it just looks like bedroom wall, completely unremarkable.
I am a bit ignorant here - and don't understand what the issue is with this possibly being the neighbours old boundary?

SuboJvR

Help1234 wrote: »

The room behind the 'window' is the main bedroom, which can be seen on the 5th photo here:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-43454783.html

Apologies I don't have a picture of directly behind the window but it just looks like bedroom wall, completely unremarkable.
I am a bit ignorant here - and don't understand what the issue is with this possibly being the neighbours old boundary?

Well maybe none, assuming all the required planning permissions and paperwork is all in order. :-) Similarly that the boundary between the houses is properly defined upstairs.

But, if there were potential buyers who pulled out - is it possible they did so at survey stage, if issues were uncovered?

kerri_gt

Help1234 wrote: »

The room behind the 'window' is the main bedroom, which can be seen on the 5th photo here:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-43454783.html

Apologies I don't have a picture of directly behind the window but it just looks like bedroom wall, completely unremarkable.
I am a bit ignorant here - and don't understand what the issue is with this possibly being the neighbours old boundary?

So that does suggest a flying freehold - where some of your property is over the neighbours. Its not common building practise these days, but its not uncommon either and depending on the % of the property overlap is not necessarily a show stopped with the mortgage company.

Odd that someone would want to block that window up though and have less light in a room - if it were me I'd want to open it up again.

Mardle

That concrete 'window' is right in the centre of the terrace so could possibly have been some sort of descriptive panel dating back to when the terrace was constructed. Maybe they were built for railway workers and had the company name on the panel.

n217970

Slinky wrote: »

With the BOE rate at quarter percent, seriously how do you think mortgages will ever be cheaper than they are now? There's only one way for them to go and it isn't down.

They are a hell of a lot cheaper when you rock up in a few years with a 60% LTV then when you first start with a 90+% LTV.

Help1234

There is currently nothing on the market that is better (for us) than this house. Do people think we would be better off waiting for a house to come up on one of these streets just round the corner for less than £150K:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detail.html?country=england&locationIdentifier=STREET%5E2060806&searchLocation=George+Street&referrer=landingPage

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detail.html?country=england&locationIdentifier=STREET%5E765841&searchLocation=Vicarage+Lane&referrer=listChangeCriteria

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detail.html?country=england&locationIdentifier=STREET%5E1709113&searchLocation=The+Avenue&referrer=listChangeCriteria

Our priority is to be close to the train station.
I understand the debate of moving vs renting pros and cons but for us the time has come to buy our own property.