Is this house too risky?

SuboJvR

Help1234 wrote: »

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.

It does sound as though you are already decided. By all means, go for it, now a bit more armed maybe about some of the quirks about the house. But don't be too surprised if a survey does turn up something that puts you off that correlates with why other buyers pulled out. You asked if it was too risky - that's relative. For me, it's risky. For me, as a first time buyer, I don't want any nasty surprises. So for me, it is too risky. Only you know if it's too risky for you.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

Personally I don't like the house and I don't like the street. At all. So there's nothing that would make me want to buy it that would remotely balance all the problems and potential problems that have been raised. If you really like it, that might balance them for you. That's purely your call though; there's no point trying to convince everyone that you're right to buy it; whether you are right to buy it is driven by how much you like it. Just make sure that you buy it for a price that you will be able to sell it on for.

MelodyBelle

When it comes down to it, it is you who will be living there. So, weighing up all the pros and cons, which you are doing with the help of other people's answers, can you imagine yourselves living in it for several years, and feeling it is home when you come back to it every night. Will the pros outweigh the cons for you?

If so, and you think you would love to live there, go for it, but make any offer subject to survey, and make sure you get a good enough survey to throw up any potential problems, not just a valuation. A surveyor's valuation may give you grounds to pay less for the house, however. Also, ask your solicitor about any planning issues in the area - the searches should throw these up. Try to get a solicitor who offers a "no buy, no fee" service (which may mean that if the purchase falls through the fee gets put towards the next house you try to buy). Also, do what searches you can online before putting in an offer in case they give a reason for it not having sold. - we found that a house we were thinking of putting an offer on had an unacceptably high (for us) flood risk, and finding this out for ourselves saved us the expense and hassle of having to withdraw an offer after the solicitor's searches.

The lack of an earlier sale could be for all sorts of reasons, such as it having been overpriced, or the sellers not being that committed to selling. Finding something that is not right for many people for some reason but is just right for you can be the key to finding something you can afford if you are tight for money, as long as you do your homework.

Crashy_Time

Help1234 wrote: »

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

It is worth about 80k, whether you can sell it on is dependant on your price and interest from buyers when you want to sell again.

indian_summer

Looks to me like it was one house originally.
One door in one arch the other arch was probably a ginnel straight to the back of the house.

Three windows upstairs,the smaller one on the neighbours house is a later addition.

Centre window was blocked up so party wall could be erected.

seashore22

Ignore Crashy. He just doesn't want anyone to buy anything.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

Crashy_Time wrote: »

It is worth about 80k, whether you can sell it on is dependant on your price and interest from buyers when you want to sell again.

Here you go again with your !!!!!!!!. Explain how you came to that valuation. Liar.

Kidder81

I agree.

Only you can decide if it's the house for you. Houses are always subjective. What others love, others will hate.

I'd ask agent why it hasn't sold yet and if any issues showed up on survey.

I live locally but not in Sandbach. I don't like the house but that aside, I think it's overpriced. For me it's worth £110k - £115k and that's for someone who does like it.

getmore4less

Have a good look at the planning applications on that street and nearby.

seems they are trying to develop that space at the end of the terrace and have had planning issues

this one was withdrawn late last year.

Outline planning application for 20 apartments (four blocks) plus 20 car parking spaces. Previous planning approval ref: 09/3337C

that previous one was refused 2010.

Look like they are trying to get 20x2 bed flat with 20 parking spaces.

If they get bought by couples then they are potentially up to 20 spaces short.

They do this in my town the planners claim the car ratio is low for the area, close to town bus and train etc. but the more expensive flats being built will tend to attract more affluent couples than the current stock which attracts less affluent people and renters that can't afford a car for each person.

Crashy_Time

ScorpiondeRooftrouser wrote: »

Here you go again with your !!!!!!!!. Explain how you came to that valuation. Liar.

Because I think it will sell at that price. Let`s face it, three years on the market tells us it won`t sell at current "value" ?