First Time Buyers in a dilemma. Don't want to overpay

JJ829

Hi there,
we are first times buyers and have been looking for a property for about 3 years now! The good thing is it has allowed us to save quite a bit of deposit. In this time we've submitted offers on 2 properties but lost out to cash buyers.
Will live in a village location so house prices can be more expensive than the town. No two properties are the same but a small 2 to 3 bed terraced cottage could be £150k needing a fair bit of work and a modernised one approx £200-£230k
There is a house that has been on the market for nearly 3 years with different estate agents.
It's not a typical country cottage look, it has render and is not a big house but decent compared to small cottages. The most appealing parts are it has a decent sized double bedroom with another small double and then a loft conversion. It is not classed as a 3rd bedroom as it needs work of approx £2000 to meet building regs. This includes, insulation, fire doors, fitted smoke alarms etc.
It was originally on at £278k which seemed ridiculous but said all offers invited. After a good while we decided to take a look. It's not the prettiest looking house from outside but it is end of terrace and out of the way , it has a front garden with lovely views, private parking which can be quite scarce and a back garden also with good views. It also has a big garage which is perfect for wht we require. It seems to have everything we are looking for.
Internally, there are some things which we would like to do such as sort the building regs, new bathroom, new kitchen, knock a utility room down and sort the garage in way of insulation/plasterboard, new doors etc. This is assuming everything else with it is ok.
Up until recently the property had planning permission for the garage and the land behind it to have a 3 bed house constructed. This has ran out now but may be possible to re-apply. We don't and would have no plans to ever build on the garage.
The house reduced to £260k and we had in 'our mind' it was worth £235-£240k max and we lways compare it to other houses coming on the market.
As we've continued to save we put in an offer of 240k but the vendors have said the least they will accept is £248k
Although we really like the house and the plans we would have for it, we are totally unsure on what the house is actually worth. We would hope to live there for the considerable future but it's worrying it has been on the market for so long and not sold.
Next door sold in 2017 for 190k, in 2015 is sold for more at 195k
The only differences being it is not end of terrace, it doesn't have a garage or the planning permission opportunity. The back garden is probably a quarter of the size but internally it is like for lie in terms of space.
Just recently a traditional terraced cottage looking property in the centre of the village which we are not so keen on in terms of location came on at offers in the region of £235k. No garage, just off street parking but the property is much bigger inside with 3 bedrooms plus a huge converted loft. No views or garden out of the front but nice views and smaller garden out the back but a bit more overlooked by neighbouring properties.
On the house we like Zoopla has an estimate of £210k with L&C between £226-270k
We keep waiting and waiting in the hope something else will come up but the market can be funny here.
It's over our budget but you can get semi or detached properties for £260-300k if/when they come up.
Do you think if this property has been on the market for 3 years it is probably because it is overpriced and unless another house comes on the market we should wait for them in the hope they will reduce further?
Hope you can advise
Thank you
JJ

Gwendo40

I wouldn't even bother viewing a house that had been on the market for 3 years because it's quite obviously -

a. Massively overpriced

and

b. Has stubborn deluded vendors who are unable to accept that it's massively overpriced.

Doozergirl

It sounds like it's priced to reflect the lapsed planning. Lapsed planning equals no planning and therefore has no value, but a new planning application for the identical plans shouldn't meet resistance (unless planning policies have changed massively, the council would have a hard time arguing with an inspector over why something that was acceptable isn't any more) and would improve the value by more than they are asking, by the sound of it.

But if you're not interested in the plot, then why are you considering it? Do you think it's worth it?

The always say pick the location. You can change a house.

Presumably it has the potential to be extended into a bigger house in the future (if you're not building the new house), which would save on moving costs, should be cheaper per square foot than buying a bigger house and will therefore add value. Or you could look at doing something with the plot when you are ready to move on.

It sounds like the sort of curveball house I'd be looking at. Send me a link :rotfl: