Buying in the NW (Macclesfield) - thoughts on this RM ad?

LandyAndy

phill99 wrote: »

Don't confuse the leases on flats (100 yrs or so with the very long leases on houses. Although technically it is the same, the onerous conditions on long leasehold houses are rare. Its effectively a freehold (999 yr leases) with a ground rent that is invariably never collected. But make sure you get the solicitor to check the lease.

Things must have changed. My first house, in the 1980's, was a 999 year lease with a £4pa ground rent, payable half yearly, and it was always chased if I was late with it.

Cakeguts

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser wrote: »

I think you are being a bit harsh there Cakeguts. OP knows what he/she wants and (from what I understand) is already renting in the area.

If they want a terraced house in the middle of town, that's what they will be looking at. People have different likes, tastes and preferences. Someone must be living in all those houses in the middle of town.

I can think of another Northern Town that has houses like this one near to the station with people living in them but only because they can't afford anything better. That is why you have to buy one very cheaply because when you come to sell you are going to have to sell it cheaply. These houses are not seen as desirable little houses they are seen as where you live if you can't afford not to. Anyone who can avoid them will. Many of these small terraced houses only have a market if they are sold to landlords. There isn't a housing shortage in the North West so people don't have to buy something that they don't like and most people don't want a 2 bed or 3 bed terrace where the front door is straight out onto the pavement. If you are going to buy a 3 bed terrace you need to buy something that at least has a small front garden because those are marginally more popular.



The thing about London is that small terraced houses like this one are seen as desirable little cottage type housing and one in a cobbled road like that would be viewed as quaint and quite desirable but that is because being near to a station in a certain zone in London can make houses more expensive. It doesn't work like that in northern towns. It only works if the house is in a desirable small village with a station.



Here is a house very similar that is in Oldham. People are living in these houses but it wouldn't be an area I would choose to live in if I could avoid it. Notice that the property description lists investment as a buying option.



https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-73023955.html


Now here is a house in Delph which is a desirable little village just outside Oldham. There is a station here as well.



https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-81830279.html



Notice that there is no mention of investment as a buying option on this one. Estate agents expect landlords to buy terraced houses with the door onto the street in the middle of towns in the North West because most owner occupiers don't want them. They can get something better.



If you don't understand how the housing market works you could make an extremely expensive mistake.

movingtomacc

Thank you Cakeguts. I really appreciate the time and effort you have taken to explain your view and do not doubt your conviction.

But as said above, we have been renting a terraced house in town for a few months now and before this lived in the Whitechapel/Bethnal Green area which I can assure you is a very un-glamorous and somewhat rough part of inner-city London. No quaint cottages on cobbled streets around there

We have felt perfectly safe living in town and are happy to buy here. We have no intention of paying well above market rate and hopefully will be able to sell the same way.

Cakeguts

movingtomacc wrote: »

Thank you Cakeguts. I really appreciate the time and effort you have taken to explain your view and do not doubt your conviction.

But as said above, we have been renting a terraced house in town for a few months now and before this lived in the Whitechapel/Bethnal Green area which I can assure you is a very un-glamorous and somewhat rough part of inner-city London. No quaint cottages on cobbled streets around there

We have felt perfectly safe living in town and are happy to buy here. We have no intention of paying well above market rate and hopefully will be able to sell the same way.

Might be a good idea to buy one that hasn't been tarted up then and improve it yourself to your own taste? So then at least if you don't get your money back you won't be not getting your money back on someone else's taste?


https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-79783559.html This is what peopl are buying.


Here is one that is vacant.



https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-77634464.html


Don't pay more than £140k for a 3 bed where the front door is onto the street and the house is in the centre of Macclesfield Anything over this and you are paying extra for someone else's taste in decoration and style. Doing your own decoration is cheaper. If you buy a property that has been done up by someone else it will need doing up again by the time you come to sell it. Better to do your own doing up without paying for someone else's first.



https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-83265791.html

movingtomacc

Sure, we are pretty flexible and have quite simple tastes in any case. We furnished the current house entirely from the nearby Age UK used furniture showroom amazing value!

Cakeguts wrote: »

Might be a good idea to buy one that hasn't been tarted up then and improve it yourself to your own taste? So then at least if you don't get your money back you won't be not getting your money back on someone else's taste?

Cakeguts

Do you need 3 bedrooms? A 2 bed would be easier to sell when you want to move because when people go for a 3 bed they nearly always want a family home and these terraces are not really family homes because of the lack of parking and the small gardens.


Remember you are going to be selling to a first time buyer with no children. So you need to make sure that in order to sell it easily it has to be affordable to as many first time buyers as possible.



People with children buy a 3 bed with offstreet parking and a garden.

movingtomacc

Just a quick update on this one.

We had viewed and offered on the property last week but it was rejected by the vendor. The EA said that they had a higher offer and it's now SSTC. Very quick considering it was only listed 2 weeks ago!

[Deleted User]

Hmm a house that's difficult to sell at that price indeed lol.

movingtomacc

Exactly what I thought as well!

When the EA told me about the “higher offer”, I just assumed he was fibbing

shortcrust

Cakeguts wrote: »

I can think of another Northern Town that has houses like this one near to the station with people living in them but only because they can't afford anything better. That is why you have to buy one very cheaply because when you come to sell you are going to have to sell it cheaply. These houses are not seen as desirable little houses they are seen as where you live if you can't afford not to. Anyone who can avoid them will. Many of these small terraced houses only have a market if they are sold to landlords. There isn't a housing shortage in the North West so people don't have to buy something that they don't like and most people don't want a 2 bed or 3 bed terrace where the front door is straight out onto the pavement. If you are going to buy a 3 bed terrace you need to buy something that at least has a small front garden because those are marginally more popular.



The thing about London is that small terraced houses like this one are seen as desirable little cottage type housing and one in a cobbled road like that would be viewed as quaint and quite desirable but that is because being near to a station in a certain zone in London can make houses more expensive. It doesn't work like that in northern towns. It only works if the house is in a desirable small village with a station.



Here is a house very similar that is in Oldham. People are living in these houses but it wouldn't be an area I would choose to live in if I could avoid it. Notice that the property description lists investment as a buying option.



https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-73023955.html


Now here is a house in Delph which is a desirable little village just outside Oldham. There is a station here as well.



https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-81830279.html



Notice that there is no mention of investment as a buying option on this one. Estate agents expect landlords to buy terraced houses with the door onto the street in the middle of towns in the North West because most owner occupiers don't want them. They can get something better.



If you don't understand how the housing market works you could make an extremely expensive mistake.

Jeez, I never realised my house was so rubbish! What was I thinking?:D

I live in Sheffield which isn’t exactly Macclesfield, but it isn’t London either. For the same price or less you could find a larger semi detached within two miles of my terrace with its door straight on to the street. However I don’t think many people with local knowledge would think it was a more desirable home than mine.