Unsure what I want, plus couple of houses opinions requested

pattypan4

Bikes are quite easy to accomodate, to fix securely onto walls. I thought you might mean serious workshop space as in workbench, woodworking etc. My husband used to keep his very expensive road bikes(£ ooos k) in the outbuilding ie it was not a shed, the walls were double skinned and insulated, very thick and extremely secure. You are on the right track op, thinking ahead but it is also important not to overthink while prices rise

danlightbulb

Ive seen the first bungalow this morning. The internal bathroom with round window does point into the living area. Its high enough that no one can see through it though from either side.

The ceilings are very high inside, less so in the extension.

Double glazed hardwood windows throughout, but far narrower units than modern standards (possibly just 6mm or thereabouts). Hardwood needs some sanding and retreating work. Wouldn't be able to afford complete window replacement for some time.

3 very good sized bedrooms, all with chimney breasts that have been capped in the roof and the stacks removed.

Functional kitchen, with gas oven, integrated fridge and freezer and washing machine. Could fit a dishwasher in fairly easily I think.

Boiler is in kitchen, older condensing unit with cylinder and header tank in loft above it. System is microbore. It works but is oldish. Radiators have seen better days, cosmetically. No thermostatic valves. Replacing with combi would be the obvious choice, £2-£3k work there, and replacing each rad as each room is decorated.

Bathroom is dated, no shower. Its a little bigger than it looks in the photo. Airing cupboard could easily be removed to enlarge room. Would probably go for bath wih shower over and glass screen. Soil pipe, being internal, seems I think to run under the rear extension. There is no external soil stack, but in the loft was a rising stack coming from the area of the rear extension, and capped off inside the loft with an air admittance valve. I think it would be difficult to move the toilet in the bathroom because of the drains. There was also an extractor fan in the bathroom that just vented into the loft.

Loft access in hallway, no ladder but one could easily be fitted. Loft seemed spacious inside, could easily be boarded over in the short term. I would guess at around a 6m x 4m useable space in the loft.

Front garden is around 1m raised off road level, so retaining walls would be needed to build a driveway there.

Internal decoration is obviously dated, and upon stripping wallpaper I'd guess most rooms will need replastering. No signs of mould or damp. Some cracking in some internal walls.

Modern MCB fusebox.

Large pre-fab type garage at the back of the garden with rear access, which is shared by several houses. Apparantly its well used by several neighbours and all written into the deeds.

Garden was fairly overgrown but flat and quite private.

I couldn't tell if I would like or not like living on a single floor. I guess I'd just get used to it?

So all in all, I wasn't blown away in amazement - because there is still quite a lot of work needs doing - but I could live there. Main concerns would be bathroom refit - fairly big job, boiler replacement, and driveway conversion.

danlightbulb

Ive been thinking about the excavation needed for the driveway and its concerning me.

The elevation is only about 1 metre above the road, but somewhere under that area will be the drains, water supply pipe, gas supply pipe and electric supply cable. I doubt those would be burried more than a metre deep under that area would they? And I wont know exactly where they are located.

I can handle the digging, not sure about the above services or a retaining wall so close to the house.

I wouldnt be able to pay a contractor several thousand to do the job. Even with skip hire, gravel, bricks and me doing the digging we have to be talking a couple grand easy. If I hit services in my intended area of excavation I am pretty screwed.

Has anyone done this type of job themselves?

franklee

danlightbulb wrote: »

Ive been thinking about the excavation needed for the driveway and its concerning me.

The elevation is only about 1 metre above the road, but somewhere under that area will be the drains, water supply pipe, gas supply pipe and electric supply cable. I doubt those would be burried more than a metre deep under that area would they? And I wont know exactly where they are located.

I can handle the digging, not sure about the above services or a retaining wall so close to the house.

I wouldnt be able to pay a contractor several thousand to do the job. Even with skip hire, gravel, bricks and me doing the digging we have to be talking a couple grand easy. If I hit services in my intended area of excavation I am pretty screwed.

Has anyone done this type of job themselves?

Would you need to get permission for a dropped curb?

https://www.gov.uk/apply-dropped-kerb

EDIT: Just looked on streetview and both neighbours either side have got driveways with dropped curbs and they look like the same style building so presume theirs were added at a later date than the original build but IIRC a dropped curb is usually quite expensive to get done.

danlightbulb

Dropped kerb is likely around £1k.


I'm more concerned with the actual excavation. The house to the right hand side appears lucky - their house is already at the same level as the road - no excavation necessary. The house to the left did need considerable excavation with retaining wall, and the space available, being a triangular shape, makes for parking at a funny angle as you can see by the car on there.


Ive also been looking at the other bungalow. The driveway looks to be about 2.5m wide, my car is just over 2m wide so only 50cm left to open the door and squeeze out. So that one could be really tight as well.

winspiration

The second one looks better to me - there's scope in the long term to extend out towards the back, a bit like they already have done on the first one, but you could do it to your own specifications / liking with no urgency. There's a long drive and decent looking garage already in place. The kitchen is a bit cramped, but it depends how high a priority that is for you.

However I do think that things are likely to pick up with more properties coming onto the market as Spring approaches, so it may be better to wait until there is more choice available rather than feel constrained to go for the best of a mediocre range of options at this time of year.

danlightbulb

winspiration wrote: »

However I do think that things are likely to pick up with more properties coming onto the market as Spring approaches, so it may be better to wait until there is more choice available rather than feel constrained to go for the best of a mediocre range of options at this time of year.

Its all just a guessing game isn't it, that's what maddening. Things could pick up in Spring, but that could also see another round of price rises and bidding wars, and there's no guarantee I could find anything better than what Ive found here. I am very likely to still find myself struggling over what compromises I should and shouldn't make.

Its so hard to judge what is 'good enough', or whether to wait. At the end of the day, I could live in a one bed flat if I had to. Anything above that is really just wants, rather than needs. I feel under pressure because Im nearly 40, the latest point I'll be able to get a 30 year mortgage.

Ive been thinking about this driveway issue. I could park on the road outside, for years I could do that. Or I could modify the back garden and park round the back. I don't know why I am so hung up over a driveway but I can't shake it. My thoughts are going round in circles. Its the uncertainty element to it, a risk thing, if that makes sense.

winspiration wrote: »

The second one looks better to me - there's scope in the long term to extend out towards the back, a bit like they already have done on the first one, but you could do it to your own specifications / liking with no urgency. There's a long drive and decent looking garage already in place. The kitchen is a bit cramped, but it depends how high a priority that is for you.

Both have their pros and cons and I am struggling to determine whether they should be the signal to wait, or realise they are 'good enough' and compromise.

The second one, agree with what you've said, but realistically I'm not going to be able to build an extension for a long time. The kitchen is small, but I have a small kitchen now in my rental place. Better site layout with the drive and garage on the side, and the gable rather than hip roof, and the brick construction of the building. Modernisation looks mostly cosmetic.

With the first one, modernisation has some more significant components, primarily the bathroom which needs a complete refit. Being rendered, there is uncertainty about the structure and how it was built - is it block, brick, solid, cavity? What does it mean that all three rooms have capped off chimneys? What about the location of soil pipes under the floor of the house? It is however already extended and therefore bigger, giving me more flexibility in how I use the rooms. But what if all I can think to do to them is boring magnolia and grey carpet? The kitchen is fine, bit dated but fine. I am confident in working on kitchens, having previously done three. Might need a new boiler within a few years, but I lived with an old back boiler in my first house for 4 years and never changed it so am I again getting hung up over a non-issue? Everything else is cosmetic. There is of course the driveway issue/non-issue - I just can't decide whether it is or not.

Aside from the bathroom and lack of driveway in bungalow one, I think there is far less major work to do on either of these than on the Ettingshall Park house I previously nearly bought, and both are a bit cheaper, and closer to where I wanted to be. I feel more comfortable spending less, so that I am not overly stretched and there is some headroom to undertake improvements.

Skiddaw1

Bossypants wrote: »

To be honest, I think it sort of sounds like maybe you're not quite ready to make the decision? I can only speak for myself, but I've found that when I've been really mentally ready to move, the right house has just sort of presented itself.

When you are ready, as far as bungalows vs not, I don't think you should target bungalows, just don't discount them. Go and see ones that meet your location and size requirements just as you would any other house which did that. One of these days you will walk into a house and think 'yes, I could see myself living here', and then you'll likely find you are able to resolve your other concerns without too much worry. The two houses I've loved the most in my time were both houses I didn't expect to like at all based on the ads. They looked small and bland and had very little curb appeal, and I only went to see them because I had told myself I would see everything which met my size and location specifications. In both cases, I walked in expecting to be in and out in 5 minutes, but as soon as I was through the front door, I could immediately picture how I could live there (even though one of them had all the walls in bright, 70's vinyl wallpaper and contrasting carpets...). I'm not saying this will be the case for everyone of course, but the key is that you really must go and see every single one in person. There is so much about a house you can't tell through an ad, and to be honest my experience is that the ones which look amazing online often fall short in real life anyway.

I'm with Bossypants. Dan, I'm not sure you're not overthinking it. When you see the 'right' house you'll know. Until then, keep your options open, keep your Rightmove shortlist updated and keep looking.

markin

I discounted that house when looking based on it not being able to have a flat drive, And it looking a bit short for one anyway. At the the path the services will be deep but they will likely follow the slope so you could have a sloped drive and maybe shave off a foot but it would still be quite steep. If the sewer or power is below the front garden it gets very expensive, Gas and water are easier to change and place deeper under a drive, you also could expose the house foundations limiting how deep you can go also.


But then it looks like both houses next door did it.

Chandler85

The gas, water, sewage etc will all need to be a certain depth under the actual pavement, could be anything from 30cm to 1m. So the height of the house and drive compared to the pavement is probably not to important.


Moving gas is about £850, water about £750, that's costs I had last year in September. Electricity cables moving is meant to be the worse in terms of cost but I have no actual idea.


I moved from a house to a bungalow and I'm under 35, purely because I got more of what I wanted. It does take a little getting use to living on one floor, sometimes you feel a little exposed if that makes sense. It depends on the road though, for me the road has 14 houses on it and is a dead end so it isn't very bad and I live in an area where you still talk to your neighbours!