Unsure what I want, plus couple of houses opinions requested

GDB2222

https://www.bondwolfeauctions.com/properties/93813-property-auction-bilston/

3 beds in your area, sold at auction for £126,140. I'm not sure what's wrong with it? You have to laugh at the guide price. Why bother to set one at all if it's way, way off the mark?

My advice to the OP is to get yourself into a position to buy at auction. That means going all out on a particular property before the auction, getting the mortgage offer, survey, and legals done without any guarantee that you'll win it at auction. You need to be prepared to walk away and lose those expenses if the bidding gets too high, so it's a bit of a gamble, and you won't want to lose your expenses too many times in a row. On the other hand the auction prices do appear to be significantly lower.

That may be the best way to get a decent property at the sort of price you want.

phoebe1989seb

Bossypants wrote: »

You're talking about character, but to my mind all that £200k house has over the bungalow you listed is size. None of the features, like the fireplace and staircase, look to be original, and the same could be picked up on eBay and installed in any house you like. I know, because I just knocked out a horrible 50's tiled electric stove monstrosity and put in a beautiful solid oak arts and crafts surround on a marble hearth, ready to put a free-standing wood burner in. It suits the house perfectly and people often comment on it, nobody can ever believe that it's not original. People often talk about character as though it's this thing which either exists or it doesn't, but in the right house, character is something you can build yourself over time.

My advice would be to take a step back in your expectations. Figure out the absolutely basics that you need and won't be able to change later, e.g. house size, garden size and location. Decide what your minimum (not ideal!) requirements are in those categories, and then view every single house that meets two out of three. When you do, try not to think about the details too much. You can repaint, put in new carpets/curtains/doors/etc later if you like, improve fireplaces, add nicer skirting, etc. Instead, focus on the 'bones' of the house: How much light is there, is it noisy, do the rooms feel comfortable in size and proportions. You will likely not find your absolute dream house, because almost nobody can afford their absolute dream house, but you will likely find that eventually, one house presents itself as head and shoulders above the rest in your estimation. A good indicator is when you find yourself comparing other houses you see to it and finding they fall short.

Good luck!

This

Our current cottage was bought as a huge downsize from previous houses we'd owned...and whilst it's reasonably large at around 1400 sq ft it only has two bedrooms and a badly positioned bathroom with no window. To crown it all it has few original features considering that it was built 400 years ago.

What sold it to us was a) the location and b) the potential. It was also a repossession that we secured for 40% less than the original asking price (it had been on and off the market for five years).

The ground floor - again poorly laid out - had a large extension, although that in itself was completed on the cheap with a polycarbonate roof underlaid with plasterboard. By the time we came along this was leaking like a sieve.

In the two years we've been here we have moved the kitchen into two previously adjoining rooms, replaced the extension roof with slates and added wood burning stoves to two rooms, as well as rewiring, new boiler etc.

We're gradually adding the missing character as we go, by means of reclaimed fireplaces and panelled walls built by DH.

Upstairs we've just removed one stud wall - and about to move another - as a prelude to reconfiguring the space to create a third bedroom/relocating the bathroom. Again we'll be adding some character features along the way. We are very fortunate in that we've done a few (mainly) DIY refurbs and are both pretty handy

The property isn't listed, btw......

I'm not keen on the £200k house personally - prefer the bungalow - but agree that you've got nothing to lose by going in with an offer of £185k!

danlightbulb

Bossypants wrote: »

You're talking about character, but to my mind all that £200k house has over the bungalow you listed is size. None of the features, like the fireplace and staircase, look to be original, and the same could be picked up on eBay and installed in any house you like. I know, because I just knocked out a horrible 50's tiled electric stove monstrosity and put in a beautiful solid oak arts and crafts surround on a marble hearth, ready to put a free-standing wood burner in. It suits the house perfectly and people often comment on it, nobody can ever believe that it's not original. People often talk about character as though it's this thing which either exists or it doesn't, but in the right house, character is something you can build yourself over time.

Its more than just size, its the overall look of it. It just has that traditional detached house in the country look to it, I think (well the closest that exists in this area anyway).



And the fact its already done up to a good standard is worth alot to me. Reasonable kitchen, modern bathroom, decor, log fireplaces - we are talking £20k easy over time. I know the features probably aren't original but I don't really care about that, its the look I like. Could I recreate that in a bungalow? Would it look right? Not sure. The interior style has to fit with the style of the house doesn't it. A period living room won't look right in a council box. This house appears to have blended modern and period features really well.

The fact that the house is already done up to that standard pretty much throughout, well in this case it hasn't seemingly affected its price. I.e those improvements almost already come for free with the house, increasing its value for money.

Compare that to what I'm finding:



Its worlds apart.

RelievedSheff

While character and older properties do have a certain charm have you also considered the day to day running costs of older properties versus newer properties?

You can add your own style to newer properties whilst benefiting from much lower bills.

Although I wouldn't consider any of the properties you have shown in the images above as none of them really have much in the way of kerb appeal. I know a lot of people dismiss this but I think it is important to have a house that looks nice as well as having an interior that works for you.

danlightbulb

I don't think many modern houses have any kerb appeal at all. They are too close to the road (no frontages), no front gardens, limited parking, boxy shape, no bay windows.

But yes I am struggling to find a house with any kerb appeal. What would you guys say has kerb appeal in my area, so I can compare to what I am judging as kerb appeal?

danlightbulb

In the past year, on and off, that Ive been looking, these are the houses that I made offers on:

House 1: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-71738599.html on for offers over £190k, I went in at asking, then there was a bidding war and it went for £197k. The garden was over 600m2, only reason I liked it so much.

House 2: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-62131899.html on at £180, sold for £174 even though I offered £180. They accepted the offer they had first, before I put mine in only 2 days later (it was a bank holiday weekend and my offer didn't get picked up by the agent until the Tuesday), and wouldn't back out of the one they had already accepted.

House 3: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-74493178.html I offered £175k, someone else offered the same a few hours earlier so they accepted the first one and said they did not want a bidding war so that was it. Smaller than others I'd looked at but I liked the decor and garden.

House 4: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-75440494.html the one you've already seen. I had £187.5k accepted, but later felt I was stretching myself too much given the major items that needed work in the house, and because it was further away from my friends and family than I really wanted to go. As you all know, I pulled out and it resold within days.


Other houses I really liked but did not offer on:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-63701820.html too far away

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-72115468.html I liked the house but there are too many things wrong with the location and layout of the grounds. Plus it was a little out of my budget.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-72795991.html I liked it because it was cheap and it would have been better than paying rent. Its also in a nice road. But i don't really want a 2 bed so never offered on it.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-71688619.html I quite liked this, but it is in a mining area so I was told mortgages would want a 30% plus deposit rather than the 10% I have.

GDB2222

danlightbulb wrote: »

I don't think many modern houses have any kerb appeal at all. They are too close to the road (no frontages), no front gardens, limited parking, boxy shape, no bay windows.

But yes I am struggling to find a house with any kerb appeal. What would you guys say has kerb appeal in my area, so I can compare to what I am judging as kerb appeal?

That castle you linked to - all I could see were the 6 or 7 figure maintenance costs each year.

I think you are being slightly whimsical in your wishes. You are looking for a house in the suburban sprawl. You need to be realistic that that's what it's going to look like. I'm pretty sure you can find a cottage in the middle of Wales that will suit you perfectly, and look wonderful, but there's a dearth of employment in that area.

seradane

danlightbulb wrote: »

In the past year, on and off, that Ive been looking, these are the houses that I made offers on:

So if you've found four properties in the last year you liked well enough to bid on (and bid competitively), so I don't think you've got a huge problem? Yes you've been unlucky with the competition getting there first, but that just says to me all you need to do is be prepared to move quickly when the next one comes along.

Also keep in mind sellers won't list in December if they can avoid it because half your prospective buyers are busy, so expect listings to pick up a bit over the next month now Christmas is out of the way.

sarahevie1

Personally I prefer all the ones you've offered on compared to the ones you didn't. My personal favourite is house number 1 although being detached is a necessity for me.

I really struggled in 2018 when I was looking for a 'forever family home'. My max budget started at £300,000 but I had to stretch to £350,000 to get the four bed detached I really wanted. I've ended up with a 70s box style 4 bedroom which I know wouldn't be to everyone's taste but it is so practical with large square/rectangular rooms. I'm on a quiet cut de sac surrounded by bungalows and 4 bed 70s detached houses which have a real mix of residents those who've been in them from new/ those of us with young families.

Even with the increased budget I don't have a garage (it's been converted into a granny annex for the previous owners business). The other side of our street looks out onto fields, I've got a row of detached houses behind me, albeit my largish garden/their largish garden separates us. Earlier in my search I'd have discounted this but there was little available on budget in my village.

What I'm trying to say is sometimes you've got to bite the bullet and go with 'the best of the worst.' You won't get everything you want on budget but decide what you really want. For me it was 4 decent bedrooms for my three kids and detached.

newsgroup_monkey

I think timing is what it's all about.


I have a feeling that once the whole Brexit thing gets underway (and Christmas now over), the market will start to move again.



We had an intention to not extend our current AST which ends in July and would start looking at houses in around January / February.


As it happened, an absolutely ideal property came up barely a couple of months after the 12 month lease started. We put in an offer and were accepted, subject to a quick turnaround.

We also accepted that by making the offer, we could be liable for the rent on our current property until the end of the lease. Fortunately, our fantastic LL has said we can leave providing we help out with marketing, visits etc. which if course we are more than happy to.


On the flip side though, we would have gone on to a periodic tenancy had we needed to.


And before Crashy Time comes in with doom and gloom, we don't really care about potental negative equity. We've paid what we thought the house was worth and intend to stay there until we pay off the mortgage.