Having doubts after offer accepted

Crashy_Time

Dan, take a deep breath, have a read at this for a while and view other properties........

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Investing-Demystified-Speculation-Sleepless-Financial/dp/0273781340

Buying this house really doesn`t help you with any of your life problems, try to stop making this house or any house the cure for issues that need a different approach IMO. Best of luck.

danlightbulb

benson1980 wrote: »

The house looks nice otherwise. Strange how the listing doesn’t have a photo of the garden, which presumably is it’s best feature bearing in mind size and orientation. Looks like houses rarely come up for sale on that road which again is another good sign.

If you can sort parking on what is quite a small frontage, and do what looks like a pretty straightforward renovation it would be a nice house. I’d just make sure the outlay to do all this isn’t more than the house would be worth I.e you couldn’t have just bought something nicer in the first place. Therefore as said I’d get some quotes for this in particular as excavating and retaining walls won’t be cheap. Objectively speaking, from doing a quick search it looks like it’s this or some rather ordinary 3 bed semis, some with small gardens. There is one nice bungalow which is oieo 200k. I’d be comparing with that one to make sure I wasn’t over spending on your choice. This as said is from a very quick search and I don’t know the area at all.

This is the key worry I think, fundamentally. I may not ever do the driveway. I may not ever extend into the loft. I may make the house a 2 bed by having a 2nd sitting room instead of one of the front bedrooms.

This house is the one you mean? https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-75314206.html

Honestly I'm not keen on it. The advert makes it seem like its on its own pretty bit of land but its really not as it shares with another bungalow:
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.5546565,-2.0769612,98a,35y,343.69h,29.43t/data=!3m1!1e3

I think its only 200k because it has a strip of land that could be sold off.

However it has already been modernised, blandly I suppose, and is on a flat plot with parking. But its fairly small inside. Its hard to compare and make a judgement on what that means for the price im paying for my one.

This house is about 8 doors down from the one Im buying:
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-88635779.html

Its already been nicely modernised. Its a 2 storey, with parking. Small garden though, no garage. What does this suggest about the potential of my one? They are different styles of house obviously, but can I judge anything from this? If mine was done up to that standard, could it be similar, or would it need drive and loft conversion doing to reach that level?

This one soldSTC (asking £210k). Modern style detached 4 bedroom, 2 reception room, no garage, small garden. https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-66275709.html

I can't find much in the £150-£180k price range to compare with.




This is so tight on the front. I just can't think of another way of doing it.

Getting_greyer

Have you seen what the road looks like at different times of day/week? Looks to me like everyone in the immediate vicinity has a driveway. You might be the only person who parks there regularly. It might not be an issue but gives you plenty of time in the future to decide.

benson1980

Yes that's the bungalow I meant. If you can sort parking then happy days, and you would unlock the potential of the house which is obviously on a decent size plot, but I agree- it looks tight and you may struggle even getting permission to drop the kerb? From street view it also looks as though your house is set a bit higher comparatively speaking, with road level.

The other ones look a bit bland but more conventional, safe choices. Certainly round our way gardens sell houses, and houses with big gardens, with no fundamental flaws (e.g. lack of parking!) sell for a lot of money.

Crashy_Time

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-73604804.html

Even a pool hasn`t helped this seller, they have reduced their asking price nearly 100k since it has been on the market.

Crashy_Time

Here`s a cracker!

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-74831218.html

You could even skate on the driveway in winter time, and the price ambition is unusually reserved for such a "special" house, maybe sellers are learning about economic reality after all!

julicorn

Your posts are so full of speculation about resale value and what others would be thinking about the house in the future. I think you're getting yourself into some sort of spin because you are trying to predict and second guess a lot of factors that you have no real influence over.
It's pretty great that around where you are, you can afford a home like this. Around here, a typical starter home for a couple would be a 1 bed flat.
A lot of people have said it already, but what do YOU want? It doesn't sound like you actually like the bungalow, you are projecting a lot of opinions (allegedly others' opinions, but likely to be your own) about bungalows being for old people, and the parking situation being annoying. if that's what's bothering you, that's fine, but you've got to be honest to yourself about what your intentions are. If you don't mind me asking, what's your current living situation? The only reason I am asking as that after having lived in a few different rental places, my partner and i had some pretty clear opinions about what we were looking for (based on what we liked and disliked about our previous homes). Your comments make it sounds a little like you haven't really formed those clear ideas/opinions somehow.

danlightbulb

I currently live in an early 1990's build 2 bed end terrace house in a cul-de-sac. It has a driveway to the side, with a side garage.Inside, you walk directly into a small kitchen, then into the lounge. The lounge has patio doors to the rear, and stairs up to the upstairs, where there is one main bedroom, one small bedroom and a bathroom. The garden is about 10m long by 4m wide and completely overshadowed the whole year through. I have been here 10 years and pay £570 per month rent.

Here it is:
link

I realise I am lucky to not live in a place such as London where I could afford nothing. But as I don't live there, that doesn't mean I'm happy buying anything. If I'm spending 6 figure sums of money and paying for it for the rest of my working life, I want something I'll be happy with.

A big part of me does want a house I can improve. This is for both adding value, and also for something to do. When I was married both our houses were pretty extensive do-up-ers and I am reasonably good at DIY. Our first house was a 3 bed ex council semi for £85k in 2004, and our second house was a 3 bed ex council mid terrace for £115k in 2007. We separated in 2010 and I needed somewhere fast. This house was available, it was good enough so I took it. My ex wife and kids still live in the £115k mid terrace.

Both houses has front driveways but neither had garages. I didn't have many hobbies then, but now I do so a garage is needed for storage.

The problem is not not knowing what I want really. Its more knowing what I should and should not compromise on. I don't think my wants are excessive or unreasonable. A garage, a driveway, good garden and potential for improvement on a house are pretty fundamental and obvious things to want. Its not like I'm asking for 3 en suites, a brand new kitchen or wood flooring. My list is not a superficial list in my opinion. I want to find a house which has a good fundamental structure and layout, so I can enjoy doing the improvements and making it better.

This bungalow does tick some of those boxes, and I didn't think I get a detaches house for the money I could spend so that is also a bonus. But its lacking some pretty fundamental things as well and I am worried that those limitations will quickly see me come to a stopping point on what I can achieve with the house.

I have today been experimenting with trying to design a possible loft conversion. I'm limited a little by what dimensions I could estimate from the advert and make some educated guesses on, such as roof pitch. But I am now quite concerned that a whole new roof would be needed to do a conversion on this house which is completely unaffordable for me. IF I had the height, I'd be happy to lay new joists and even put a staircase in (all to regs of course). But I am 50/50 on whether the height is there in the hip roof, and I'd be hugely shrinking the smaller bedroom in the house to fit in the stairs.



The thing is, I guess most people would see a house and think its ok and proceed, then find out later about the layout issues or height issues or whatever. I want to make sure that improvement is possible before I commit because I don't want to come up against a showstopper after I have bought it. The driveway is marginal on space, the loft conversion is very marginal on whether its possible without a new roof. If the height was there I could have done a conversion to regs for probably £3k-£5k in materials.

Everyone seems to be saying this house has potential, and maybe it does if you had £50k to spend to bring in contractors. Everyone is also saying this house has good space, but does it really, compared to a normal 2 storey? It's got good space for a 2 bed, but not a 3 bed. And it has hardly any nooks or cranies or cupboards.

Part of me does like it, a detached for the money is very good. But I'm struggling to see how I can make it into a family house.

danlightbulb

Also its worth adding the location issue has had me swaying from one direction to another lately. My family and older friends are all in Tipton. I work in Walsall, and my main work friends are from Cannock and Sutton, so we tend to meet up in Birmingham. From Tipton/Cosely area I can easily get into Birmingham on the train.

I have been dating someone who lives in Kings Heath (South Birmingham). She rents in a house share. Now Kings Heath (and its close neighbour, Mosely) is quite a good place to live, its lively for pubs and bars and music. And it has absolutely lots of parks dotted around within walking distance. I have considered waiting because I don't know what will happen with this lady I'm dating. However, I cannot afford much at all in Kings Heath. Prices around that area are double what they are here easily, and its also a nightmare to get to work from there. From south Birmingham to cross the city and get out to Walsall in the north is a real pig. Otherwise part of me would have quite liked to live in Kings Heath, although part of me wouldn't want to move away from family and friends.

julicorn

danlightbulb wrote: »

The problem is not not knowing what I want really. Its more knowing what I should and should not compromise on. I don't think my wants are excessive or unreasonable. A garage, a driveway, good garden and potential for improvement on a house are pretty fundamental and obvious things to want. Its not like I'm asking for 3 en suites, a brand new kitchen or wood flooring. My list is not a superficial list in my opinion. I want to find a house which has a good fundamental structure and layout, so I can enjoy doing the improvements and making it better.

This bungalow does tick some of those boxes, and I didn't think I get a detaches house for the money I could spend so that is also a bonus. But its lacking some pretty fundamental things as well and I am worried that those limitations will quickly see me come to a stopping point on what I can achieve with the house.

Thank you for elaborating a little more. I also don't think your wants are excessive or unreasonable (to be perfectly honest, even if there was something a little more 'superficial' on that list I wouldn't judge that either - it's your house, and you have got to be happy with it!). You know you've got to compromise, and are going through a process to find out which areas are the right ones to compromise on.

What is raising flags for me and many others here is that you clearly have quite strong doubts about this house, and those won't just go away when lots of people say that they don't think the driveway is an issue, or that they don't think bungalows are for old people only (and honestly, I suppose it doesn't matter if they think that or not - if it is a big problem for you, then it is!). That, paired with talking a lot about investment aspects, can it make it feel a little like you're letting factors that are difficult to predict lead you in your decision. Of course it is great if you can buy a home that you can add value too, absolutely - but buying it purely for the potential of adding value, rather than liking it as a home, can feel a bit like a case of the tail wagging the dog.

It sounds like at the moment, you found something that offers more than you wanted in some areas, but lags some key things you wanted in others. Are you getting a bit blinded by the fact that it is detached, and excited that you can afford that? Does that make you think that this would be the 'right' decision? (In my books, bad neighbours are bad neighbours regardless of quite how closely their home is attached to yours, but that's a different story)
It reminds me a little of my partner and I seeing this flat a few years ago, that on paper offered far more than we wanted (namely in terms of space), but we just really didn't like the idea of living there. This was largely for what you would call superficial factors - lack of ceiling height, lack of character, being in what we perceived to be an 'old people' block of flats. On paper and purely financially, it would have been the right decision, but it didn't deliver what we wanted from our first home together.

Ultimately, you know yourself best. I know you say you question everything (I actually fall into that trap too, am generally an anxious person who overthinks things), and you can best contextualise your thoughts and feelings here. I just want to raise a few thoughts and questions, because to me it looks like you might be in the process of buying a house that would be absolutely perfect for someone else, in an endeavour to try and change it to be closer to your ideal (which is likely to be quite a big undertaking). I'm not here to criticise your choices, and hope that's not how this is coming across.