The Nice People No. 17

PasturesNew

Going to phone up about this one that's been on the "not really ideal" list since it appeared last October. 
House, s-facing garden, garage... not a preferred area but "it'll do". 
Conservatory - yes... but no.  Would you really allow the agent to photograph this for your details? 

Overall, the house looks like it's lived in by 1-2 keen car mechanics... with bits lying all over the garden, spare tyres, grubby garage.  Overalls hanging 4-deep on the coat hooks   
Beggars/choosers etc. 
Cheap enough to do what's necessary (asking £260k)
£1 says that garden's got rats. 

michaels

PasturesNew said:

Going to phone up about this one that's been on the "not really ideal" list since it appeared last October. 
House, s-facing garden, garage... not a preferred area but "it'll do". 
Conservatory - yes... but no.  Would you really allow the agent to photograph this for your details? 

Overall, the house looks like it's lived in by 1-2 keen car mechanics... with bits lying all over the garden, spare tyres, grubby garage.  Overalls hanging 4-deep on the coat hooks   
Beggars/choosers etc. 
Cheap enough to do what's necessary (asking £260k)
£1 says that garden's got rats. 

So why is it on at only 260k?

zagubov

PasturesNew said:

Homes are getting smaller. Just revisited/researched one I'd previously dismissed due to it being a new build behind some council houses, where there'd previously been a bunch of garages.  Initially dismissed on location, overhanging trees and indistinct open plan parking arrangement. 
I looked at the layout and it seemed a bit odd... then I looked closer.  Bed2 had a door to the garden, the kitchen was 10'x4'.  Then the penny dropped... if you take a 1-bedroom bungalow and squeeze the kitchen (with a door to the garden) into 10'x4', opening into the living room of 16'x13' ...  then it's now a 2 bed bungalow worth £30-40k more. 
*sighs* They really do take the mick. 

What finished that one off for me was reading the planning documents.... all those trees have TPOs and there are special foundations and underground groundworks to protect those, so any thoughts of knocking it about or adding a conservatory would be right out of the question. 

So one of the bedrooms has no window but just a door (presumably with a glass panel) while it has a seemingly unnecessary ensuite which has a window?

PasturesNew

michaels said:

PasturesNew said:

So why is it on at only 260k?

Area. Quite industrialised/commercial just round the corner. 
20% lowest multiple deprivation score. 
In short: it's not a glorious spot at all  

PasturesNew

zagubov said:

PasturesNew said:

So one of the bedrooms has no window but just a door (presumably with a glass panel) while it has a seemingly unnecessary ensuite which has a window?

Yes and all this glorious living, in the grot spot that used to be the garages at the back of a council estate, under the canopy of three large TPO trees, with allocated parking, can be had for the bargain price of just £280k.

Here is that bedroom with the door to the side garden

silvercar

That layout is beyond stupid. The en-suite should have opened into bedroom 1 not bedroom 2!

zagubov

We were discussing this on another thread, about the fact there's no true bargains in housing (at least in London). It's all about what problems you find acceptable for the asked price. There's an area not far from us where you get masses of house for your money, the roads are noticeably wider and leafier, houses and gardens are bigger than all the surrounding areas.

Not near anywhere industrial or grotty or high crime. It's only if there's a rather hot day you realise there's a sewage farm.

Pyxis

silvercar said:

That layout is beyond stupid. The en-suite should have opened into bedroom 1 not bedroom 2!

My thoughts exactly.

zagubov

Pyxis said:

silvercar said:

That layout is beyond stupid. The en-suite should have opened into bedroom 1 not bedroom 2!

My thoughts exactly.

IMHO, in a dwelling that small, a second bathroom seems as pointless as fitting a cellar in a treehouse. It needs more living space.
On the upside, if you wanted a lodger, it might make that more bearable.

PasturesNew

zagubov said:

 It's all about what problems you find acceptable for the asked price.  

That's how I've been viewing it.  The one with the fewest dealbreakers   
I know I'll get something "not ideal", but every one has a different mix of unacceptable characteristics. 
I'm just waiting for the one "that'll have to do"....  most have 5-6+ unacceptable points and the only plus point is I could afford them
Something will turn up...