Viewing this house tomorrow - grateful for any pointers

movingtomacc

Hi,

My partner and I are viewing this house tomorrow https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-68530890.html

The address is 13 Newton Street, SK11 6QZ (I walk past the corner to work every day) and it's one of 6 townhouses in a row that was sold new-build in Jan 2019 for 235k. I asked the EA why the owner was selling so quickly at a "loss" but he never answered the question properly saying something about investor purchase, builder discount, etc. I'll ask again tomorrow.

We already rent in the area and the location is perfect for our needs. Based on the floorplan, the layout appears to be adequate and functional for us as well. We are used to living in pokey 2 bed flats in London so are probably easier to please than most    

Nothing major jumps out to me as a potential problem from the listing (but I'm rubbish at matters related to construction, etc), so I would be grateful for thoughts on anything specific to look out for. 

PasturesNew

Looks like a nice little place - and you've already had a good chance of knowing the area. 
I'd take a walk behind it, see if there's any evidence of graffiti, rubbish, dog poo, to give you a clue what sort of local people you'll have to deal with. 
I'd expect: irksome people to arbitrarily park in my spot and annoying kids running/playing football and cycling along the back lane for up to 4 hours each day and up to 8 hours each weekend, so take a walk/check that out... 4-5pm is a good time to view as that's after school time -and- you can ascertain how much early evening sunlight it gets.  For parking, it'll look clear a lot of the time... so keep checking peak parking issue times and see how much on street parking there is in case you have visitors over.  

I presume you don't intend having kids... getting them and kit in/out of the car in an allocated spot is a nightmare as there's room for a thin person to squeeze in/out, but no chance of ever opening the doors wide.  Ditto a faff if you've got hobbies like cycling or paddleboarding or kayaking and want to load up.

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser

Potential issues -

- the kitchen appears to be quite small for a 3 bed house, with counterspace only on one side

- don't go by the photos, they look like they're from the initial new-build ad

- all the land registry transactions are marked Cat 'B' and all exactly the same price 235,000 and same date in Jan 2019, which is somewhat unusual unless it's one person/company that bought the units in bulk. Do try and find out who the vendor is. It doesn't affect the house itself but might help in getting a sense of how much lower they might go.

- the 235,000 might not necessarily be the cash that exchanged hands if there was a builder's discount / cash incentive involved.

- the front of the house is below street level

- orientation of the house means that you aren't likely to get a lot of sunlight

Tooskint

Not much furniture in bedrooms which can make you think bigger than it is.  Take ur measuring tape and size up having beds and furniture in it.  That's usually why people dont want a house if those rooms too small

2010

On the face of it, it looks OK.
Remember you don`t have to make a decision there and then and you can always go back and view again.
Take whatever the EA says with a pinch of salt. All they are interested in is ---- commision for a sale.
Maybe the previous owner bit off more than they could chew or maybe didn`t like living at 13.

https://silkdaleliving.com/developments/newton-street/

Smodlet

Not the best downstairs layout:  Tiny kitchen (at the front, from the floorplan, is that correct?) and a trek through the living room to get to the dining room.  Kind of layout I would accept only in a real character property; not in a new build.

movingtomacc

PasturesNew said:

Looks like a nice little place - and you've already had a good chance of knowing the area. 
I'd take a walk behind it, see if there's any evidence of graffiti, rubbish, dog poo, to give you a clue what sort of local people you'll have to deal with. 
I'd expect: irksome people to arbitrarily park in my spot and annoying kids running/playing football and cycling along the back lane for up to 4 hours each day and up to 8 hours each weekend, so take a walk/check that out... 4-5pm is a good time to view as that's after school time -and- you can ascertain how much early evening sunlight it gets.  For parking, it'll look clear a lot of the time... so keep checking peak parking issue times and see how much on street parking there is in case you have visitors over.  
I presume you don't intend having kids... getting them and kit in/out of the car in an allocated spot is a nightmare as there's room for a thin person to squeeze in/out, but no chance of ever opening the doors wide.  Ditto a faff if you've got hobbies like cycling or paddleboarding or kayaking and want to load up.

Thanks, those are great tips! 

movingtomacc

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser said:

- all the land registry transactions are marked Cat 'B' and all exactly the same price 235,000 and same date in Jan 2019, which is somewhat unusual unless it's one person/company that bought the units in bulk. Do try and find out who the vendor is. It doesn't affect the house itself but might help in getting a sense of how much lower they might go.

- the 235,000 might not necessarily be the cash that exchanged hands if there was a builder's discount / cash incentive involved.

I think I understand what you are saying. I will probe with the EA in more detail when I go for the viewing. I was wondering why something bought for 235k in Jan 2019 would be listed for 220k a year later.

movingtomacc

Smodlet said:

Not the best downstairs layout:  Tiny kitchen (at the front, from the floorplan, is that correct?) and a trek through the living room to get to the dining room.  Kind of layout I would accept only in a real character property; not in a new build.

I see your point. Yes the kitchen is at the front.
I don't think it can even be called a "dining room" as such, just one end of the living room.

PasturesNew

Re points made by others: 

Yes, that loo in the middle's annoying, shame they couldn't have worked out how to get it by the front door.  That was a bugbear in my last house, I had a "fit for the disabled" loo slap bang in the middle, much bigger than the loo in this house; I felt I was forever walking through the hallway and round the loo for no good reason - along with the annoying opening/closing doors behind me each way.  But, a layout is what it is and while you can have preferences we aren't all able to "choose".  Buying is more about finding the fewest annoyances  

The kitchen does have units only down one side, but I've seen fewer/worse in larger kitchens.  You've an option of (removing the radiator maybe) putting in a fitted or semi fitted window seat (with hidden seat storage)/table in there, and/or using half-depth units on the empty wall if you feel you'll run short. 

davidmcn

movingtomacc said:

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser said:

- all the land registry transactions are marked Cat 'B' and all exactly the same price 235,000 and same date in Jan 2019, which is somewhat unusual unless it's one person/company that bought the units in bulk. Do try and find out who the vendor is. It doesn't affect the house itself but might help in getting a sense of how much lower they might go.

- the 235,000 might not necessarily be the cash that exchanged hands if there was a builder's discount / cash incentive involved.

I think I understand what you are saying. I will probe with the EA in more detail when I go for the viewing. I was wondering why something bought for 235k in Jan 2019 would be listed for 220k a year later.

Newbuilds typically drop value immediately after their first sale (they're no longer brand new), and often the headline price disguises incentives provided by the developer - chances are that the net price paid wasn't really £235k. Why it's being sold so quickly is a more important question.