Can I get your opinion on this House?

Rony

@hazyjo
Have you factored in the fact that the house is very run down though? Of all the other properties I have seen in the area, the condition inside the house is at least livable. Or perhaps your point is that the condition of the house does not justify a £25k discount? In which case I can take that on board.

My criteria is ideally 2 beds (I can go for 1, if it is like really nice), max price for non Help to Buy is £350k at a stretch. My essentials would be within half hour walking distance to station, preferably 20 mins or lower, freehold, decent sqftage 700+, 2 bathrooms (or 1 bathrooms with enough space to add another), and that the area is not too dodgy.

Thanks

@davidmcn Yes I guess so.

Edit: I also have done one of those property valuation site thingys where you can value a house by putting in the address (I understand it may not be too accurate, but is a starting benchmark) and it gave a range of £297k to £335k with the recommended being £313k. So maybe I am not too far off!

avoidtheupsidedownbottles

UnderOffer said:

This is the sold prices for the street on Rightmove, the most recent being June 2019; so like you said difficult to gauge price for today. 

Is the property an ex rental? You may find the owner is happy to negotiate Price if they are selling a ‘business transaction’ and not their home. 

Yes it was apparently sold at auction in December with an AST sitting tenant with a guide price of £260k (though guide prices don't mean much).  It was last done up between six and eight years ago -- new windows and exterior paint which would appear consistent with the interior condition.

hazyjo

Rony said:

@hazyjo
Have you factored in the fact that the house is very run down though? Of all the other properties I have seen in the area, the condition inside the house is at least livable. Or perhaps your point is that the condition of the house does not justify a £25k discount? In which case I can take that on board.

My criteria is ideally 2 beds (I can go for 1, if it is like really nice), max price for non Help to Buy is £350k at a stretch. My essentials would be within half hour walking distance to station, preferably 20 mins or lower, freehold, decent sqftage 700+, 2 bathrooms (or 1 bathrooms with enough space to add another), and that the area is not too dodgy.

Thanks

@davidmcn Yes I guess so.

Edit: I also have done one of those property valuation site thingys where you can value a house by putting in the address (I understand it may not be too accurate, but is a starting benchmark) and it gave a range of £297k to £335k with the recommended being £313k. So maybe I am not too far off!

Saying if it's literally the cheapest 2 bed house in SE3, chances are the cost of updating has already been factored in. That's not to say don't try a low offer, just that houses are usually priced to reflect work needed. I would've thought it was perfectly liveable. I've bought and lived in far worse before doing them up!

Forget property valuation sites. It's overvalued one of mine and undervalued another up to £150k. They may give a vague indication if there glue been a lot of similar sales nearby, but I'd not take it too seriously.

hazyjo

What areas are you willing to consider? Anything nearby in SE London, or other parts too?

Rony

@hazyjo
Fair point. How about the fact that I am a FTB with no chain and also funds in place already and can proceed quickly? That might be an incentive to go for my £300 :P 
And yes it is livable I guess in the literal sense. I meant livable from my benchmark (which is nice shower, nice kitchen haha), I guess it is kind of cheeky in that sense, but not too far-fetched in 2020 I would presume? Standard of living has increased a lot over the years!

I am willing to consider everything that fits my criteria laid out above, plus ideally  Zone 4 or lower, East/S East anywhere. Possibly even North too. Basically my search criteria Alert on Zoopla/Rightmove is 5 mile (or was it 10?) radius from Whitechapel. I also look at new build flats as well (which I can spend up to £500k), however I don't wish to pay extortionate service charges, which most of them have.

Anyhow, I have drafted my email to the agent for offer of £300k, trying to be as charming as I can, but also giving plenty of reasons why it is a good idea haha. I will send it tomorrow.

EDIT: Is it just me or has the pages on the "House Buying, Renting & Selling" Forum disappeared? I can only see one page?

hazyjo

Rony said:

@hazyjo
Fair point. How about the fact that I am a FTB with no chain and also funds in place already and can proceed quickly? That might be an incentive to go for my £300 :P 
And yes it is livable I guess in the literal sense. I meant livable from my benchmark (which is nice shower, nice kitchen haha), I guess it is kind of cheeky in that sense, but not too far-fetched in 2020 I would presume? Standard of living has increased a lot over the years!

I am willing to consider everything that fits my criteria laid out above, plus ideally  Zone 4 or lower, East/S East anywhere. Possibly even North too. Basically my search criteria Alert on Zoopla/Rightmove is 5 mile (or was it 10?) radius from Whitechapel. I also look at new build flats as well (which I can spend up to £500k), however I don't wish to pay extortionate service charges, which most of them have.

Anyhow, I have drafted my email to the agent for offer of £300k, trying to be as charming as I can, but also giving plenty of reasons why it is a good idea haha. I will send it tomorrow.

EDIT: Is it just me or has the pages on the "House Buying, Renting & Selling" Forum disappeared? I can only see one page?

Think there's a glitch as I can sometimes only see one page too.

An email with lots of reasons is rarely a good idea. May just result in peeing off the seller, although I doubt the EA would even send it to them. I would just ring, put forward an offer, say you're a FTB willing to move at their pace, and leave it at that. Keep it short. My OH's son and partner have just knocked £50k off a £250k flat in Romford, so I suppose anything is possible.

They will reject your offer so you'll need to work out your next offer after that. I wouldn't keep going back and forth, just one or two more.

I don't usually like selling to FTBs as they are more likely to have a mortgage rejected or the property down-valued, and they usually panic at a survey. Some still see them as a plus, but I doubt it'll get you a bargain over the next person.

Your version of "liveable" is very different to most people's Yes people want nicer properties, but they'll pay a lot more for them, hence the price of this one.

I'll have a search later.

Is Whitechapel where you need to get to for work? So you could include trains into Fenchurch Street and prob Liverpool Street. That opens it up a bit more if you'd go east.

bouicca21

It’s in the catchment area for Thomas Tallis which makes it desirable.  Not too sure how the Kidbrooke Village development will have affected the surrounding area, but presumably has given it a lift(?).   When I was looking to buy (at the height of the bubble) doer uppers like that were actually attracting a premium.  No idea whether that is still true.


PS @Rony, thought it was just me!

Rony

@hazyjo
The other poster earlier mentioned to give clear reasons to the EA. Is this not a good idea then? In my draft I mentioned that the condition of the house requires more work than I had anticipated and so lowered offer. Also I mentioned the last sold house price at £320k for 3 bedrooms (as advised by previous poster) and also the fact that even though that sale was 1 year ago, that I am discounting this factor to mitigate my exposure to covid.

And then I go on to mention about me being FTB with funds all sorted and mortgage in principle attached.
Is this too long then?
Hm if they reject my offer, I think the utmost I can stretch to is £310k with all the works I am planning. I might have to give this one a miss if that happens.
Fair point, but I have quite a sizeable deposit, also with clean credit record, so I doubt my mortgage application will fail. However I understand that from their perspective they won't be able to see that at the start.

I work in Paddington. Whitechapel just seemed the correct central point to take judging by the area I wanted to look at (being East/S East and within Zone 4) so that's how I set the radius.

@bouicca21
Oh yes, the development! I used to drive past that every day when I used to work elsewhere. Hopefully that means if I get this house, it will ride on the development of the area!
 
Thanks

Slithery

I'd just state your offer and the fact that you aren't in a chain - nothing more.

hazyjo

Rony said:

@hazyjo
The other poster earlier mentioned to give clear reasons to the EA. Is this not a good idea then? In my draft I mentioned that the condition of the house requires more work than I had anticipated and so lowered offer. Also I mentioned the last sold house price at £320k for 3 bedrooms (as advised by previous poster) and also the fact that even though that sale was 1 year ago, that I am discounting this factor to mitigate my exposure to covid.

And then I go on to mention about me being FTB with funds all sorted and mortgage in principle attached.
Is this too long then?
Hm if they reject my offer, I think the utmost I can stretch to is £310k with all the works I am planning. I might have to give this one a miss if that happens.
Fair point, but I have quite a sizeable deposit, also with clean credit record, so I doubt my mortgage application will fail. However I understand that from their perspective they won't be able to see that at the start.

I work in Paddington. Whitechapel just seemed the correct central point to take judging by the area I wanted to look at (being East/S East and within Zone 4) so that's how I set the radius.

@bouicca21
Oh yes, the development! I used to drive past that every day when I used to work elsewhere. Hopefully that means if I get this house, it will ride on the development of the area!
 
Thanks

I'd not give too many reasons to the EA. If you were the seller, would you want to hear someone's reasons? Would it make any difference? tbh it would just get my back up. I would just say 'FTB, good to go at their speed'. If they reject it, then maybe say 'well, it needs more doing that I was hoping for, so I could perhaps stretch to £310k.' See what they come back with after that and let us know.

Would you consider Reading? The commute is pricey, but quick. I certainly wouldn't be looking to travel into or near east London if you need to get to Paddington. I usually allow a good 30-40 mins to get over that way to go out after work (I'm near Liv St). Is it because of the price of the commute (rather than the length of journey) that you want within Zone 4?