I can't decide what sort of property to go for.

Murphybear

Herzlos said:

What would you want to do in your free time? Would you take advantage of the flat to walk into the city centre for the shopping, restaurants, etc, or would you be more likely to stay in and enjoy the peace and quiet?

A top floor flat will be pretty quiet, since most of the noise in flats seems to come from people walking on the 'ceilling', though it also usually means a lot of stairs.

If you want quiet it would also be worth looking at 1 or 2 bedroom bungalows, though they'll cost disproportionately more due to desirability.

Like many others I hate noise.  One of the nicest properties I have lived in was a 3 bedroomed detached bungalow with a beautiful garden.  It was in a tiny “dead end” village so was quiet with no through traffic.  The only reason we sold it was moving 200 miles to Devin  .  It was snapped up immediately at near asking price.  

newsgroupmonkey_

moneywow1 said:

Hi everyone,

I'm currently living in a detached house which I inherited 50/50 with my brother. I'm currently living here by myself and just paying a bit of rent to him. However, it's a big house (4 bedrooms) and fairly old (late 60s/early 70s) It's cold and heating it costs a fortune. Council tax is fairly high (band E).

It also does a bad job of keeping sound out. I can hear cars going by and people talking outside, neighbours closing their house/car doors, etc. it's also not a great area. I mean I've never really had issues, but I'm not interested in buying out the other half.

I have about £160k in savings, and this house is worth about £300k (so conservatively £300k cash by the time I'm ready to buy).

I have about £1800/mo left (conservatively) over after all outgoing expenses, excluding the bit of rent that I pay to my brother as I'm staying here as that won't be a thing. I live in the north of England.

I've been looking at properties, and mostly new builds as I'm not interested in doing any kind of renovation. As I live alone and don't have kids I'm not really limited to where I can go. I work from home with occasional visits to the office (every few months, but I'd like to stay at least within an hour or so so I can go in more often than that).

My dilemma is the following:

I could buy a detached house in a decent area and put all my cash into it, plus get a mortgage, but then I'd have little in savings. ~400K

This would be overkill since they're usually 2-3 bedrooms and would mostly be empty, but I wouldn't have to worry about neighbours, making noise, etc. and I'd have plenty of space, even if it's unused.

I could buy a semi-detached in a decent area, and keep some cash in savings. ~240K

This would also be a smaller house to heat, clean, etc. but I might get unlucky with neighbours being noisy. on one side.

The third option is to buy an apartment in the city centre. This would be similar in price to the semi-detached, and a little smaller. Same bedrooms but less other rooms. The advantage is it'd be a little smaller, and I'd have the advantage of being in the city centre. Close to shops, close to a train station, etc. I would probably get rid of my car. Also no need to worry about gardening, etc. I also feel like it would be a bit safer.

The biggest problem with this is sound from neighbours, although I've looked online and seen a lot of people say that in newer builds, they're built with better soundproofing. I think being higher up would also eliminate road noise? (I'm looking at tall apartment buildings, not houses converted into flats)

An example of one of the apartments I was looking at

https://www.google.com/maps/@53.7913785,-1.5625588,3a,53.2y,360.31h,112.48t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sCcp87OaRw__fo58DeF-hiA!2e0!5s20220701T000000!6shttps://streetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com/v1/thumbnail?cb_client=maps_sv.tactile&w=900&h=600&pitch=-22.481459211531728&panoid=Ccp87OaRw__fo58DeF-hiA&yaw=0.3089688628728595!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTIxMS4wIKXMDSoJLDEwMjExMjMzSAFQAw==

From the street view pics it looks to have fairly thick concrete floors between levels. Is it a fair assumption to assume a place like this would have good soundproofing?

Sorry, ended up being a lot of information but I'm just looking for someone to point out things I might be overlooking.

I know it might look like the obvious choice to just go for a detached (or at least semi-detached) house, but I have also considered buying another property abroad, as I have the option to work remotely, so I can spend most of the year elsewhere and come back to the UK occasionally. I feel like with this route, an apartment might be the better choice?

Thanks if you made it this far lol

I'm a little younger than you, but now being an empty nester, we decided to go for a detached bungalow.
I know some people don't like living in a street of older folk but frankly, we find that we don't have any parking issues, loud parties and so on. In fact, many of the houses don't even have a car and we're properly rural!

Ours is a 3 bed chalet that's been extended, but most here are 2 bed. Because they're old, thick walled things, they're relatively cheap to run too - we have both old solar panels and solar heating. We both work from home and our combined energy bills are around £150 a month, despite having old radiators and a combi boiler. We've put TRVs on the radiators, so can control the heating in each room as we need it (for instance, you don't need much heating in our bedroom, kitchen or front room during the day).

Our old 3 bed semi was nearly twice that to run.

moneywow1

Hi all,

Thank you for the replies.

I completely agree that the detached property would be the best in terms of noise, etc. but I'm still going to have the issue with having a larger house to heat / clean / tidy, etc.. plus I would practically have to put in all of my savings to buy it, and/or get a mortgage on top.

A semi would be much cheaper and I could get one in a nicer area.

Some people also say that new builds are built to certain standards regarding sound and they often can't hear anything from their neighbours, although I guess if you get really unlucky you might end up with a neighbour constantly being loud, but that could even happen with a detached.

moneywow1

GDB2222 said:

I’m surprised at the idea that a city centre flat is viewed as safer than a home in suburbia. Yes, the flat itself would be safe, but at some point you would need to go outside. 

I was thinking more along the lines of getting get a second place elsewhere, I would feel more comfortable leaving an apartment unoccupied than a house.

moneywow1

FlorayG said:

It sounds from your post that noise is a really big issue for you in which case you really need a detached house or a much, much older semi. Semi detached built in the 1930's and 40's have really thick brick walls - I only ever heard my neighbours when they had their regular Christmas Day screaming row (then she left him one Boxing Day and all was quiet ever after) and even then it was just a mumbling in the background. In modern houses you would have heard every word.
I think you need to sort out for yourself just how much a noisy neighbour would bother you, because there's very little you can do about them once they are there

With such an old property, wouldn't I have issues around heating as I do now?

I also thought modern homes had good soundproofing. Of course this is just based on reading opinions on the internet

i.e. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/comments/u3qp12/how_is_soundproofing_in_new_build_houses/

But you're right about being stuck in that situation with very few options to do anything about it.

moneywow1

Bigphil1474 said:

If you want peace and quiet don't buy an apartment. That would be like playing Russian roulette with 5 bullets in the gun. That part of Leeds is also terrible. 

I would always look to get either a detached house or a detached bungalow. Whilst bungalows are a bit more expensive, they do have advantages. There were also loads around when we were looking earlier this year - not outrageously more expensive either.

I've always lived the east side of Leeds, and I'd generally recommend areas like Roundhay, Temple Newsam, Whitkirk, Colton, Garforth - you can get a nice 2/3 bed detached for around £300k no problem. Garforth has good train and bus links and is well situated for A1 and M1 if you drive. Decent small town. 

Is it? I thought that area was decent now.

I've been to Garforth and it is a lovely area, thought it would be too expensive though.

I am looking for a new build just because I'm not interested in doing any renovation, etc.

BikingBud

moneywow1 said:

Bigphil1474 said:

If you want peace and quiet don't buy an apartment. That would be like playing Russian roulette with 5 bullets in the gun. That part of Leeds is also terrible. 

I would always look to get either a detached house or a detached bungalow. Whilst bungalows are a bit more expensive, they do have advantages. There were also loads around when we were looking earlier this year - not outrageously more expensive either.

I've always lived the east side of Leeds, and I'd generally recommend areas like Roundhay, Temple Newsam, Whitkirk, Colton, Garforth - you can get a nice 2/3 bed detached for around £300k no problem. Garforth has good train and bus links and is well situated for A1 and M1 if you drive. Decent small town. 

Is it? I thought that area was decent now.

I've been to Garforth and it is a lovely area, thought it would be too expensive though.

I am looking for a new build just because I'm not interested in doing any renovation, etc.

Is it only about the house you wish to buy? I also feel it is more about your overall lifestyle.

What stimulates and excites you? 

When not working what do you wish to do?

How close do you need to be to the city?

Having the freedom to only travel into the city every few months is an absolute luxury and I would consider going even further out from the city centre, after all extra travelling time is not an issue if you only need to do it once every 30 days or so.

Do you need or enjoy easy access to the countryside and open spaces, there are many beautiful areas from NW round to East out from Leeds such as Settle, Skipton, Ilkley, Otley, Guiseley, Knaresborough, Harrogate, Wetherby etc. I think you need to set some priorities so you can better assess the options. 

If you don't spend the cash on the house what will you do with it? This should assist in setting your budget better and define the scope into those outlying areas, as as much as going towards Ilkley, Burley in Wharfdale, Harrogate etc is very nice it is also not cheap.

So putting a 20 or 30 m loop around the city, 2/3 bed, new build <£350k: 

This in Bedale

This in Selby

Gives you a few options, push the radius out a bit and you can nearly get to the east coast - this in Beverley

TripleH

Before you look at any houses etc, make a list of what you want from a property, no. Of rooms, close to rail / Road network, public transport, garden, new build etc.

Make a list of essential and desirable criteria.

Use the essential to narrow the areas on a map to look at.

No point having your 'dream looking home' if you hate living there.

Also no point having a 3 bed house with a guest room empty 360 nights a year when a 2 bed with one room a guest / home office would serve better and should be cheaper to run.

RelievedSheff

moneywow1 said:

FlorayG said:

It sounds from your post that noise is a really big issue for you in which case you really need a detached house or a much, much older semi. Semi detached built in the 1930's and 40's have really thick brick walls - I only ever heard my neighbours when they had their regular Christmas Day screaming row (then she left him one Boxing Day and all was quiet ever after) and even then it was just a mumbling in the background. In modern houses you would have heard every word.
I think you need to sort out for yourself just how much a noisy neighbour would bother you, because there's very little you can do about them once they are there

With such an old property, wouldn't I have issues around heating as I do now?

I also thought modern homes had good soundproofing. Of course this is just based on reading opinions on the internet

i.e. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/comments/u3qp12/how_is_soundproofing_in_new_build_houses/

But you're right about being stuck in that situation with very few options to do anything about it.

The sound proofing of a modern house is only as good as the builders who installed it.

We previously lived in a 1930's semi with awful sound insulation which is why we bought detached this time around. Our neighbours across the road have a semi built by the same builder at the same time as ours (2019) and while the sound insulation is a lot better than our old house was, it still isn't 100% sound proof. You can hear people thudding up and down the stairs for example. 

RelievedSheff

moneywow1 said:

Bigphil1474 said:

If you want peace and quiet don't buy an apartment. That would be like playing Russian roulette with 5 bullets in the gun. That part of Leeds is also terrible. 

I would always look to get either a detached house or a detached bungalow. Whilst bungalows are a bit more expensive, they do have advantages. There were also loads around when we were looking earlier this year - not outrageously more expensive either.

I've always lived the east side of Leeds, and I'd generally recommend areas like Roundhay, Temple Newsam, Whitkirk, Colton, Garforth - you can get a nice 2/3 bed detached for around £300k no problem. Garforth has good train and bus links and is well situated for A1 and M1 if you drive. Decent small town. 

Is it? I thought that area was decent now.

I've been to Garforth and it is a lovely area, thought it would be too expensive though.

I am looking for a new build just because I'm not interested in doing any renovation, etc.

Don't be fooled into thinking there is no work to do with a new build.

We had a long while dealing with minor snagging and then after the drying out and bedding in period the whole house needed decorating. They are not completely move in and forget like some people think.