Selling a house after July floods?

newbie71_2

Thank you Takoo and especially PasturesNew - PN you've given me the kick up the bum I need to get on with this! Refurbishment is due to finish in March and as I'm on maternity leave I will get the baby and me round the estate agents when we're back in and try to get the process moving!

sparklycat

Hi ,

Please don't be too disheartened by it all. I was flooded in the 1990's and it was a pretty grim experience so know how you feel! but we lived by a brook which regularly flooded(due to it's proximity to the river Severn!) and to be honest after living there for 30 years we were only flooded once. What I'm trying to say is , there has always been flooding and i don't think on a whole it has got any worse, yes, last year was extrordinary but if councils spent their money on cleaning out the drains ,putting in new drainage and building houses on higher foundations when they build houses there is no excuse for most people to be flooded !!!!!!!(aprt from those by a river!) sorry going off the subject!But we sold our house successfully after that with no reduction in the price(and the buyers were aware). It took a little time but it happened, think positive and you'll be ok.I certainly wouldn't be put off buying it!
congrats and goodluck!:cheesy:
Sparklycat

izzybusy23

newbie71 wrote: »

Hi everyone, not sure this is on the right part of the forum but here goes.....we moved into our house in December 2006. It was our first house (renting before), long story but it took a several months between exchange and completion which initially worked well for us. However towards the end of those months hubby and I both got offered good new jobs which involved a bit of a commute for me and serious commute for him.

No probs we both thought - one of those things and so we planned to stay in the new home and do it up a bit (it was in need of updating) so put in new bathroom, painted everything, new carpets etc. etc. and then would look at putting it on the market again either in spring or autumn of this year and look to move closer to our new jobs.

However we didn't account for the floods in July this year! :eek: The house does look over a very tiny 'river' (more of a brook really), was built over 40 years ago but had never flooded and just our luck that 7 months into living there it floods for the first time ever in living memory!

Ideally we would still like to sell the property in the very near future because of work. Has anyone sold their property after a flood? Has anyone any advice? We can't afford to drop the price greatly as I am now on maternity leave and will be going back to work part-time initially so money will be in short supply for the next 12 months or so. Is it worth waiting until spring or autumn of next year (2009)? Would you buy a house that had been flooded in the summer and work on the assumption that it was simply a one off if you could get insurance for it or would you not touch it with a barge pole?!

I'd be interested in hearing any views or any experiences of this please?

Hi there

Do you live in Glos by any chance?? I know houses overlooking a brook in an estate in longlevens was also on flood watch recently as Glos looked set to flood again last week but narrowly missed it.

Personally I think any house that has flooded will now be really really hard to sell. In Glos, the longford area still has fields flooded which look like huge outdoor swimming pools and the folk along that road are still living in caravans since last July's floods and looked like they were going to flooded again last week.

To be honest any house that has flooded is now worthless in many people's eyes as 1) you would always worry it would happen again and 2) you wouldn't get insured against flood damage.

PasturesNew

I was staying in a B&B in Longford in the floods in early 2001. I stayed up most of the night watching the water creep closer ... until about 6.30 when the shout went out by the B&B owner to abandon ship. I got 2 Tesco bags and stepped into them to get to my car.

She had to close as the water came up through the floorboards.

izzybusy23

PasturesNew wrote: »

I was staying in a B&B in Longford in the floods in early 2001. I stayed up most of the night watching the water creep closer ... until about 6.30 when the shout went out by the B&B owner to abandon ship. I got 2 Tesco bags and stepped into them to get to my car.

She had to close as the water came up through the floorboards.

Is that the one between the queens head and the roundabout leading to glos? If so its still closed and being refurbed from last July.

Sad really. I only moved to Glos in May last year and was horrified at what happened. Total baptism of fire for me. I live between Glos and Chelt so we were ok but still had no water for a week. Where I work overlooks the river severn and last week the river and the flooded field were literally 5ft apart.

Personally although longford is a nice area, I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole now. Oh, and the headlines on the front page of the citizen last week was 'floody hell'.. 56,000 new homes to be built near longford!!! :eek:

Will they ever learn?

wymondham

izzybusy23 wrote: »

Will they ever learn?

I suspect not, as this type of land is cheap, and people often don't do their research before buying.....

hedley

Hi,

We live down the road in cheltenham. For me, I wouldn't totally discount buying somewhere that had flooded- but it would depend where!

If it had only flooded during July last year, never previously, and had 'only' 6 inches in (i'm not minimising the hassle this causes- I grew up in a house that flooded every few years) ,rather than those poor folk in longlevens who had 5 feet through their houses I may seriously consider it.

It would depend whether I could get insurance and whether i was prepared to live with the risk. I would prefer minor flooding to the mess we had when a lath and plaster ceiling landed in our front room!


I would have to say that thes risks would be reflected in what I was willing to offer though.

I really hope you get what you want! Good Luck with your bump!
hed

newbie71_2

Thanks everyone - we live in Oxfordshire and had a few inches of flooding - not as bad as those with feet of water in other parts of the country (including other parts of Oxon as well). I really appreciate all the responses you've given. :T

PasturesNew

izzybusy23 wrote: »

Is that the one between the queens head and the roundabout leading to glos?

Yes, it was. Somebody I was working with put me onto it as I was contracting at the time, so staying in B&Bs Mon-Thu night. The woman who recommended it lived up the side street adjacent to it.

After that I moved the other side of the Queens Head, to some black/white beamed place. Cheap as chips at £15/night.

izzybusy23 wrote: »

If so its still closed and being refurbed from last July.

Still, or again? I was there in Nov/Dec 2000.

izzybusy23 wrote: »

the headlines on the front page of the citizen last week was 'floody hell'.. 56,000 new homes to be built near longford!!! :eek:

That's why you have to do your research... apart from the fact you can see it's all flat around there, there's not much evidence of a river. Just what looks like a small brook before the roundabout.

izzybusy23 wrote: »

Will they ever learn?

Nope!

Here's a buyer who has rising damp http://fedupofthefloods.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/photoflood1.jpg