ugly house, nice location?

gremlin

ailuro2 wrote: »

Location, Location, Location isn't called that for nothing!

Besides, you'll be sitting inside looking out at the view - who cares what the outside looks like before you add a coat of paint and some nicer curtains?

Completely agree.

you will be inside looking out at the view. Thats beautiful.

the most important points in choosing a house (IMO) are:-

location - beautiful and is it where you want to live?
size - looks to be large rooms, lots of space
airy- looks bright and airy
view - sells itself
garden - reasonable size garden

a lick of paint inside and out and a new bathroom suite ( probably and new kitchen too if they're not showing pics of it) and you could have a lovely home.

I'd buy it if it was near me.

kunekune

I have checked room sizes with a room planner and we can get most things in, the size problems are:

-all the junk we currently have in the garage.
-we'd have to have a study area in the dining room, but that seems to be big enough (and I usually work on the table anyhow!!!!)
- the snorer would have to sleep on a sofa bed rather than a dedicated spare bed in a dedicated spare bedroom
- there isn't room, I suspect, for an underbench freezer in addition to the fridge-freezer, the dryer could probably go under the stairs (it's a condenser).

I had a look at what the council had said about the garage, and it looks as though a tweak to the design would make it possible. Wonder whether next door refused that tweak.

Time to go to work, seriously, on DH. It's his preferred location (CAMRA pub in the village, had some lovely Timothy Taylor there yesterday lunchtime, food not bad either, nice area for the children). It would come down to how negotiable they were (it's empty ... that's normally a sign of negotiability, right?). It's not that I don't think anyone will pay just on £200K for it, and we could raise that much, it's just that I don't want to.

Snooze

I've just looked at the map and realised where the house actually is. I used to live only down the road from there in Bingley and used to travel that road through the village nearly every day.

It's a busy road and takes just about all the Guiseley/Menston/Yeadon to Keighley traffic. The swing bridge on Swine Lane can be a real bottleneck in the rush hour and in the winter months go really careful on that road between the village and the bridge as it gets icy as hell.

Rob

kunekune

Thanks Rob,

I'd be either getting the bus or walking down to get the 662 on the Keighley Rd, as I work at the SOM in Bradford (I don't drive). Good soles on my boots probably a good idea. OH would be leaving early as he would be driving the kids to school in Bingley (can't get them in at EM primary for love or money, I suspect, and anyway it's a CoE school) and then driving on to Halifax (clue to why we know we can get a mortgage). I must admit that I didn't realise that the cross-country route was used so much, though I did notice the roadsign to Silsden and thought, "that's odd". But you're right that transport is an issue: do I fancy coming up from the main road in the dark in autumn on foot (bus isn't that frequent). I think it might be worthwhile but ...

Anyhow, update after lengthy argument over dinner. Yes, he loves the location. Hmm, it is a bit small (you have to remember that we lived in New Zealand for 20 years, so our definition of small isn't the UK definition). But ...

Then it became clear that he was thinking I wanted to pay £200K for this house. Which I don't. My mental limit, with the help of mouseprice, is £185 (he thinks it's £180), and I would start in the £170s. Or, depending on what I found out, even lower ... (looks like probate to me). That clear, I have permission to arrange a viewing.

If it sounds like I'm a downtrodden wife, that's not true. But I've 'persuaded' him to buy houses he doesn't want/at prices he thinks are ridiculous before. It's not worth it, because the pain in the relationship is never compensation. He doesn't know that after 6 months here, I'm a changed woman. Well, modified anyway. And why would he? (he could look, he'd know who I was, but he isn't into this, prefers HPC, LOL).

Gangstabird

I would paint it white apart from the fascia between the windows, get a new front door (not DG as I can't stand DG front doors), have a little pitched porch put over the front door complete with hanging baskets and plant loads of lavender along the front wall and some spring daffs.

That house could look absolutely gorgeous.

Snooze

kunekune wrote: »

Thanks Rob,

I'd be either getting the bus or walking down to get the 662 on the Keighley Rd, as I work at the SOM in Bradford (I don't drive). Good soles on my boots probably a good idea. OH would be leaving early as he would be driving the kids to school in Bingley (can't get them in at EM primary for love or money, I suspect, and anyway it's a CoE school) and then driving on to Halifax (clue to why we know we can get a mortgage). I must admit that I didn't realise that the cross-country route was used so much, though I did notice the roadsign to Silsden and thought, "that's odd". But you're right that transport is an issue: do I fancy coming up from the main road in the dark in autumn on foot (bus isn't that frequent). I think it might be worthwhile but ...

There's quite a lot of nice houses in Halifax for that price bracket and with Halifax being built on the side of the Pennines I'd imagine you wouldn't have to do too much searching to find similar views either. Bradford vs. Halifax prices are much the same - it's Leeds that's expensive in comparison.

Secondly, if I recall correctly there isn't a footpath on Swine Lane, or at least there wasn't when I used to frequent the area (a lot of years ago now) and the street lighting is very sparse (not helped by them being hidden in the tree foliage) so I wouldn't like to be in your shoes walking along there! One thing is for sure though - you'll be fit in no time walking up that hill! Even my car used to struggle going up there!!

Rob

lostinrates

Hi kunekune! (so, guess you are spending that deposit now!). I think the house could be made quite pretty with some tactful exterior decoration, gardening and perhaps some climbling old fashioned roses. Its not so bad at all, I was expecting a horror from what you said.

I think that part of the problem is the NZ hangover. House sizes in UK are not going to be like those in NZ or US or any of those lucky places. (I will never live in a home the size of my family's 'town pad' in Nelson!) But your 1950s house is probably going to have better flow and dimensions for a family than many of the newer houses I've seen

I'm glad you are sounding more settled.

Strapped

It's not that bad, but personally I'd be put off by the neighbours at the back overlooking you.

sugarwalsh

We painted the exterior of our house (Ex-local authority) and people who had been visiting for years kept driving past, it looked so much nicer!

Go for the location, the views look great.

De-clutter, you will be amazed at how much better you feel. And build a kennel for the snorer!!!!!!!

Hope you get a lovely home.

Sugar

kunekune

What neighbours at the back? They're not that close (most houses in the UK must have neighbours closer than that), and the important outdoor part is at the front. Also, the terrace is higher up, so my guess is their view skims over "our" house, which has quite a big garden (so far as birds eye can reveal). I am very confused, though, by the last picture taken by the estate agent. I cannot work out where that is: we didn't see anything like that when we sniffed around.