Is something wrong with this house..?

No worries. I think it all depends on your budget (I mean is it £100k or £120k) and exactly how you see the house, is it a long term house, one you want to sell in a few years, perhaps make a bit of £ on, do you mind renovation work? Make a list of things you definitely want, eg off road parking, a garden and those you can compromise on.

Leek is more of a small town, more independent shops, black and white buildings, antique shops bordering the Roaches and Peak District. Cheadle is definitely more of a village feel but can get very busy, it use to get manic with people heading to Alton Towers cutting through. There isn't much in Cheadle to be honest in the way of shops or things to do.

Derby is definitely more of a city. It's got a train station and bigger chain stores like Primark. When I lived in Blythe Bridge/Caverswall I'd get the train to Derby.

I prefer the other house you posted as it has parking and I think you'll always be better selling on a house that has parking. It's ex council but you will probably find rooms bigger and I'd definitely view it though, along with the one in Leek I posted a link to (which was £20k cheaper).

I do like Leek, and my sister misses her old house. Going from one where she had solid walls, three huge rooms to a new build (plaugued with problems) to smaller rooms, studded walls and a tiny garden - double the price it makes you realise as first time buyer homes you can get a good buy.

The "no onward chain" plus dated kitchen & bathroom suggest it's a probate sale which may be dragging on - it was possible that it was put on the market before probate was granted, and any offers it received pulled out as it was uncertain when the sale would complete. Alternatively, the beneficiaries can't agree on a price to accept and buyers pull out. With each withdrawal, interest diminishes so the asking price needs to be reduced. In terms of viewing, if there isn't any real damp problems, the fact it's unoccupied (especially over a winter) means it'll smell musty and damp, which may scare people off. It's empty, so people can't visualise living there, plus what fixtures are there are dated, so the cost and hassle of replacing them may also scare people off, especially FTBs.

Dunno how busy the road it's on actually is, but it is an A Road, and parking doesn't look great - cars on the pavement etc. Unless you're a gardener, the 2 gardens thing is probably more of a hassle than a feature and there's no way you'll remove the right of way to unite them.

So in summary, I don't think there's too much "wrong" with the house, but there aren't many people who want to buy it.

If houses in your area on your budget are of a similar era/type you should be able to get a feel for the average price for a mid-terrace 2 bed with on-street parking.

I would see the garden as an interesting challenge; would be great to have a separate fruit/veg plot and do some creative planting near the house. The kitchen would need replacing eventually but is functional; many people in rental properties live with fixtures like that!

So the lack of interest suggests something major and structural. If you like it enough to buy with problems, you are going to have to do serious homework on quotes for work, and factor in the time and hassle as well as the cost when making an offer.

pimento wrote: »

I found it by doing detective work in the thread. The link still doesn't work for me. I wonder if that's why it hasn't sold..

Same. For anyone else who the link isn't working for, the details are here:
http://www.vebra.com/details/property/27047755

No floorplan would put some people off. Is the bathroom on the ground floor?

Major points I think would put majority off would be no parking, door leads straight into lounge, whole house needs re-decorating.

What is the ceiling price for houses in this area? Maybe if all that came to a lot of money people aren't willing to pay it because if they choose to resell in future, there would be no equity and may have to sell for less than they paid.