House Help Needed

[alanbradley]

#1... Location, location, location...

Buy it. Paint the inside all magnolia or whiteish. If the kitchen's crap change the doors not the units.

Ta-da! Respectable house in a nice area with minimal (other than the purchase price) expenditure..

A

PS Glasgow's miles better and that view was taken fron the top of an early Rennie Macintosh building - The Lighthouse on Mitchell Street/Mitchell Lane

[Fidgits]

thats all well and good if this was an investment, but its not - i want a home..

[alanbradley]

Yeah, you're right... You can build your home on top of that clean slate as you can afford it.

Its what I've done. Well, it was a new-build so the slate was fresh

A

[Al J]

It's all about location in the end, isn't it? I live in a quiet cul de sac. The view of houses is softened by all the trees.

Squirrels run up and down the road!

No passing traffic so very quiet apart from when one young neighbour gets his trance or whatever music going and I retaliate with prog or heavy rock!

I voted house 1 but so difficult to know without wandering around it and the area. Do a recce to see if kids hang around in the evening. Check how busy it is at weekends and go with your instincts (with a good measure of common sense thrown in).

Good luck!

[DefiantFrog]

House 1. Definately... I think the main thing is, as long as you can afford it (and will still be able to afford it in a couple of years time when the enconomy of this country finally cracks) follow your heart! You'll find the money from somewhere to do everything you need to do it, and DIY ain't that hard if getting someone in to do it will cripple you!

Go for it! :)

[DazH]

House no 1 I'd go for

Plus if you buy it and theres a problem you can just blame us lot

Seriously though, when we bought ours the little un was about 2 and the thing that swung it for us was the fact there was no road at the front of the house, just a large field between us and the estate opposite. It was so quiet, especially as most of the neighbours are middle aged to elderly. I bet they saw us and thought oh s :censor: .....

[Blue84]

Another vote for house no.1, it has an en-suite and updating can be done, providing it's safe and liveable then you can wait and do it up as and when the funds become available.

[Fidgits]

heres house 3

same asking price (probably wont be able to knock them down though), link detached, just family bathroom, but could move straight in and dont need to do a thing...

[Demonic Angel]

Hmm thats a really nice house - link detached is good - that means you can have your telly up loud and your neighbours wont be banging on your door to keep it down!

Do you really need an en-suite?

After seeing house 3 I'm inclined towards that, because its link detached, but your best bet is to list pros and cons for each house and see which one comes out tops - but they're both very nice!

(I'm assuming House 2 is out of the running?)

[Fidgits]

After careful consideration, I have decided not to go for #1.

My main reason is the close proximity of the Overhead powerlines, they are actually less than 100m from the house, and would effect resale value.

#4 has gone as well, because the garage is only 4000mm long...

#3 probably wont happen, as the immediate location isnt too good..

[~Rach~]

Im amazed no one has said build your own house :D

We've been seriously considering this, as in the long run it will work out cheaper and make more of a profit if we move somewhere else

Just depends if you're the type of person who could do that sort of thing or not ;)

[Fidgits]

I wouldnt be so sure Rach, as you know, land is at a premium around here, and on top of that, you need to get utilties hooked up etc...

I looked into it, but overall, unless i wanted a mud hut, it wouldnt be any cheaper (although i probably could get 'more house for the money'), and dont forget I'll need to pay rent while the house is being built..

[~Rach~]

We found this huge plot of land for sale for £50k, and with the costs of building the house we wanted (65k for a 5 bed, thats material and labour costs), meaning the total build would be roughly £115k.

My current 2 bed is worth £135k, and five bed houses in my area cost around £250k+. So it would work out as a good investment in the long run.

But it all depends on whether you would want your home to be a future investment ;)

Ahhh the fun and games of the property ladder

[Fidgits]

We found this huge plot of land for sale for £50k, and with the costs of building the house we wanted (65k for a 5 bed, thats material and labour costs), meaning the total build would be roughly £115k.

My current 2 bed is worth £135k, and five bed houses in my area cost around £250k+. So it would work out as a good investment in the long run.

But it all depends on whether you would want your home to be a future investment ;)

Ahhh the fun and games of the property ladder

←

yeah Rach..

BUT,

Does that include hooking it all up to utilities? Is that a final house price, or a guide price? as whenever i talked to building companies, they could only give a 'guide price' and reckoned builds could go up 25-50% over that...

Anyway, im not after an investment (or spending a year building a house - although it would be nice to have exactly what i want) i just want a home..

[Avensis wagon]

Some of the personal conclusions I've made over the years:

Many couple divorce while building -- a lot of stress, I wouldn't.

I'll never share a wall with anyone, not until they drag me to the retirement home!

I'll never go leasehold -- the power of desicion must be in your own hands when it's your own, rather expensive home.

Buying and fixing up an old place is more costly than buying a place that's newer, and you'll never get the money back spent on rennovation so you might as well have bought newer.

If you do see potential in a fixer-upper, when will you find the time and money to do it? -- if unsure, and also unsure that you want to live in a never-ending project for years to come when you could be putting you energies to something else, avoid.

Yep, it's a home. Don't get caught in the snob trap by buying a house that looks good to others, as your neighbour's will likely be unpleasant as they have been attracted to it for looks, too.

Spend time at day and at night hanging around the place, looking and listening, maybe smelling too!

Don't buy a place where the couple have had marital problems or there's been big money troubles etc. They may be desperate to sell cheap, but cashing in on their unhappiness could well bring you misery.

Trust your instincts.

Check your astrology, maybe fung shui too!

Guess you think I'm wacko, but I feek it works for me!

[~Rach~]

Does that include hooking it all up to utilities? Is that a final house price, or a guide price? as whenever i talked to building companies, they could only give a 'guide price' and reckoned builds could go up 25-50% over that...

←

Yeah the £65k includes all costs for getting the house from nothing to being able to live in it. We were told that there may be extra costs (for materials being late, sickness of workers etc) and they may be around £10k. But in the grand scheme of things thats nothing.

In the end, you will have a 5 bed house (or whatever size you want), for 2 bed house money. And to top it off, you have the house excactly as you want it :D

[Fidgits]

Thanks for the inputs AV, you do have some very good points there..

and Rach, I dont think you can get a morgage on a self-build until its at a certain point - how did the payment structure look on the people you were talking to?

(and where can i find plots of land for sale, so far have only found a couple in local estate agents.)

[~Rach~]

We found some really good plots of land through local estate agents. There is an agent in the area that specialises in land for development but I forget the name (I can have a hunt though).

You are right on the mortgage on a self build, it has to be in a state so that a surveyor can value and check it all etc. But I have heard about certain mortgages which can be effictively taken out on the land (and not the house), not all lenders will do this though.

Luckily we're in the position of we only have a £55k mortgage with an effective £75k deposit, which would be transferred over the the self build. We only pay at the mo £230 a month anyway.

Its worth sitting down with a finanical advisor and doing a few sums before you look into things, find out exactly how much you can afford etc, whether it be a self build or not

[Fidgits]

In all honesty Rach, being my first buy, i'm not in the financial position to be able to do it.. but im always open to info and input..

as i have said, i just want to find a home..

[Fidgits]

eeek!

Just been back to look at house 5 - sooooooo tempted to put in an offer.

I've just gone confused!

[TheNissanMan]

As said on the phone, don't buy any house unless you walk in the dorr for the very first time and you gut tells you that you've found the right place. It's a long term investment which has to feel right from day one.

If your buying a do-er upper you need to guarentee you have the budget and then some....

You sound from our last call that you've now found the 'one' so hold, keep your fingers crossed and see if they accept the offer....

Don't even consider it if your not sure at first as your bound to change your mind to a 'don't like it, wanna a rabbit' feeling once your in and it's to late :D :D

[Gnome]

There's some houses in my village for sale - you could live down the road from me!!!!

:D :D :D :D :D

[Fidgits]

well, as you may have gathered from Rhaines post, i have put an offer in on a house...

but which one.......?

[Fidgits]

and said offer....

has been accepted....

[JustJJ]

Woohoooo!!!! ;)