pls help me about this house

[midnightOK]

have been viewing properties for a year and just witness how crazy the price has been kept going up. Eventually we viewed this house and I do like it. www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-57739582.html What's your opinion on it? Pls can anyone comment it? We are not from UK, so I have no idea about which year semi this could be or what we should look for when viewing a house. If anyone can share their options, that will be highly appreciated.

[midnightOK]

opinions, I mean , sorry

[BreakfastAtSquiffanys]

Although it has a garage at the back, the drive might not be wide enough to drive a car down to it. So it might be just for storage. Many similar houses used to share /combine their drives to allow access.
The other half of your semi has extended sideways (over drive) and seems to have a loft conversion.
You may be able to access these plans via local council to give you an idea of potential for 'your' house

[LIZS]

Check to see what neighbouring houses have sold for recently. It looks post ww2, so probably1950s/60s. Although it looks cosmetically modern have a look at the standard of finish. Are there permissions from council or building regulations certificates for removing the wall between kitchen/ dining room for example (they would originally have separate rooms). Postwar houses are normally well built but you may find there is asbestos in the insulation or roof materials especially in garage or outbuildings. Only a problem if you are likely to replace or if it has been disturbed. Has the roof needed any attention? Is the boiler recent and efficient? A buildings survey should throw up any obvious issues.

[Kiroro]

Is it in the right area, the right size and the right price?

I like it. Nice layout downstairs. Might have M60 noise?

[wowfudge]

There are other similar houses in the same area of Sale which to my mind look better - bigger rooms, larger garden so less overlooked. Have you viewed those too?

[midnightOK]

Many thanks to @BreakfastAtSquiffanys, @LIZS @Kiroro the house itself is OK, but the facilities are all quite old. I did check the planning application database and people seem to do some extension on its side, so maybe that's what we can do in the future. Though I didn't notice the roof at all during our viewing. Not many houses that we can afford are on the market. I think this is a bit over-priced, but we have constantly been overbid, so really have no idea how many competitors are there. Feel exhausted really

[midnightOK]

@wowfudge we would prefer a house near to good primary schools and also not far from my son's current school, so in terms of location, this one is just perfect. And the market is just crazy in Sale, so we are afraid if we don't buy one now, we will never be able to afford one

[namechangedtoday15]

Not far from where I am and the market is increasing exponentially at the moment - its crazy. Its pretty typical of local housing stock - decent area (although SHS doesn't have a brilliant reputation and you're probably outside the catchment for AoM / Wellington if you're not certain about grammar school) but plenty of potential to improve / extend.

[RatOnnaStick]

Bearing in mind I have no clue about the area you are looking at. For the type of house it is, it's quite nice. That style of house is post-war 50s and they were well constructed with solid interior walls. I think if it gets you where you want to be, and you can afford it, it's probably a safe buy with scope for improvement should you stay for a while. I'd have it without qualms. You could do a lot worse.

[mrsmortis]

Given the bag by the back door that is probably recycling/rubbish (why did the photographer not move that?) I'd want to have a close look at the kitchen and how usable it is. I suspect that there isn't enough storage for bins etc. If it is really bad, how long do you think you could live with it and will you have the money to fix it before that time.

[mrsmortis]

Especially given the fact that there don't appear to be ANY drawers in the kitchen and the way to corner is blocked so that is dead space.

Of course you may never cook so that wouldn't be an issue for you...

That kitchen would make me think twice though, unless I could afford to rip it out and start again immediately.

[namechangedtoday15]

I think there will inevitably be comprises - doesn't everyone have to compromise unless money is not an issue?! If its just the fact that there isn't room for a bin and everything else works for you, that's a small price to pay! I think you can be too picky (just my opinion) waiting for the perfect house to come along. Unfortunately in Trafford where prices are increasing so quickly, that's a luxury that most people don't have - if they wait around too long, they're priced out of the market.

[namechangedtoday15]

*compromises!!

[mrsmortis]

namechangedtoday15 - I wasn't trying to suggest that not having room for a bin alone should stop anything. Just that it would cause me to have a closer look at the kitchen and if you could make it work for me. Especially if I knew it was going to be along time until I could replace it.

[Villagernumber9]

If you go on rightmove and look at the house, at the bottom you'll see market information. Looking at other houses for sale and sold, the one you're looking at is quite reasonably priced.
Also, it does look like it was built in the 50s.
Good luck.

[RatOnnaStick]

I do think that
*If the house prices in a given area are rising soon to be out of your reach,
*And you've been looking for some time and losing out,
*Then it would be quite sensible to just pick one you quite like that ticks most boxes that you can see yourselves living in for a while.
*Then you can be taking advantage of all that rising property value yourself while thinking about what to do in 3 or 5 or 10 years time.

[midnightOK]

@mrsmortis Thanks a lot for pointing out that. I never thought of that before. I did notice that some people hide their bins etc during the viewing and actually when you live there everyday, it could be a nightmare. And I haven't even tried any drawers in the kitchen. Will have a detailed check, cheers.

[midnightOK]

@namechangedtoday15 My eldest one is in Y2 now, so I don't worry too much about high school, it is definitely outside of the catchment of Altrincham grammar and wellington. But this one is also not far from sale grammar school. That's the reason why I think the location is just perfect.

[midnightOK]

@RatOnnaStick @namechangedtoday15 I have been very picky before, that's probably the main reason why we haven't bought one till now. So ,yes, you are right, compromise is necessary, especially in this crazy area.

[EssieTregowan]

It's a good solid house. Our old house was almost identical.

The kitchen layout is a bit odd but it's small so wouldn't cost much to replace.

If you knock the loo through to the bathroom you'd have a nice space. The last of downstairs loo is an annoying issue but our neighbours put one in where the kitchen door is from the hallway and that worked nicely.

I know this is anecdotal and I don't know anything about the area but we made nearly 100k on ours in five years with just minor improvements (new kitchen and a lot of interior surface 'tidying').

[JT05]

Looks a good solid house, many houses have this layout. Re kitchen drawers, sometimes they are behind the cupboard front to give a streamline effect. We have done this before in a kitchen. Re no downstairs WC. It may be possible to put one under the stairs, or in a porch extension. The neighbours seem to have a porch extension.

[midnightOK]

@EssieTregowan @JT05 thanks for your suggestions, very useful ones. Will think about it once we get the house