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Original poster

Panic: buy cheap house in unfashionable area?

220 replies

joysexreno · 10/04/2021 22:43

I need to buy asap and I'm having a bit of a crisis. Some of this relates to my self-perception and/or self-image.

To buy in the area where I would like to be (near London suburbs, leafy, urban), I need to compromise and get a place that requires DIY. It would be Victorian . The house is very charming and there is a large, idyllic garden that requires lots of money spent on it. All the cars on the narrow road are banged up due to the parking situation. I probably have to do £20k worth of stressful works before moving in.

Alternatively, I could buy very close to a tube line that easily takes me everywhere I need to go. Great house, totally done up, big driveway. It's on a terribly busy road and the area is extremely unfashionable. My house payment would be £250 less per month and I wouldn't really have to spend any money upon moving in.

HELP! wwyd???

OP posts:
Iusedtoliveinsanfrancisco · 11/04/2021 02:03

Have they got a current ecir? Use that info to get a price drop.

1forAll74 · 11/04/2021 02:05

Would be the first one for me. But I love all kinds of DIY,, to see what you can achieve and improve on,over a period of time..

KingRoloIV · 11/04/2021 02:59

First house, you’ll move in to the second house, be happy for about two months then pine for the one you really loved in the area you loved and think about moving again..... save yourself the bother and buy the first house.

SpiderinaWingMirror · 11/04/2021 03:26

I think the very first thing to do is not make a hasty decision driven by the desire to "save" 15k in stamp duty.
Buying the wrong house in the wrong location will cost you more than the 15k.
It sounds like neither suit you to me.

RainingBatsAndFrogs · 11/04/2021 03:44

Is the house chain free?

If not your chances of making the stamp duty deadline are minimal.

Has your mortgage lender seen the survey? An issue like an unsupported chimney would often lead to a retention, which is fine if you have the cash to do the work, otherwise a problem.

MeanderingGently · 11/04/2021 04:15

I would never buy a house based on what my child's friends might or might not think of her living in a certain area! However, I might not be keen on the location - for whatever reason - and that would swing it for me.

Personally, in your situation I would buy the house that needed doing up. You mention it has a garden and it's in a location you like. But then I wouldn't be worried about the amount of work to be done, I'd quite like to be instrumental in putting my own stamp on the place, and I'd love a garden, especially one which needed masses of work. I'd be out there every day! And once you'd done all the work, it could be your forever home...at least, for a while. In addition, there is no way I would live near a busy road, the noise would bother me and I certainly wouldn't want the pollution. Think how dreadful it would be in the summer.

In situations like this, I would suggest you judge with your heart, rather than your head. You may be able to think of all sorts of sound reasons to buy a particular place but if you move in and it doesn't 'feel' right, you are always going to regret it, however sensible the choice might have been.

If both places were done up and neither needed any work at all (ie. take your worry about the stress of doing a house up out of the equation entirely), which house would you 'love' living in the most? That's your answer.

NoSquirrels · 11/04/2021 05:21

The owners of my one accepted significantly under asking. It was overpriced.

If they’ve accepted significantly under asking already it would suggest they’re aware of the chimney/electrics issue anyway and have already been pragmatic.

I don’t know.

I certainly would not buy house 2 to save on stamp duty. Because of you don’t buy either something better will come along.

I might buy house 1 if I could afford to push the sale through, extend my rental contract and just live through the short-term pain of sorting electrics and chimney, and had enough cash to weather anything unexpected.

I’d only buy a Victorian 4-bed if I had enough cash to weather anything unexpected.

But then, personally speaking, if I was a single parent of 1 DC I would never contemplate a Victorian 4-bed anyway. I’d look for a modern 2-3 bed (3rd bed box room) and good living space downstairs. You presumably have reasons for needing 4-beds urgently but that’s limiting your options and a 3-bed would probably be much easier to find - as that’s how most Victorian stick was built.

You sound like you have quite high standards that are conflicting with your ‘ideal world’ dreams.

There are absolutely no Victorian properties in London that don’t require compromise- whether that’s on a higher price, poor parking, potential-but-badly-maintained or whatever. Victorian housing is lovely but requires compromise, sometimes significantly. 4-beds even more so.

You sound like location & 4 beds is top of your list, then Victorian and low-stress but good finish are competing against each other below that.

Original poster
joysexreno · 11/04/2021 07:43

@NoSquirrels all of this is true. It's very difficult being in this position.

OP posts:
Hollyhead · 11/04/2021 07:54

The house might not need full rewiring - we though ours did but an electrician came and assessed and recommended some work to modernise (about £1500) but he said we didn’t need a full rewire at that time. A surveyor will always be over cautious.

ChubbyLittleManInACampervan · 11/04/2021 07:55

In your shoes I’d get neither. The do-er upper will be costly (more do than the £15k you save on stamp duty) and the second one sounds miserable.

I’d get something small and low maintenance in the best location you can afford

Don’t try to impress your DC friends Confused, you can’t anyway, that is no way to live

If you really want to impress people, the best way is through being yourself and being confident in your choices whatever they are.

Being foreign is neither here nor there, I have always found the vast majority in England very welcoming (and even excited to know about other cultures)

Camomila · 11/04/2021 08:02

I think fixing stuff in the first house would probably cost as much as you would save in tax duty.

I wouldn't buy the house on the busy road either because of the air quality.

Just take your time and don't rush Smile

Easier said than done I know! I hate the place we are renting and browse rightmove all the time, but realistically I need to save another year!

Camomila · 11/04/2021 08:03

*stamp duty

Original poster
joysexreno · 11/04/2021 08:03

@ChubbyLittleManInACampervan I absolutely cannot tolerate living in a small space.

OP posts:
candlemasbells · 11/04/2021 08:06

Buy the one that will sell easiest again
The wiring may not need doing if it was done some time during or after the 1979s. It may just be a new consumer unit required and some part replacing.

blueangel19 · 11/04/2021 08:06

Get the first one. You will not be able to change the unfashionable location but once the work is done in the first house you will be happy.

lightand · 11/04/2021 08:07

If the stamp duty is of utmost importance, then who can sell the quickest is going to come into play. Not that that is a given with any sale.

HelloDulling · 11/04/2021 08:17

If you’re don’t need to live there while it’s being done, why will having work done be so terrible. I do think you are building it up as a nightmare before it’s even started. You pay people, the work is finished and you move in afterwards.

ItsSnowJokes · 11/04/2021 08:23

When you say "unfashionable" do you mean unsafe or just that the delis, coffee shops and the middle classes haven't stampeded into the area yet and made the house prices rise significantly?

I wouldn't move to an unsafe area, but being "fashionable" wouldn't bother me.

Original poster
joysexreno · 11/04/2021 08:23

@HelloDulling I've gone through a divorce and all sorts of stress in the past two years, and I just don't want the stress of building works on top of everything else. Also, I had understood the house was all done up and I would not have to spend much money to remediate issues with it - so unless they provide a discount, it will put me in an uncomfortable place with my budget.

OP posts:
Original poster
joysexreno · 11/04/2021 08:25

@ItsSnowJokes it's more unsafe than surrounding areas and it has a bad reputation which may make it harder to sell/may suggest that a relatively high number of neighbours are difficult to deal with. (Of course I understand that most people everywhere are decent and reasonable, but it's just not a "nice" area)

OP posts:
Rainbowqueeen · 11/04/2021 08:25

I get that you don’t want to live in a small space but surely you can find a 3 bedder with adequate living space and a garden.

That’s what I’d do

Original poster
joysexreno · 11/04/2021 08:26

@ItsSnowJokes also, due to the quality of housing and lack of a charming high street, I think it's unlikely to become fashionable/gentrified anytime soon.

OP posts:
Original poster
joysexreno · 11/04/2021 08:27

@Rainbowqueeen I've been looking out for something like this, with an eye to installing a garden office, but haven't really seen it after a year of looking.

OP posts:
Happygirl79 · 11/04/2021 08:28

Never buy the best house in a bad area. Buy the worst house in the better area. You can change the house but not the area.

Poorlykitten · 11/04/2021 08:29

‘A main concern I have about the house is whether other children will look down on her for the location/style of the house’
Really? I would personally buy the house that suits your needs and spend less time worrying about what other idiots think.