Would you buy this house?

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www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/122087813

Pros:

• Good commute location for both me (London) and dh (Oxford)


• Done up and easy to live in


• Good local school for future kids


• Nice road


• Good to get in on housing market now before everything goes pear shaped with recession etc predicted for autumn and inflation at 11% (and a lot of our assets are cash right now)


• V little selection on the market right now and this is the nicest modern house we’ve seen of this style

Cons:

• Done up cheaply when seen in real life


• Possibly over priced - everything v pricy right now. Other houses on this road recently sold for ~£600k and this is £695


• V boring house! We’re drawn to cute (but possibly impractical) cottages that are usually too expensive for our budget


• Possibly buying top of the market and stuck indefinitely if there is a crash soon?


• Its been done up/extended and is now the nicest house on the street so possibly hard to sell on for this location?


• Suburban location / look and would love more countryside


• Dont know local town and how friendly ppl are. Really want local friends.

No way would I pay almost 700k for a semi - I live a few miles away. Twyford is boring and those lights in the town centre are a pita. Yes you have a fast line into London.

I don't know the area so can't comment on that, the house you've linked is so bland and not much nice usable space for the money, the garden is quite small too.
If you prefer character this seems local to the first one and decor needs updating in places but it has more character

Link might help
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/120610193#/?channel=RES_BUY

I don't love the house, but could possibly have good living space for some. Also, your own furniture, ornaments, pictures and some paining might make a difference. I do like the road though. My parents always used to say buy the worst property in the best road as over time (even if slowly) you'll turn it into your home.

I'm sure you're aware, but Oxford itself is very expensive. Is there anything else around worth considering before making your decision. Also, a second viewing is always worthwhile, you'll look at the property and area in a more critical way and from that can see if it's workable for you.

That's very cute but £650,000 for a terraced house seems absurd! I know it's the area but even so.

I wouldn't buy the house as most of the bedrooms are tiny.

No I wouldn’t buy it only one bathroom in a 4 bed house no way

And it backs almost directly on to the train station. To buy that would be insane.

Thanks all, just to reiterate that all these opinions are v helpful, we’ve been googling Caversham and thanks RewildingAmbridge have taken a good look at the link.

We are renting right now but have a flat to sell which will fund whatever we could buy (a v small ex council one bed, and in a different area which is no longer where we need to be for work). Agree all the prices seem mad to us but there is so little on the market right now versus six months ago.

So interested in what others would do in our shoes? Continue renting until something good turns up (maybe Caversham?), wait for a crash / ease in prices, or bite the bullet and just try to make the best practical decision we can now with what’s available, although it’s crazy money and our hearts might not be in it?

V confused.com over here as to wisest decision!!

Don’t wait for a crash you’ll get priced out.

honestly no I would not buy it, it’s some how souless. It lacks personality.

as much as this is a terrace I’d buy this one over it every day of the week and twice on a Saturday, it’s got so much more character.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/120610193#/?channel=RES_BUY

Quite nice internally but that's pretty small and unless you like living in the kitchen has a really small lounge. And 1 bathroom isn't great at that price.

almost £700k for a semi? No.

It is almost always better to buy than rent. Not every house you buy has to be a heart house, some are practical and are just ok. You also don’t have to make profit on every house, renting is always dead money but buying and selling isn’t always profitable and that’s ok.

If you are buying a short-med term “ok” house though it needs to have good resale so you aren’t stuck in it, even if you don’t make money.

We move a lot, it all balances out eventually and flipping a few less than perfect homes has benefited us in the long run.

id take a pretty character property backing onto a train line over the ugly box the op,is looking at it, and a train line behind you isn’t insanity lol. My grandparents house backed onto one and honestly you stopped hearing them. I’d not hesitate.

Really daft point but the front door colour bugs me. It doesn't go with the windows and door surround!

I think I would struggle to spend that much money on that kind of house but I'm a northerner!

Me too, that has so much more going for it! Also, mid terraces are cheaper to heat

No the garden is awful ( no plants mainly fence and sofas) and I would find it depressing.

<faints at price>

700k for a semi with tiny rooms, Christ on a scooter!

Can't help with the area or the value for the area, but simply on the property itself I'm not keen. Some very small bedrooms, only one bathroom, a small living room and a family area with no natural light don't sell it to me, but the biggest negative from what you've said is that they're asking a premium for 'done up' but it's not necessarily done to your taste and it's not done to a decent standard when you saw it for real. You might as well put that premium into doing up something really outdated (if you can find it)

As much as you might feel priced out of the market, remember that this is the most money you're likely to ever invest and if you don't like living there or if prices should crash, it won't be so easy to move on, so for that reason you need to choose somewhere you feel more positive about.

It’s very average/bland/generic as a house. Does the price, location and size suit you? I’ve lived in places I had no emotional attachment to but they were sensible at the time.

The kitchen and back garden are nice. I don’t like the snug nor the living room. You will struggle for space with kids. I think the cons and bang on and outweigh the pros. It is overpriced.

Have you thought about Thame - trains into London and Oxford and very nice place to live?
I wouldn’t buy a semi with 1 bathroom for that price.

My first serious boyfriend lived on that road!

I don't rate Twyford much - yes, it has the station and a Waitrose but the crossroads are a nightmare traffic wise. Everything you could do there, you could do in Woodley, which is cheaper and has a lot less traffic. It's got two good secondaries, Earley station is over a footbridge, great bus links.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/85014063
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/122421356

Why would buying in a depressed market be better than buying in an inflated market? Surely you would get more for your money in a recession ? Maybe a worse rate for 3 years, but there also might be more houses for sale as many may have to sell up if they have huge mortgages they can No longer afford ?