To ask what you would offer on a house?

[PurpleFlower1983]

Hi everyone, we’ve had some unexpected inheritance and have been round the houses (literally) with how to spend it. We considered buying abroad and staying in our current home which I love but is too small downstairs really now we have our DD.

We have seen an amazing period property, it’s on at £420k (Yorkshire). We viewed it yesterday and it is stunning, 12ft high ceilings, original features, gorgeous. There are compromises though, only 2 bedrooms on the first floor, 2 more in the attic and they’re not ideal, quite small space in terms of full head height and a spiral staircase to access. The boiler works but is coming up to 20 years old. There are damp patches in the corners of the upstairs rooms, probably to be expected at this age of house but needs investigating as it has damaged the cornicing in places. Also the original land has been cut up and sold meaning the garden is quite small for what you would expect at this price/property and the drive at the back has to have right of access for the two flats next door. It has been on the market for a year, we are hoping to keep our current property to rent out so this will mean we will be pulling out all the stops financially to get it as the mortgage will only be in my name. Plus there will be over 20k of stamp duty to factor in.

What do you think would be a good opening offer? The seller said he had had a couple of offers but the estate agent didn’t mention them. She said he was open to offers and ready to sell.

[Viviennemary]

I said in an earlier post I wouldn't buy it but now I've seen the photographs I can absolutely see why you love the house. Especially if you think there won't be a similar one on sale any time soon. It depends on the size of your family I'd say.

[titchy]

What would you plan to do with the spiral staircase? You can't get furniture up using it. And in a fire you'd be utterly fucked. I can see the attraction, but still not sure it's suitable for a family. It's obviously overpriced as it hasn't sold. I'd possibly offer £350 then walk away. Leave the offer in the table and in six months when it still hasn't sold and they've reduced to £385 maybe you could go up slightly.

[PurpleFlower1983]

@callmeadoctor I suppose it’s all the negatives we’ve highlighted here! But glad you see why I love it!

[Dinosauraddict]

OP - I would buy it. I would start my offers at £375k.

[Ickabog]

[quote PurpleFlower1983]@Ickabog I get what you’re saying. The seller said another interested party were pricing up putting a proper staircase in.[/quote]
Is that something you would be able to afford to do?

I'm also curious about all the other offers the seller mentioned. It seems strange to have a lot of interest, but still be unsold after a year.

[NotEverythingIsBlackandWhite]

So you are planning to swap a property that is too small in terms of downstairs space for one where you aren't happy with the size of the bedrooms in the attic, the headspace in the attic, the spiral staircase and a small garden. I don't think you've thought this through properly.

If it has been on the market for a year, just remember that it could be that potential viewers think the same as you about the upstairs rooms. This would also be the case if you bought it and wanted to re-sell later.

[PurpleFlower1983]

@titchy

We would potentially look at having someone replace it with a more substantial staircase, there is room to do it.

[ShandlersWig]

It certainly looks 'done' in terms of renovation so the damp would be cause for concern. Any offer would be subject to survey.
Can you do another veiwing with a builder to get a view on the cost to fix?
Agree with other pp I'd cost up replacing the spiral starcase as you'd struggle to use once you had more than 1 DC.
How does the shared access work, is it accross the grass part of the garden or the gravel drive part?
If accross the grass then remember you'll never be able to let your DC out to play on their own. If gravel part then thats ok as its fenced off.
We bought a renovated house and spent an additional 10% of the paid price fixing all the unseen, unsexy parts like boilers, windows, wiring and gutters.
We called our house 'fur coat no knickers'

[MynameisJune]

[quote PurpleFlower1983]@MynameisJune We looked at that one! It’s stunning and had it been local we would have probably thought seriously about it! It’s a lovely village but my parents are getting on and not too well so want to be a bit closer to home. It needs lots of work though! More than what it looks like in the photos.[/quote]
Most of them do, ours is 200+ years old and looked okay on viewings but every time we do work we find hidden issues. We never had damp though.

How old is your DD? The school across the road is Ofsted improvement required so depending on age I’d be looking at other schools and which ones you’re likely to get places at. Unless you don’t mind her going there.

Personally for that budget I think there are better houses but if you love it and don’t mind the downsides then I’d get a quote for putting a proper staircase in and then take that off the asking price plus whatever else a survey might throw up. Getting any furniture up that spiral staircase will be a nightmare and I’d want rid especially with kids.

[Notso]

It's got some lovely features but the kitchen would need redoing for me, it's so disjointed.

Just offer what your prepared to pay but it's empty so the seller can presumably hold on for the price they want.

[PurpleFlower1983]

@ShandlersWig The access is across the paved driveway not the garden.

[Mollymalone123]

I would start at £375,000 in the current climate- they can only say no but leave at least £20-30,000 for work ( boiler etc) so max offer of £395,000

[PurpleFlower1983]

Main Street, Kirk Smeaton, Pontefract, WF8
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-93163628.html

We looked at this one too yesterday, saw it first and thought it was absolutely amazing! Beautifully done, great location, great practical house with lovely features. Quirky garden layout in the garden is not attached to the house but fab space. Ready to move into.

Then we saw the other house and there was no comparison.

[maggiecate]

The useable space in the attic would concern me - that’s a very steep slope on the ceiling. I wouldn’t want that as my bedroom full time, it looks very claustrophobic. The spiral stair would be a bit impractical for guests with luggage, or anyone with mobility issues, or small children. I can see quite a few reasons why it’s sticking tbh.

Although the rooms are a gorgeous size there’s something about it that feels off balance. Was it once a single dwelling that’s been divided? The ‘grandness‘ of the period features don’t quite match up to the number of rooms.

I’d imagine that unless the survey reveals some horrors that they’ve had offers but are holding out for more that people are willing to pay given the attic, small garden etc. If it’s your forever house fine, but if you think you might have to sell in the future I’d be wary of paying over £400k tbh

[Happydaysforever123]

I wouldn't consider putting an offer until Id priced in changing the staircase and sorting the damp. I'd ask them what they've done to try and remedy it, I worry about damp as sometimes it's really hard to sort out in Victorian houses.

[Ickabog]

@PurpleFlower1983

Main Street, Kirk Smeaton, Pontefract, WF8
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-93163628.html

We looked at this one too yesterday, saw it first and thought it was absolutely amazing! Beautifully done, great location, great practical house with lovely features. Quirky garden layout in the garden is not attached to the house but fab space. Ready to move into.

Then we saw the other house and there was no comparison.

This is much nicer in my opinion. A lot more usable space and less of a potential money pit.

[PurpleFlower1983]

@maggiecate It is a split Georgian hall, split many years ago and I agree! We were after two reception rooms ideally and the little dining room at the side is a bit random.

[PurpleFlower1983]

@Ickabog Absolutely! It’s beautiful, done to our taste and a gorgeous family home. The other one has the wow factor though.

[Puzzledandpissedoff]

What would be considered better family standard house or less grand period houses have gone on this road in the last 3 years between £350k and £410k ... it's been for sale for a year

PPs have dealt fully with all the negatives, but to answer your original question ... if you really want it I'd offer maybe £350k and pay no more than £370K, subject of course to a full survey

[Lily2020]

I think it's amazing op! I would absolutely pay full asking for a house like that, being from Sheffield where prices are getting ridiculous!
Go with your heart 💖

[BetteDavisWeLuvU]

How long has it been on for? Re the damp not ideal but wouldn't wordy me too much with an old house, the valuer would have factored this into the asking price valuation, so assuming the vendor has gone with their recommendation you can't expect to be knocking a load of money off for something which was obvious when the house was valued.

The boiler is more of an issue, we put a new boiler an central heating system in our 5 bed period home 2 yrs ago, it was just over 5k, to do the boiler alone without the pipework would have been just over 2k.

I would 100% get a roof survey if you go ahead an offer though. Damp patches where you described are either the roof or chimney breast. We've had a couple because of holes in the roof and they were easy repaired and we've never had a problem in those areas since. This is going on 4+ yrs now. If it's the chimney breast that's more of an issue. We've found a great solution for a problem we have in one of our rooms.

Honestly with how things are I would just cool your heels for a little while.

[BetteDavisWeLuvU]

Ah you’re near my parents OP! Love it out that way. We keep looking at Badsworth and Thorpe Audlin.

[Thunderbolted]

I'd offer £375k.
We were advised not to touch our current house with a bargepole because of the state of it but now it's beautiful. Go with your gut.

[callmeadoctor]

Ive just realised that there is a bath in the main bedroom!!! (We had the same for a few years, it was great fun having beautiful views out of the bath, had to remove it in the end but I was very fond of it. People thought we were bonkers

[Lightsabre]

The property is imposing but as a pp said, a little unbalanced. To fit a staircase will need works to the attic rooms to comply with building regs, possibly even a loft conversion on one side with a former. Those are around £40-£50K where I live minimum. It's often not as simple as putting a staircase in - these days they have to comply with space at the top, fire doors, escape routes etc. I'm sure you would want this with them being used as children's bedrooms. Along with the damp, boiler and kitchen works you'd be looking at circa £100K of works depending on the specification.