Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

…to ask what to offer for this house?

192 replies

HouseBuyingNovice2022 · 11/10/2022 21:23

It’s so difficult to know what to do in the current market, so I’m grateful for any advice/tips I can get!

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/127313855#/?channel=RES_BUY

Have fallen in love with this house (obviously haven’t told the sellers this). I want to offer but simply don’t know where to pitch it. It seems to have been reduced by £50k since originally going on the market (not sure why) though the owners say that they’ve rejected at least one offer they’ve had because it wasn’t at a number they could accept…so I’m guessing maybe they aren’t totally desperate (?).

Help! Minefield!

OP posts:
WhyCantNameLastMoreThanDay · 12/10/2022 09:28

Its a fur coat and no knickers restoration. The house had previously had most features removed as you can see on zoopla.

Not replaced windows with wooden double glazed ashes (v expernsive- done it 4 times). Not sorted access or bathrooms/loos

Cheap off the shelf kitchen that doenst fit well or match the period of the house. Could have had a bespoke hand made one made in wood (done that twice and again expensive) Lots of MDF and dark paint

Style over substance.

LickThis · 12/10/2022 09:33

I'm disappointed that this hasn't stooped into a Life of Brian sketch with everyone confessing that they've the vendor Grin

Arbesque · 12/10/2022 09:34

WhyCantNameLastMoreThanDay · 12/10/2022 09:28

Its a fur coat and no knickers restoration. The house had previously had most features removed as you can see on zoopla.

Not replaced windows with wooden double glazed ashes (v expernsive- done it 4 times). Not sorted access or bathrooms/loos

Cheap off the shelf kitchen that doenst fit well or match the period of the house. Could have had a bespoke hand made one made in wood (done that twice and again expensive) Lots of MDF and dark paint

Style over substance.

This is exactly why no one would want their house discussed on MN.

ISeeTheLight · 12/10/2022 09:37

OP if you want to buy an old property you need to do some research into building and restoration methods. It looks like they've used standard paint, standard plastering etc which could cause damp issues, even worse because the ground level is higher than the house in some cases.

Join the Your Old House UK - Repair and Conservation FB group for example, or read up SPAB's guidance (www.spab.org.uk/advice/technical-advice-notes)

ISeeTheLight · 12/10/2022 09:37

sorry this link works www.spab.org.uk/advice/technical-advice-notes

Banjaxx · 12/10/2022 09:44

op, unless I’m very much mistaken there’s a dehumidifier in the en-suite to the master in the 360 tour, that in conjunction with it being built into a hill would give me major alarm bells. Plus, having no hallway or landing area for guests and kids to come in and set their coats / dirty wellies / school bags etc would drive me insane, I constantly feel like the house was a tip as things would get dumped on that dining table or draped over the side of the sofa in those 2 downstairs reception rooms!

QuebecBagnet · 12/10/2022 09:46

you may prefer something closer to the back door.

The back door is in the upstairs utility room.

steppemum · 12/10/2022 09:52

QuebecBagnet · 12/10/2022 09:46

you may prefer something closer to the back door.

The back door is in the upstairs utility room.

Ah yes, hadn't seen it was built into the hill

BatteryPoweredMammy · 12/10/2022 09:59

£500k max. Vendors are trying it on and that’s why they’ve had to reduce it.
Judging by the interior, it’s really not worth much more than that in today’s market.

pattihews · 12/10/2022 09:59

Do you have any idea how much this house will cost to heat, OP? No EPC that I can see. I'm seeing single glazed sashes. The house given its age (presume it's an old pub) will likely be single-skin brick. Those reconditioned radiators look the biz but aren't very efficient. With my qualified Energy Assessor hat on I'm reckoning it's going to be very expensive to keep warm.

It's been done up by someone with an eye. They've spent money on flashy accessories but they don't appear to have done the really expensive things — like install a heat pump and underfloor heating on the ground floor, which would be the way to go in an old house like this, or have new double-glazed windows made for it.

Are you sure that once you've bought it you'll be able to afford to heat it?

pattihews · 12/10/2022 10:13

The other thing I notice is the wood panelling in the (tiny) living room and dining room. They've presumably had damp problems and the panelling is there it cover up the remedial works. This is a house which is going to cost serious money to live in.

WimbyAce · 12/10/2022 10:22

Is a strange layout so won't appeal to all. Is the only access to the garden from upstairs? I would try 550k and see what happens.

HouseBuyingNovice2022 · 12/10/2022 10:42

Hello all!

A few little developments this end which I won’t post the detail of yet - will try to update properly later…

In the meantime, thanks very much for the further comments and I can address a few of them as (courtesy of six degrees of separation theory perhaps!!!!!) I’ve been in touch with the vendors this morning (and, @Myhouseonhere, not quite sure what your motives were in posting, but I do now know with absolute certainty that you are not in fact the owner):

  1. I understand that the reno works have been done in a manner and using materials (e.g. lime plaster, breathable paint, various other measures etc) that are appropriate for the property - I asked this specifically
  2. damp is not an issue
  3. there has been installed a new and efficient Worcester Bosch oil-fired boiler (and other than one small reconditioned one the ornamental cast iron rads are new and bespoke (not reconditioned) so as efficient as cast iron rads get
  4. insulation has been installed all over the place - inc under the floors
  5. the kitchen is not off-the-shelf - it’s a bespoke one
  6. I’ve asked for copy heating bills anyway though the numbers the vendors have given on this don't support the doomsday scenario some PPs have suggested so I’m quite comfortable with that aspect
  7. the bathrooms/loos have all been gutted and re-fitted

Loads of the above I will have checked by my surveyor anyway, too, just for completeness 😃

OP posts:
Bunnyfuller · 12/10/2022 10:44

Gorgeous house. Looks ready to move in!

WifeMotherWorker · 12/10/2022 10:51

I love the house… good luck OP, keep us posted!

GrumpyMummy123 · 12/10/2022 10:53

We went 5.5% under asking price when we bought a couple of years ago. And it got accepted! That was when houses were flying off the market in the area. Just getting a viewing before another offer accepted was a nightmare. Loads of demand but we made ourselves attractive buyers.
We negotiated on a couple of points that would cost us money to get it how we wanted (but not structural issues) - think parking/garden etc. But mainly we had a purchase on our house going through and wanted to move ASAP and would've found rented to bridge the gap of our old house completed first.

Make yourselves appealing to the buyer - be flexible with moving dates. Offer concrete reasons why you think what you're offering is a fair price. There doesn't need to be anything 'wrong' with the property for a lower offer to be accepted, just worthwhile to the buyer!

photosq · 12/10/2022 10:57

@Myhouseonhere

Troll?

Noviembre · 12/10/2022 11:23

Snap that bad boy up. It's gorgeous. 600k is a steal even in Derby.

Noviembre · 12/10/2022 11:24

pattihews · 12/10/2022 10:13

The other thing I notice is the wood panelling in the (tiny) living room and dining room. They've presumably had damp problems and the panelling is there it cover up the remedial works. This is a house which is going to cost serious money to live in.

Panelling is fashion. Fuck all to do with damp.

QuebecBagnet · 12/10/2022 11:25

Noviembre · 12/10/2022 11:23

Snap that bad boy up. It's gorgeous. 600k is a steal even in Derby.

Now, I think this is the real owner 😂

pineapples100 · 12/10/2022 11:30

I'm also down the road in melbs. Nice house!

Lisanspice · 12/10/2022 11:34

pineapples100 · 12/10/2022 11:30

I'm also down the road in melbs. Nice house!

Agree we live close, did not notice this up for sale. Going to speak to DH later going to have a look now. 😁

pattihews · 12/10/2022 11:35

OP, get photos and guarantees about the insulation and the damp-proofing. The guarantees will only be so long. You'll need photographic evidence of the underfloor insulation to be sure it's in there. It's an easy one for vendors to lie about. I know this because when I was doing EPC householders lied about insulation all the time.

You realise that with your north-facing garden there'll be little sun on that patio?

The fake radiators may be as good as they get for cast iron rads in that style, but they won't be as efficient as a modern radiator.

You have to ask why they haven't invested in decent double glazing and why they run a dehumidifier. It may be that the house needs to be draughty to deal with the damp. It's actually against regulations for them to be advertising it without a current EPC. These are little red flags.

I think it's an attractive building that they've gussied up to look stylish but it will be a high-maintenance expensive house to run. And how will your family cope with
the small living room and the lack of storage?

You'll be buying a house that a lot of purchasers with £600k wouldn't bother looking at. No private, secure parking. No garage for storage. Cars passing within a couple of feet of your front windows/ door. Built into a hill with all the damp issues involved. North-facing garden. It's not clear whether everything for or from the garden will have to go through the house or whether there's side access.

Not saying don't do it. Saying this is a difficult-to-sell house which you'll be buying at the peak of a boom. If for any reason you need to sell in the next five years you may take a major hit on it because most purchasers wouldn't consider it.

pattihews · 12/10/2022 11:39

Noviembre · 12/10/2022 11:24

Panelling is fashion. Fuck all to do with damp.

Nope, for many years people have been concealing damp walls behind panelling because it's cheaper to cover up the problem with a bit of tongue and groove than to sort out the damp problems. When you're having proper damp treatment you have to hack off the plaster to a height of 1m from the floor to expose the bare wall. It's a weekend's DIY job to replace it with T+G rather and much cheaper than getting it replastered and having to then redecorate the whole area. Always beware panelling in an old house. It can hide a multitude of problems.

HouseBuyingNovice2022 · 12/10/2022 11:49

Hello again. Just going to box this off now - I understand that the house hasn’t been damp-proofed since construction (and it has the Victorian DPC) because there isn’t an unusual level of damp so (happily) that seems to be a non-issue 😊

OP posts:
Swipe left for the next trending thread