Why is this house so cheap, and what should we do?

[CoffeeMum]

We have been searching for houses in another city, 200 miles away, and plan to go this weekend to look at the houses we have shortlisted. As background, we will be in a position to move in a couple of months, and are 100% serious buyers.

However, yesterday, a house came up in our top road, but it seems bizarrely cheap. The estate agents are saying it just needs work, and the vendors want a quick, but I can't help thinking there must be something else going on, or something seriously wrong with the house that will cost a fortune to fix. It's probably about £20K cheaper than it should be, even allowing for the fact it needs work.

We know viewings are arranged this Tuesday, and as we're not due to go until the weekend, we are worried we will miss out on what could be an amazing house at a bargain price.

Basically, is it worth the major hassle of arranging to go up for the day this week for a viewing? It would be a hell of an effort to go 200 miles and back in one day, especially if we get there to find the flaw in the property is immediately obvious and we have wasted our time and energy.

Should we take the chance and wait until the weekend, and if someone makes an offer before then, be really cheeky and try and make a better offer? [house is such a bargain that we could do that]

Can you ever really get estate agents to be honest with you about why a property is so very cheap? If we knew more, we'd know whether to make the effort.

Confused and stressed, any opinions much appreciated!

[CoffeeMum]

Thanks for all your replies - had to disappear for a while to do mothering

Okay, it seems that it is cheaper because it needs a whole new central heating system, and the kitchen is pretty small. The CH issue isn't actually too much of a problem for me - the house is such a bargain that getting new CH would be affordable, and at least we'd start life in a new home with brand new CH and boiler.

Small kitchen more of a dealbreaker. There is also a diner next door [not suitable for knocking through though, sadly], and a utility room, but we want this to be our family home for many years, and i can't see myself, say, cooking Christmas lunch for twelve out of a kitchen the size of the one in our current flat. DH has just received floorplan and thinks it's not too bad, but I feel we can't really judge until we see it.

I am sufficiently put off by the kitchen to feel happy to wait until the weekend to view. If we miss the boat, so be it. Had another look at the other houses we like in the area, and alot of them are just as lovely - okay, they cost more, but they wouldn't need all that work - and that is appealing with two DC under three!

No sign of cash only purchase, or anything dodgy in the road - as i said in earlier post, it's considered the nicest road in a nice neighbourhood [if that doesn't sound too Hyacinth Bouquet ]

Thanks for replies all, great ideas here

[NorbertDentressangle]

I just had another thought -its not a cash only purchase is it? Generally it should say so on the ad if it is.

There was a house near us that was recently on the market for a stupidly low price but it was a cash only sale due to an illegal (and possibly built by cowboys) extension which meant that you wouldn't be able to get a mortgage on it.

[Chatelaine]

Don't be suspicious at this stage, go have a look see. Quite possibly it's as stated, vendors want a quick sale and are being sensible, having worked out what they need to achieve in order to move on.

[mummytime]

Could it be a repossession? (I'd also check local newspapers in case a crime has been committed there?)

[NorbertDentressangle]

Start a thread in the MN Local bit for that area - hopefully someone will come along and might be able to shed some light on anything obvious eg. electricity pylon in the garden, next door to a notorious brothel/club/squat.

[minibmw2010]

There could be a lot of reasons, the house that went for £245 may have been done to the top of the range and so justified that price. The house you are looking at most likely needs major refurbishment if they haven't shown the bathroom or kitchen. Bets to just look at the house and decide for yourself.

[ElsieMc]

My friend had her property for sale at a very good address. she was asking £215 and said she would accept £210,000. The house next door went up for sale at £250,000. It had a new kitchen, bathroom etc, but scruffy garden.

My friend accepted her house needed £10,000 spending on it. The house next door had extended the kitchen into the dining room which is trendy at the moment but my friend's through lounge/diner looked much better - light, airy and spacious.

So there you have a £40,000 difference, for nothing much more serious than trendy extras.

[awubble]

Maybe the seller has looked at the market and realised if they want to sell a run down house with no parking quickly they had better be realistic with the price.

Probably not but i live in hope.

[Igglybuff]

There was a house similar on our road - and the house next door which was identical was also on for £50k more. The first house hadn't been touched in decades while the house next door was immaculate. (5 bedroom house with massive garden).

So it is possible! You may be able to negotiate if you're in a good position.

[Igglybuff]

There was a house similar on our road - and the house next door which was identical was also on for £50k more. The first house hadn't been touched in decades while the house next door was immaculate. (5 bedroom house with massive garden).

So it is possible! You may be able to negotiate if you're in a good position.

[CoffeeMum]

WhatsWrong, yes, all possibilities - I suppose my issue is that I just want the estate agents to level with us about the actual reason why it's so cheap before we go to the hassle of going up. Presumably, all will become clear the minute we see the house. But I suppose that's the nature of house hunting in another city...

Baroque, have just had a look, and a house in the road went for £234k about six months ago. Admittedly, market could have dropped off since, but it's still alot more than this house...

[BaroqueAroundTheClock]

google street maps is great, and ourpopertyprice for what houses have actually sold for (as opposed to what they were on the market for ) is also useful

[WhatsWrongWithYou]

Could there be an electricity sub-station right next to the garden, or particularly nasty telephone wires obstructing the view?

[CoffeeMum]

Thanks everyone. Seems i'm being far too suspicious and it could be a genuine bargain. Okay, must get DH all ready to get a short-notice day off work, and brace self for a very long day travelling 400 miles. But DO love the house though!

[BaroqueAroundTheClock]

Not quite the same as I'm in rented.

But I had a similar thing with the house I'm now living in.

Saw it on Rightmove about £60 cheaper than anything else you'll find round here (and with this towns rental prices that's quite a huge gap. No pictures at all though.

I walked past it (as it was on the street next to where I used to live) and from the outside it look a bit "meh" - single glazed windows at the front, old wooden front door........I assumed the inside would be similar.

BUT I arranged to look round anyhow.

Letting agent opened the front door and i was . It's lovely inside, and the only other "old" window/door is the back door - the rest of the house is fully double glazed.

I've been here since March now, and as yet have no found any reason (aside from the single glazing and wooden front/back doors) that it was so cheap.

I can quite imagine (having been on the property trail before - buying) that if it had been up for sale for much less than the others - based on the window/door issue.


In short - go and have a look, as others have said any major problems should show up during surveys etc. and it could just be they want a quick sale (or maybe the other house you viewed it was just rather optimistically price?)

[AliceWorld]

Could it be because it was put on the market later? If you are comparing to ones that have been or for 6months, or a year or something then they might have been put on when the market was high, and although reduced to reflect the drop in the market I don't think people always do that realistically as it seems like such a loss.

We once had about 5 houses for sale at once in our street of just over 20. I thought it looked totally sus, like there was something dodgy going on and would have been nervous to buy. But there really wasn't anything. Just a coincidence.

So maybe it is a combination of all those things resulting in a coincidence that makes it cheap.

[CoffeeMum]

Meglet - yes, yes, parking on the street IS considered a nightmare, but we think we can live with it as it's a great location otherwise. Doesn't explain why it's still so cheap, even for that road...

thisisyesterday, hmm, you are right, 'needs work' can cover a multitude of issues. Thing is, it's actually £40K under our 'lowest budget', so i suppose even if we had to do major work, we'd probably still be okay, AND have a lovely house in our fave road. But i am loving the 'upmystreet' suggestion, thank you - off to do that now!

And yes, i've got to see it haven't i? Will be kicking self otherwise. And the fact i'm writing about it here shows it's got under my skin...

[thisisyesterday]

have a look on one of those sites like "upmystreet" or whatever it is called

you can put the postcode in and see what other properties on the same road have gone for. that will give you a good idea if it is underpriced or not

i would imagine that "needs some work" could well mean that it needs totally re-wiring, new kithcn, new bathroom, new flooring.... all of which could be well in excess of the £20k you are "saving"

but i would DEFINITELY go and have a look at it. because if it's a bargain then it will almost certainly get snapped up straight away

[Meglet]

Nightmare on-street parking?

[CoffeeMum]

Top tips Premature, thank you. Had planned to quiz the neighbours fully as we have annoying party lovers next door at the moment. Good point about the damp, as we are currently in a Victorian property and damp is the bane of our life. I suppose survey would show any specific problems, I guess I just want to know what it is NOW!

[CoffeeMum]

It's in the middle of a very established, residential area, can't see there being space for a new development. It's off a local, busy shopping street that already has a big Tesco. Can't think of any nearby areas that have enough space for flats etc - they'd have to pull down perfectly decent houses. Nowhere near a river. Intriguing!

Good points though, thanks Meglet

[PrematureEjoculation]

when you go to see it, see if any of the neighbours are about and have a chinwag to snoop perhaps?

take a close look at the walls for signs of damp (so esp round windows and doors, round the corners of ceilings) and at the exterior see if brickwork and roof is in good state of repair.

[Meglet]

It's not near a river is it?
Or next to a potential new development?

[CoffeeMum]

Thanks violethill, i suppose I am just very cynical as my only experience of buying or selling property is in London where it's all quite cut-throat. Obviously we would get a full survey. I suppose i'm just wondering if it's worth DH rejigging his complicated work schedule for a visit, but actually just typing that makes me realise he can arrange ONE day off if it means we get this amazing and cheap house! To be fair, he's happy to do it, but it will just be a big, big hassle...