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!

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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