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Property/DIY

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Original poster

Curious - would you buy this house?

45 replies

MyAngels · 19/09/2012 10:51

Just wondering if the main issue with this house was obvious to the internet viewer and if so, would you still consider buying it. The price is par for the course for a new 4 bed round here, if a bit high, but that's not the main problem with the house....

www.ashburys.co.uk/property/sprigg-drive/

It belongs to my neighbour (he doesn't live there - he built it).

Thanks for looking...

OP posts:

mylovelymonster · 19/09/2012 12:55

Did he 'design' it himself without the use of an architect, and therefore is he selling it unfinished as he knows it would never get signed off as fit for habitation by building control? -desparately hanging on to minimum ceiling measurement heights to get the largest bedroom dimensions? - still very small. Did he have to lower the roof unexpectedly due to getting planning permission a bit too late in the build process?? Have you ever been invited to look round it?
It will never sell and his house will remain scaffolded.

mylovelymonster · 19/09/2012 13:02

Actually - looking at it more closely I feel I've been a tad harsh. Is obviously his front garden though. What do you consider to be the obvious fatal flaw?

EdgarAllanPond · 19/09/2012 13:03

huge numbers of power points!!
three ovens in the kitchen?

no mention of stairs...

minipie · 19/09/2012 13:05

at no stairs. There are none listed but I assume they exist!

3'6 bedroom height I presume is only at one end, i.e. the bedroom has got a sloping ceiling. otherwise you couldn't call it a bedroom surely...

EdgarAllanPond · 19/09/2012 13:05

bit small rear garden for a three bed house.

no obvious building regs flumps, though depends on how it all works on the insides.

if he really wants to sell, he wants more photos than that.

EdgarAllanPond · 19/09/2012 13:19

access is a bit tricky, via that single road - does he have a right of access or is it next doors only?

JellyBelly10 · 19/09/2012 13:22

The kitchen has a door to the cellar but doesn't seem to have any other door, so no access to garden other than via living-room? Also I'm confused by the picture of the garden as the shadow of the houses on the grass doesn't seem to be the shadow of the house in the main picture.

JellyBelly10 · 19/09/2012 13:26

Ooooh I've just realised, there is no form of loft, the bedroom windows are remarkably small so all the head-height in the upstairs rooms is gained in the roof. So there is no loft. Am I right? Do I win the prize???

LoonyRationalist · 19/09/2012 13:42

Odd house. As others have said floor plan seems essential here.
No storage to speak of (apart from the Cellar/cupboard) With virtually no loft space buyers of a 4 bed house would want a garage I think so would be more likely to be on a par with a 3 bed house.
Not sure I can spot the main problem from so sparse details but safe to say I would not make an offer without a very thorough inspection..

dizzyday07 · 19/09/2012 13:43

from the Google streetview it seems that the rear roof comes lower than the front so that could account for the reduced height in the bedrooms

2tired2bewitty · 19/09/2012 13:49

There's definately something odd going on upstairs as the sofits appear to overhang the windows.

The kitchen sounds nice, but 19 powerpoints

minipie · 19/09/2012 13:55

good point 2tired - either the windows are abnormally high, or the ceiling slopes down very low, so not much of the bedrooms is actually usable.

JellyBelly10 · 19/09/2012 14:53

Aaaaaahhhh! The back bedrooms only have "eyebrow windows" as they effectively have no walls, they are just tiny slits of windows so would be very dark!!!!!

DogsCock · 19/09/2012 15:04

Is it 3 foot 6 high in the bedroom or wide. Either way tis shit.
No, I would not buy it. It looks bland and boring.

EdgarAllanPond · 19/09/2012 17:15

The exterior hasn't been painted, from the looks of things.

minipie · 19/09/2012 17:19

Ah couldn't work out what eyebrow windows were, assuming it was something fancy rather than something bad! Yes that would be rubbish.

Dogs I think it's 3'6 high at the lowest point of the bedrooms, i.e. there is a sloping ceiling

minipie · 19/09/2012 17:19

assumed not assuming ^

Original poster

MyAngels · 19/09/2012 18:47

Thanks everyone.
The main issue I was wondering about was if it was obvious that the house was under construction and that there was a great big container outside (as the EA managed very well to take the photo so you couldn't see it), and if it had any weird design issues that would put people off (my neighbour doesn't always see things the same way as the rest of us) - the phone point in a cupboard and double glazed doors to an interior cupboard for example.

Its a fairly sought after village, but close to a pretty busy road, with no garage and a small garden surrounded by leylandii. and houses, even there have been taking a while to sell (ones that are actualy finished, that is!)

Its an interesting point that any purchasers should get agreement that building work will be finished by a certain date - personally, knowing him, that could be a deal breaker - he's been at it for 6 years, is in poor health, would probably refuse to pay someone else to do work for him.

OP posts:

JellyBelly10 · 19/09/2012 18:52

Come on OP, put us out of our misery, what is the fatal flaw in your opinion?? Personally I think it has to be the ludicrous back bedrooms that appear to be shaped like a wedge of cheese with "eyebrow" windows (ie they would be fine for bats but not humans!)....but as someone who works in an estate agency my main concern would be that it is being marketed in such a rubbish way!!! No floor plan, no internal pictures (despite enticing descriptions of granite kitchens etc!) and incomplete details that do not describe the complete house (no stairs, no way of knowing whether certain rooms lead off the landing or off each other, no way of knowing whether kitchen has access to garden etc etc!).

JellyBelly10 · 19/09/2012 18:53

Sorry! Cross-posts!!

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