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Original poster

Any tips for a first time buyer home near Manchester City Centre?

159 replies

Gregorianchant · 31/01/2015 14:35

The budget is £80k-£100k, but could maybe stretch a bit for the right property. Would like 2 beds and a safe area not too far from the centre ie walking distance or near to good public transport links. There seem to be a number of 2 up 2 down on Zoopla etc from £55k upwards, but I have no idea what is a good place to buy. The house is intended for 2-3 years for a couple, no DC involved so schools not important.

All suggestions welcome!

OP posts:
CheeseBadger · 04/02/2015 18:08

Yeah, but what you actually said was:

I wouldn't be walking on my own anywhere in Manchester after dark

Which is absolute piffle, and Wow was right to call you on it.

CheeseBadger · 04/02/2015 18:12

Going back to the subject, Gregorian just isn't going to find a house in a remotely decent area on that budget. Even flats on that budget would be in sort of "edgy" parts of town if you only look inside the inner ring road.

Original poster
Gregorianchant · 05/02/2015 06:09

Thank you so much for all of your replies. MN is fantastic for tapping into others knowledge and experience. We have viewed a house on Riverside, M7 which we like and which is being marketed by Hills residential at offers over £80k. We might keep it for a while and rent it out when we are in a position to buy something bigger/in a different area and depending upon where our jobs take us. We could maybe take out a let to buy mortgage so we can keep it for longer if it proves a good renter, I agree that it might be aggravation, but we would get it managed.

However, do you think this area is ok/safe/near to public transport? You have me worried about walking anywhere after some of the previous posters suggested that it might not be safe.

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wowfudge · 05/02/2015 07:08

Use the route planner on GMPTA to look into public transport. It's ex local authority on what looks like an estate of social housing. It really depends what the neighbours are like, how many of the other houses are owner occupied, etc.

It's not an area I would choose to live in myself because I am not looking for the same things as you, but I think the demographic has changed over the last ten years and there are lots of young working people living in Lower Broughton.

Go back to the area at different times of the day and week. Get a bus from the city centre and see what the journey is like.

wowfudge · 05/02/2015 07:14

I have no idea what jobs you work in, but we currently have very low interest rates and if you think you will progress in your careers I would seriously look at getting a bigger mortgage if you can to be somewhere better.

wowfudge · 05/02/2015 07:29

Sorry for the multiple posts but I've just looked at sold prices for Riverside, Salford and in the last 7 years only two of the houses have sold and one of those was in June 2014 for £86k.

This says to me that the majority of the houses are likely to still be social housing. The one that sold for £86k had a new bathroom and kitchen, which this doesn't have. Also on the photo the neighbours to the right have a sun umbrella up at the front of the house. This suggests they probably sit out at the front. Plus if they are sitting out there you need to walk past them to get in to the house. Which is fine if they are nice people and you get on with them. It could be noisy of an evening/weekend.

Original poster
Gregorianchant · 05/02/2015 07:44

Thanks wow. We are both students at Manchester Uni - I am in my last year and DP has another year to do, as he is doing a Masters, so we can't get a mortgage yet. We are buying the property jointly out of savings and loans from parents. It seems to be a better option than renting, especially as we had a terrible landlord last year who didn't even put our deposit in a protection scheme, although fortunately we got it back eventually.

Assuming we can get jobs in the next year or two we could buy somewhere more expensive, but we can't do that yet. I think it is a good idea to check out the transport and neighbours. The agents are being a bit pushy and it seems like a good buy compared with other houses on the market, but do you think ex council/social housing will be a problem on re-sale? We are a bit new to all of this!

OP posts:
Petallic · 05/02/2015 07:46

If you have viewed the house in M7 what did you think to the area? Did you have a walk around? I've lived in some of the "rougher" areas of Manchester and I know my tolerance of where I'm happy to live is higher than some of my friends. So you need to know what you are comfortable with.

I would suggest, as others have, that you rent whilst you find your feet in Manchester and build your careers (and increase your mortgage options). If you are only planning on owning the house for a couple of years you won't have increased the equity by much but will have to pay out buying/selling fees. Avoid it all and rent a little flat in the city centre itself - whilst you don't have kids and take full advantage of all the fantastic things on offer in Mcr!! Smile

Petallic · 05/02/2015 07:48

Sorry, cross post. Students? Not long before you graduate? Wait! Don't buy!

(and there's little direct transport from Salford to Manchester uni - so 2 buses everyday for the next year)

Don't buy!!

SophieBarringtonWard · 05/02/2015 08:45

If you are students, I would look at Hulme, Victoria Park etc. Honestly. But I agree with Petallic.

Original poster
Gregorianchant · 05/02/2015 09:11

I see your point about waiting, but we take the view that as long as the house keeps its value, we will effectively have lived there rent free, instead of paying rent to another dodgy landlord.

We have cars and there are loads of taxis in Manchester so not too worried about buses, especially if we can walk to the centre.

What other costs will there be apart from the conveyancing which will cost about £450, according to quotes we have seen on line?

I am just concerned about whether it is an ok area. It seemed ok but that was in daytime.

OP posts:
Petallic · 05/02/2015 09:22

But you won't have lived there rent free - you will be paying thousands in interest and repaying only a small amount of the capital that you hope to get back when you resell. You will also be responsible for repair costs, furnishing, insurances etc.

In buying a house you have conveyancing costs and survey costs. Plus moving costs and furnishing a whole house. It's a lot of money for the sake of owning a house. I don't think the M7 house is ideally where you want to be and you can't say for certain where you will be working when you both graduate.

But if you are still of the view you want to buy - definitely go back at nighttime and also revisit to knock on the door of the neighbouring houses and ask them what they think of neighbourhood and size them up

Petallic · 05/02/2015 09:30

Also, as you have 2 cars - run an insurance quote through for the m7 address and see what it does to your premiums as it is potentially a significant cost.

Original poster
Gregorianchant · 05/02/2015 10:03

Thanks Pet, that's really good advice.

We won't be paying interest as we aren't taking out a mortgage, and we are hoping to furnish it on the cheap - bits and pieces from family, second hand etc. It's not a very big house and I think they are leaving the white goods.

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Petallic · 05/02/2015 10:06

If you have got family who are lending/giving you the money, is another option not to use it as a deposit and then you can buy somewhere REALLY nice in a years time Smile

Anyway, I'll stop trying to persuade you not to buy for now. But do go back and visit at different times etc and look at how comfortable you would be travelling to/from home at night etc. good luck with whatever you choose to do.

wowfudge · 05/02/2015 10:24

If you have savings and the support of parents, you can probably rent a better class of property than some of the student rentals you've lived in before - you may have to pay a large chunk of rent upfront as you are not professionals in jobs, but I would see that as a better option.

If buying a house is for the relatively short term, buy one in a more student-centric area of Salford. I believe that house may have been on the market before January this year as the photos were taken when there were leaves on the trees and they are birch trees by the look of things on Streetview; that also fits with next door's sun umbrella. The market was pretty buoyant last year for Ftbs in Salford so ask yourselves why this didn't sell then.

SophieBarringtonWard · 05/02/2015 11:35

If this is meant to be somewhere for a couple of years, with an eye to renting it out afterwards, I don't get why you aren't looking in other areas? What is it that draws you to M7?

I had a quick look in your budget & could find nice places in Fallowfield, Victoria Park, Moss Side (the old Maine Road site), Hulme, Stretford (good road access if commuting out of Manchester in the future)

Shedding · 05/02/2015 11:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

wowfudge · 05/02/2015 12:05

I agree with Sophie. Wonder if it's to do with price as the M7 house for £80k is cheaper. If it were me I wouldn't buy that house in Lower Broughton. And I'm not anti Salford by any stretch as technically a Salfordian myself. It's the wrong side of town for Manchester Uni too.

Original poster
Gregorianchant · 05/02/2015 13:20

I know it sounds silly but we don't really want to live in a student area, having spent 2 years in Fallowfield - too many rowdy students!

Yes, the house has been on the market since last summer - apparently there was a sale which fell through, as the buyer had emergency complications with her pregnancy, but I don't know if that's true. We are trying to find out from the agents.

I note other suggestions from Sophie, but I thought Moss Side was still considered to be quite rough. We are not specifically drawn to M7 but it seems to be reasonably central and affordable. The sellers said it has a good community feel.

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wowfudge · 05/02/2015 14:57

I had a look using Property Bee and a sale did fall through. They were also marketing it at offers around £70k then.

I find the traditional 2 bed terraces much more appealing than the, sorry, ugly houses on this social housing development. It depends what floats your boat, but they are probably easier to sell on too.

Just a thought - where's the corner shop? It doesn't look as though there is much in the way of amenities locally.

housepicturesqueclub · 05/02/2015 15:43

Property bee is a great tool.

I'm also thinking its not a good idea to buy for such a short period for yourself - its unlikely to of been maintained properly and you could find all sorts of horrors when you move in. You'll end up spending tons of time renovating and maintaining it, when you should probably be having fun as students! and yes you could struggle to sell it on, one bad family moves into one of the council properties, and its bye-bye property values.

I'm also bemused by the trend of keeping a house to rent out, then buying a bigger house to live in? Your original deposit is tied up in the first house which means the mortgage on the new one is going to be a high LTV, therefore much higher interest rate. Factoring in the extortionate cost of getting an agent to 'manage' your rented property, the yield could be next to nothing or negative. Owning two properties is preventing young first time buyers such as yourself getting onto 'the ladder'.

Petallic · 05/02/2015 16:40

This is far better (and more rentable to both students and young professionals if you wanted to rent a room out whilst you lived there)
Walkable to uni, less dodgy at night (I used to live in road just off this one). And you are walking distance to major bus routes on upper brook st and Stockport road. Also v near hospital.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-49337969.html

Petallic · 05/02/2015 16:45

(It does need work, but is a far better investment and better rental) and chorlton upon medlock is affordable area that puts you close to town and uni. I would keep an eye on this area if this house is more work then you want to take on.

Petallic · 05/02/2015 16:46

But I still don't think you should buy! Smile