How would you approach this property?

[Pantone363]

Top of our budget, lovely area. House is on with four agents (not sure if that means anything?). First listed at the beginning of March, property bee has no info other than small description changes.

would you bother offering below asking?

[Timeforabiscuit]

!! A quarter of a million pounds for a big standard new build!!!

Is on top of an oilfield? Gold mine? UFO?

[Timeforabiscuit]

Bog I meant bog standard new build, and I think a bit of my soul died looking at it.

[Pantone363]

i know but its Colchester, standard SE pricing and 40 mins from London.

I'd love to move 40 miles up (houses so much more reasonable) but we need to be here. Ideally we need 4 beds but was thinking we could turn the living room into a bedroom and have the dining space as a living room.

[yomellamoHelly]

Lack of privacy in garden would really put me off

[Happynow]

Definitely!

Property on with four agents? - they're desperate to sell. If it's on with only one agent they'd pay a lower commission.

First listed beginning of March? - been on the market quite a long time and had no takers.

I have no idea of the property market in that area or the house in particular but if you like it and have done your research properly I would feel comfortable putting in a lower offer in line with what you're willing to pay for it.

[Timeforabiscuit]

Sorry I may have been a little harsh after looking at what the other properties in the street have gone for.

How lively is the market where you are? If you are first time buyers ready to move quickly I think you can get a bit knocked off.

[Happynow]

Have you done a viewing Pantone?

[Pantone363]

Renting, mortgage in place....

Yes garden is slightly crap in terms of privacy and the carport will only fit one vehicle.

Is £230000 too cheeky?

[Girlwithnotattoos]

I don't mine the new buildness but I don't like it because:

1. All you have downstairs is a kitchen/diner - you'll end up crammed into the dining end most of the time because you'll be fed up of going upstairs to sit in comfort and there's no access to the garden from the lounge.
2. The study can't be used as a bedroom due to the openness to the lounge - if someone was watching tv the noise would be unbearable.
3. The garden is ridiculously overlooked from every single angle.
4. There's no frontage to speak of.

Sorry to be negative but I really think it's badly planned and although it's not a small house and there's plenty of bedroom space the living space is very lacking.

[momtothree]

Could the office be a bedroom? 4 agents means nothing other than desperate. Always put in a low offer. Yes over looked... but what would you be doing worth looking at?

[Pantone363]

All good points, especially when we were thinking of turning the lounge into another bedroom Ideally we need 4 beds but their is a huge lack within our price range

[Pantone363]

There

[momb]

Like a ninja
(reading nothing but the title and full of wine).
while humming the theme from Mission Impossible.

[momb]

Having actually read the OP. 10% below asking price entirely appropriate for new build, hence 225K. Good luck.

[Happynow]

Have you seen it? Did you like it?

[Pantone363]

A property buying ninja?

[Pantone363]

Nope going to see it tomorrow

Not holding much hope, this will be the 2342 house we've viewed. The last one had a lift that wasn't in the description. The one before that was an Airey house

[momtothree]

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34432809.html

Whats wrong with this one?

[CatsAreLikeChocolates]

Or this one?

[Pantone363]

momtothree, the area! Or more to the point the traffic around the area, its total gridlock for most of the day

Happynow....er thanks?

[Pantone363]

Cats, again the area its a thoroughfare from town (big drinking culture on a Fri/Sat), we don't want to be that close to town.

Problem is that we are renting in a 'fine' house which we can stay in as long as we want. Its knowing when to make the jump if we don't really have to. Any of those houses would be fine if we had to move suddenly

[cerealqueen]

A recent thread talked about what people would avoid when buying, lots of negatives about open plan. It'll drive you mad. You can't shut off noise or smell from the kitchen. Avoid, is my advice.

[mathanxiety]

You could plant a tree or two in the garden, and while that wouldn't solve the overlooking problem immediately, it might eventually.

I would use the study as a fourth bedroom, rather than trying to carve up the lounge. As long as whoever slept in the study wouldn't mind people tiptoeing through to the bathroom that might work. I think the kitchen diner is too small to use as a permanent lounge. You would all be tripping all over each other all the time.

Maybe carve off a small study from the front of the lounge if you need a study/office/craft/junk storage space? It could be accessible through the lounge.

What would put me off is the sterile look of the whole place, beginning with the brick and gravel front. However, that could be remedied with plants. It cries out for a nice creeper/vine imo.

As for parking I see the carport opens into the garden any chance of building a garage where the shed is, sort of an extension of the carport, and whoever has to be out first in the morning parks closest to the street...

I would say four agents means the owner needs to sell.

[mathanxiety]

The open plan setup can be remedied if it becomes unbearable.