House 1 or House 2?

[Couplycouple]

Dear all,

My husband and I are first time buyers and are thorn between these houses I just thought I'll ask the opinion of others on which of the houses they are likely to go for, what price and maybe some knowledge of local area.

House1 is a 4 bed room that needs work, a little further from the station, it has no side access but bigger garden, more space and on a private road/culdesac with just 3 houses. It has been on the market for long and yet to sell.

<a class="break-all" href="//]www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-64218764.html" rel="nofollow noindex" target="_blank">House2 is a smaller 3 bed house, mainly the bathroom needs doing up, closer to station with side access.

I look forward to all your responses, hopefully we'll be able to see things through the eyes of others.

Thank you

[NutBiscuit]

Ooh - these houses are not far from me at all!

Definitely house 1. Yes, further from station but it IS walkable at a push, or there's a bus which runs down the main road straight to the station.

You do NOT want to live on the A127. Apart from the impact on you, it will also impact your ability to re-sell the property. Also access to the property by car is only from one way (as it's a dual carriageway) so if you were coming from the other way you would have to do a big detour. That would drive me mad after a while.

[ExConstance]

House 2 is really ugly, and the windows are repulsive. Although the inside is nice you still have to look out through the odd sized mock lead lighted monstrosities.

[Spickle]

Hmmm, location wise, personally I think Gidea Park is much nicer than Chadwell Heath, but would not live on the A127 Arterial Road - it is busy, busy, busy all day. Wonder how Streetview managed to get a photo when it was quiet!!

[Twistmeandturnme]

private, not privet!

[Twistmeandturnme]

Check planning permissions for the wood behind the house. You've marked it on your photo as conservation are but it looks like an open road end before going into the privet drive there. Also I notice it's gated: what are the neighbours like? Who would pay for upkeep of the driveway and gates?

[Twistmeandturnme]

I'm going to say House 1 but get a survey. I'm looking sat the garage and wondering why it's green all round the bottom.
If it isn't damp and is quite solid you could always knock a door at the back of the garage to give you side access to the back garden.
the floor space isn't significantly different between the two houses (slightly bigger in the 3-bed because of the ground floor extension, thus the bedrooms are smaller on the 4-bed. How many bedrooms do you actually need? I'd be tempted to jig the internal walls a bit upstairs to give 3 bigger bedrooms or 3 beds and an ensuite. It's definitely the one with potential: the road in front of the other one is never going away.

[Scrumptiouscrumpets]

Meant to say, house 1 is much more interesting!

[Scrumptiouscrumpets]

Anyone considering buying house 2 is being blinded by the interior design - it looks new and fancy. It doesn't have anything else going for it though.
House 2 is much more interesting. But I would be worried about the fact it's been on the market a long time, too. Can you arrange another viewing and take someone else to see it? Perhaps you really are missing something. I think it's a very important point because it might mean you will have trouble selling, too.

[Mommasoph30]

House 1 is off market >?

[KatyBerry]

Couply - teh newspapers at teh moment are full of stories about how life-limiting pollution is. Please consider that seriously in house 2. Your curtains and cars and the outside of your house will be filthy. You won't be able to open windows on high pollution / hot days. You will be massively compromised on who you can sell it to in future. I wouldn't want to bring up children in that environment and I wouldn't take my cats to live there.

Ask the estate agent why house 1 has been on so long - it could be as simple as a purchase falling through

[Couplycouple]

A lot of insightful post already - this community is priceless. Thank you!

[Couplycouple]

House 1 seems to have a black car in the garden or is that a very by toy car?

It is indeed a big toy car

[Couplycouple]

On google satalite there is some kind of roof, behind the garage next to the house? What is that? How does the boundary go behind the garage? In a straight line or does the plot move narrower?

Behind the garage is a huge shed and it is a straight line boundary. The shed is what we were considering removing and joining to the house for the extension.

[RTKangaMummy]

I too would not touch house 2 with a very long barge pole

Very busy dual carriageway and shopping mall over the other side

Also tumble drier/washing machine in dining room???

Also is the. Driveway joint or just owned by the house

House 1 seems to have a black car in the garden or is that a very by toy car?

[Kiroro]

There is a big shed which is nearly the length of the house and of good width next to the house and a builder already said this is possible but the utility room/study would be small.

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[Kiroro]

From your picture, it doesn't look like there is much space to extend to the side.

On google satalite there is some kind of roof, behind the garage next to the house? What is that? How does the boundary go behind the garage? In a straight line or does the plot move narrower?

[SantasLittleMonkeyButler]

Are you saying the house is reasonably priced? There is no recent sale in the area for comparing.

I honestly don't know whether it's reasonably priced or not. I don't know the area in enough detail to say.

What I was saying is that some vendors do have a set price in their heads that they won't go below - whether that's reasonable or not. Obviously, if that figure is more than people want to pay, this may make them less likely to sell quickly.

It may not be the case at all - I was just offering it as another possibility for no sale so far.

[Couplycouple]

Would extending there really give you a big kitchen, study and utility room?

There is a big shed which is nearly the length of the house and of good width next to the house and a builder already said this is possible but the utility room/study would be small.

[Kiroro]

House 2 is on a bad road. In 20 years time when we only have electric cars that will be cool, for now... not unless there is a significant 'shit road' discount.

House 1 - you aren't close enough to the rail track for it to be annoying. Side access, nice but not essential for an extension. Overall a better property. Not THAT close to station - might want to bike to it if commuting.

[Kidnapped]

From your picture, it doesn't look like there is much space to extend to the side.

Would extending there really give you a big kitchen, study and utility room?

[Couplycouple]

It sounds like you just don't really want to buy house one. That's fair enough. Sometimes even though something appears to tick all the boxes it just isn't right

Honestly, I love the house but just a little nervous that we might be missing something & DH thinks House 2 will benefit from crossrail.

[MaryPoppinsPenguins]

House 1... house 2 is just cosemitically better, which is an easy fix.

[Couplycouple]

The no sales could also mean that the vendors aren't willing to budge on price. Some people will just walk away rather than pay asking price as a matter of principle!

Are you saying the house is reasonably priced? There is no recent sale in the area for comparing.

[PurpleDaisies]

It sounds like you just don't really want to buy house one. That's fair enough. Sometimes even though something appears to tick all the boxes it just isn't right.

[Couplycouple]

The back garden looks nice. And not big to start with. I'd personally hate to lose any of it.

Extension would be to the side of the property and I forgot to mention the back garden has a big pond which is no longer in use but the pit is still there. Also, there is a rail track somewhere in the bush next to the garden. Not close at all but, I thought it's worth mentioning.