Buy my NDN's cupboard thread? Could be a diagram in it if people respond.....

[questionsandquestions]

Big old Victorian house divided into 3 smaller terraced houses. Older NDN selling. Have been desperate to put en suite to master bedroom in walk in cupboard, but cupboard not big enough/weird long thin shape. Cupboard was a box room, divided down the middle when old big house originally divided, 60 years ago. Even has a window divided in half. Wondering if we can ask old lady neighbor (not living there any more) if we could buy half of her half of the cupboard. Would this get us into flying overhangs and stuff like that? Anyone ever heard of anyone buying a bit of house? I've read reams and reams about buying a bit of someone's garden, how you can do it, how to price it, all sorts of helpful stuff but zero about buying a bit of a house like a cupboard. It's a long thin cupboard and we'd only need half of it, the half with the window in it. Would happily pay her (and solicitor/surveyor) decent price but DH thinks she (or her agent) would say no in case it impacted sale of her house. If this thread gets replies I could do a diagram and post it (you know how we all love a diagram, ok it's not a parking thread but a buy-my-neighbour's cupboard thread).

Nobody would let you do that!

Sounds like a flying freehold. What room is under the cupboard and in whose house is it?

We need a diagram.

Yup disgram needed!

Diagram! Diagram! Diagram!

Ooh yes a diagram please so we can get our heads round what you're proposing!

Ok, I'm doing a diagram. All please remember it's POETS day and I might have had a cool one, or two already.

We already have a flying freehold in that part of her stairs is over our hallway.

Her half of the cupboard, that we want to buy, is over her kitchen and our half is over our living room. But cos it's all so blinking old, the lines and walls are a bit wonky so the end of part of the cupboard, her side, is a bit over our drawing room. We're all luckily relaxed about this stuff although her buyer (it's not not on the market yet...) may not be (or their mortgage company).

These houses take forever to sell, all three have been on the market 2+ years in the past. We're oop north. Right off to draw now. Back soon with diagram!

Ha ha ha drawing room = living room.
Me => drawing board.

I love a diagram.....

Who decides whether to open the window btw?

my parents live in an old divided house, split in the 60s when fewer people seemed to worry about unusual arrangements. Then lawyers get involved.

I would definitely ask - could you buy any more of her property to even bits out?

If she goes for it she would probably need the new wall up, plastered and decorated on her side before buyers see it.

I've hand drawn it and even my kids can't understand my drawing/the key. I'm having a go in powerpoint. In for a penny....

throw caution to the wind, buy ALLLLL the cupboard!

Or all the house!

Can you buy the whole house?
Then open it all back up and make it magnificent.

Diagram! Sorry it took so long. Quick read of Keynote for Dummies, two packs of Pringles, half a bottle of wine, down the hall way to pee in my non-ensuite and here's the pic.

Thanks for the encouragement folk! DH thinks EA will kick up over it and encourage old lady to say no (detract a bit from value of house, less commission). We'd offer surveyor/legal fees, put wall back up nicely, decorate, even add shelving to make her new cupboard without half a window and less depth more attractive, and pay for an indemnity if it caused issue for a buyer's mortgage company that there'd be a flying freehold... oh dear, when I put it like that.... But OH I do hate the walk down the corridor and down three steps to the loo in the middle of the night.

You don't lose anything by making an offer. What's the decent price you've got in mind? It'd need to be quite juicy (on top of the indemnity/legal fees/building work because none of those things are of advantage to her) to make it even worth her while considering, I suspect.

The other thing that might be possible is to hold your offer on file, and inform prospective buyers. Unlikely, but it might be that someone can't quite stretch to the price of the house, except with that bit being sold separately to you, or something.

ooh good idea!
So her house will go on for 400,000 and we were thinking of offering 10-12,500 (and assume about 2,500-5,000 for legal costs/new wall and decoration on top of that).. I should add that the window has nice view as do all of houses on that side, but it's small so right now, neither side can see much of anything. Somewhere I read we should offer 50% of the projected increased value to our house. I think an ensuite might add about 15-20 to our house. It's hard to gauge. I also thought maybe we should tell her what we'd like to do and ask her what she would like for it if she would be prepared to sell it?

That would be a flying freehold, hated by buyers and mortgage companies alike
. Don't do it. Who will own the foundations, who will reinstate the property if damaged by fire, subsidence? You may even have issues getting insurance. It really isn't worth it for the shit it could cause. I doubt her solicitor would advise it anyway.

Add surveyors fees. Your mortgage company will need to give consent too I would have thought.