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Original poster

Home search woes - anyone else struggling?

19 replies

Skylucy · 15/04/2019 15:23

Argh. I'm looking for solidarity! We live in a lovely suburban commuter town. Been here 7 years, and sold our little cottage within a week. We have a great budget. But we cannot, cannot, find somewhere to buy!! We need a 4-bed family home with a garden and parking. We prefer period homes. Everything vaguely nice has either been snapped up before we even got a chance to view, or has gone for waaaay above the asking price. We don't want to leave the area because my family are just down the road, it's a good commute for DH, and I've found a nice network of activities and friends for me and our toddler and baby. To be frank, there's bugger all available, and anything nice commands a speedy sale at an obscene price. I'm tearing my hair out!! And am beginning to despise the town we've always loved! Anyone else having a house purchase mare??

OP posts:
JacksonvilleJaguars · 15/04/2019 15:55

Yep! Been searching for a long time now and whole heartedly sick of it.
Tough to know what to do sometimes. I'm in the SE, the market sucks at the moment. Either very expensive or vastly overpriced, or the stuff simply not suitable for us. No middle ground houses seem to come on at all, or if they do they are snapped up pretty sharpish

Glitteryfrog · 15/04/2019 16:35

Have you viewed everything... even the stuff you're not that keen on from the photos?
I'd discounted the house we're buying as it had dodgy photos which didn't sell the place.
We were viewing a different house and the estate agent offered us a look at this house and we loved it.

Bluntness100 · 15/04/2019 16:37

Why don't you tell us th budget and location and folks can have a look for you?

Original poster
Skylucy · 15/04/2019 17:12

Yep @jacksonvillejaguars, that's absolutely our experience. I'm pretty sure we've looked at everything @glitteryfrog! Highlights from Saturday's viewings include a house where a poor woman was lying very, very ill in the dining room (but still welcomed us in. We've never felt more awkward or intrusive!!), and a house that was totally uninhabitable (aka, "an opportunity"). We have a 5-month old, a 2 year-old and no childcare. We're really not looking for full-on development projects!

At this stage, I'm happy to be honest @bluntness1000 - budget is max £950k, area is Berkhamsted.

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NewYearNewSocks · 15/04/2019 20:20

Says it has a courtyard garden at least. Front could maybe be converted to parking?

NewYearNewSocks · 15/04/2019 20:21

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-80596964.html

Would be very easy to put more original features back in to this

Glitteryfrog · 15/04/2019 20:39

budget is max £950k, area is Berkhamsted.

whispers Have you looked at Leighton Buzzard? I know someone who gave up on the Berko housing market and moved to LB.

Bluntness100 · 15/04/2019 21:43

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-61422789.html

What about going a couple of miles outside? And looking slightly over budget, you could likely get it for your budget.

eurochick · 15/04/2019 22:20

We've given up. We "sold" our place in a few days last summer, but couldn't find anything to buy. Eventually the chain collapsed. We've viewed everything in our price range in the area. There's very little of it and the stuff that is hanging around on the market is all odd in some way.

lboogy · 16/04/2019 02:59

Eurochick, what happens when the chain collapses because you can't find anything? Did you have to pay agent fees etc?

Original poster
Skylucy · 16/04/2019 08:34

Ah amazing, thanks everyone.

@Newyearnewsocks - the Station Road property has an absolutely minuscule patch of stones for a 'garden', and you can't change the front into parking because the council won't agree to dropped kerbs (and there's actually a basement level currently used as an annexe). We viewed the Shrublands house - it's quite small and would take a lot of work to change the newly-added 'exec finish', and replace the astroturf. Plus, that road is absolutely chocka with new buildings, like the slightly strange garage/studio at the end of this one. It's all very overlooked and a bit manic (and up a bloody great hill!)

Thanks @Bluntness100 - I spotted the Studham one, it could be interesting. Commute might be tricky - parking is impossible at Tring station, and difficult in Berko (and we'd need a second car!) Don't know anything about Orchard Leigh, could investigate. I was interested in that Bourne End house, but it will back onto an absolutely huge (1100 houses) development that's due imminently.

@Glitteryfrog - no, not tried Leighton Buzzard. I don't know it at all, but it might be worth a peek!

Oh @Eurochick, I feel for you. You've summed up our experience totally.

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NewYearNewSocks · 16/04/2019 09:52

Ah fair enough. Agents can be so misleading sometimes. Up here in the North East almost every property has been modernised but most started out as miners terraces (extremely large) and we have just sold ours to buy a better one in a slightly nicer area but still rural and which has had all the period features and extra restored.

Our buyers also wanted period features and offered the day after we listed. I do wish developers would stop going in and modernising every single property!

Gonegrey31 · 16/04/2019 13:27

SkyLucy
Try Cheddington or one of the other lovely villages one stop further out from Tring. Mentmore has a couple of period houses for sale, and is a short drive to the station, no parking or getting a seat issues. My sister has happily raised a family there, and I’ve always thought what a great area it is .

eurochick · 16/04/2019 14:39

Iboogy not in our case. It depends on the terms of your agreement with your estate agents.

Original poster
Skylucy · 16/04/2019 21:21

Yes @NewYearNewSocks - if I see one more "executive finish" I'll scream. It really isn't everyone's style, and it would be criminally wasteful to rip out!

Thanks @GoneGrey31, good to have an endorsement of a nearby area.

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NewYearNewSocks · 16/04/2019 21:39

@skylucy tell me about it. We considered one for all of 5 minutes until we realised that once we were in with it there was no chance we could consider scrapping however much of new modern kitchen and to start tearing into plasterboard walls in search of original fireplaces and coving.

We just wouldn’t have had the money left over from our sale to consider doing a full restoration. It’s so frustrating when you see a lovely period house exterior and it’s an open plan high gloss nightmare inside with grey carpets and handleless doors Grin

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