Need advice on this our first house search!

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Hi all, we are searching for our first home and we are a novice to property things! We like this house amongst all the ones we have seen so far, we are new to this area as well! So would be great to have advice from anyone who is from this area or around. What are your thoughts on the price? Please share your thoughts
www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/56505302

I'm not sure what you're expecting people to say. Unless you know the area well, it's hard for random strangers on the internet to give you any advice on whether it's worth that price. Look at what other similar houses have gone for in the last six months.

There’s a couple of threads about this property on mse forum called “ Should I be concerned if there are no sale history in a postcode?” and “ How much would you offer?” Might help you?

You need to do research on the area, sold prices and decide what you want in a property. No one on the Internet can tell you whether the house is suitable for you or not.

Looks like it has been done up recently although why theyve put carpet in the shower room i dont know - thats a big NO these days!

You need to check on rightmove for sold prices in that area to see how it compares to others.

I dont particularly like the shiny tiled floors - a death trap when wet i imagine!

You just need to look at as many houses as you can both online and in person and you will start to get a feel for areas and the type of house you want.

Good luck.

Wow, that is very shiny. And grey. Not a combination that appeals to me in any way but it has lots of potential. Nice space, just needs completely redecorating. You need to factor in how much you would like to do how quickly and whether that still makes anywhere affordable.

@MrsJamin

I'm not sure what you're expecting people to say. Unless you know the area well, it's hard for random strangers on the internet to give you any advice on whether it's worth that price. Look at what other similar houses have gone for in the last six months.

Hence why OP is asking if there's anybody who lives in the area.

Plenty of people post on here asking if they've priced their house correctly etc, and get lots of opinions. Not sure there's much difference in OP asking for advice, especially as they're a first time buyer.

I'm not familiar with the area OP, but looks like a nicely presented, spacious, solid property.

I used the council's website to get general ideas of different areas we were looking at. Many have maps that can tell you things like historical flooding, planning permission, catchments, air quality & or even things like community centres & doctors that can affect price. This article has a good rundown of things to consider.

For specific houses, I used www.streetcheck.co.uk/, quicksold.co.uk/, & checkmypostcode.uk/. These were helpful when considering areas & pricing, alongside the Land Registry. I waited until I'd arrange a viewing when I'd get the complete postcode (particularly after 3-4 where we'd call up to be told it's under offers & no more viewings were happening) but these can be searched for by street name sometimes.

Kirsty & Phil say this is the sort of house you shouldn’t buy because you’re paying a premium for the showhome feel that you could do yourself if you bought cheaper and did yourself...you’d then make that profit for yourself (assuming a profit is gained)

I always ask myself:
Which way is the garden facing - does the garden get the sun at the right time of day for you?
Where will you hang wet washing?
What’s the traffic like at EVERY hour of the day...7am, 11am, 3-4pm, 6pm, 9pm.
Closest supermarket and corner shop?
Close to vets if needed?
School catchment good if needed?
Space to hang coats and put dirty shoes when entering the front door?
And most important of all...space for Christmas tree?

Not everyone want to do work to a house , hence why people buy houses already done, or new builds.

that's a lot of house for London money which makes me wonder where the 'but' is.

all very shiny and new but some real design disasters, especially in the bathroom.

map says near the M25 although at least the garden faces the other way. On a presumably busy road too. And expanding the map shows Heathrow very close....

I know the area, it's a reasonable price given proximity to London but I would take the time to really check you are happy with the area if you don't know it well. Uxbridge and surrounding villages/towns are in my view nicer than Cowley and West Drayton but you would only get a 3 bed in the same price region in those areas. It depends on what you are looking for and what you need.

No idea about the house. But I love that picu of the horse and the cows!

I wish my first house looked like that . Looks like a nice place .

Thanks to everyone for your valuable responses! We don't like the greyish theme of the house which we would anyway paint if we make this our home so that won't be a major problem and probably applies to any house. Bathroom, I agree with you all, we don't like the carpet in the bathroom and its a no no for us as well. We will need to redo the bathroom as we don't like shower cubicle plus the carpet, I guess it would cost another 5000 for a wetroom.

Our major concerns were that it is on a slip road of the main road, there is a subway in front of the house to cross the road and a fish & chips next door but there is a road in between, its a mile away from the station. We have no problems with the house itself, it ticks many boxes for us! Our concerns are outside of the house and the cost itself, for some reason I am not able to perceive this as our forever house but maybe 5 years for now. This may well become our house forever but for now, I am not able to see beyond 5 years.

If for whatever reasons we want to make a move, will the property hold its value for the above-mentioned concerns. We found a property in the street behind with 5 bed, newly refurbished by builder sold for 505k, bigger than this in sq feet. So we feel that its priced high for this area and this would become the expensive house sold in that area for a long time.

I believe that the vendor hasn't found a place where they can move, would you offer a vendor who hasn't found a place to move and its chain being a first-time buyer?

@Blackletterofthelaw

I know the area, it's a reasonable price given proximity to London but I would take the time to really check you are happy with the area if you don't know it well. Uxbridge and surrounding villages/towns are in my view nicer than Cowley and West Drayton but you would only get a 3 bed in the same price region in those areas. It depends on what you are looking for and what you need.

Thanks, we are looking at the other areas of Uxbridge as well and like the villages around but we want something at a mile radius to the station since my wife relies on public transport. May I ask how much you may offer if you were in my position.

It depends on how much you like the house, the area, your position, how long the property has been on the market, the sellers position. If you like it, I'd start with an offer around £530-535k, like others have said check Rightmove for sold prices for properties nearby and negotiate from there. Good luck

I would assume a person who likes this finish would price at the top end of the market.

With a house so close to an A road, you wouldn’t be able to have a cat.

Also, the road could be bumper to bumper at times. Think if you would mind that. It might be hard to sell in 5 years time.

Try looking at Amersham and Chesham

I used to live in Ruislip. Cowley wasn’t the nicest of areas to put it politely. But you do get more for your money. Do you work locally or need to commute? The Cowley road used to be horrendous for traffic and it’s nowhere near the tube. Really polluted and noisy too. The house looks big, do you need that much room? If you don’t I’d suggest looking at nicer areas but smaller houses as they will be more expensive.

I'd worry about the pollution living that close to traffic.

It looks to be on a main toad which is far busier than the one we live on, and I hate it, so I'd discount it alone for that reason. The finish has to be of that standard because of the location, and the price is quite high even so.

It's a lovely house but unless you need that much space I would keep looking. You are paying a premium for a finish that you are planning on changing 🤷‍♀️
Cowley Road is really busy & i don't know the exact location that well but I don't think it's the nicest not the worst either though
Which trainline are you trying to be within 1 mile of?

I wouldn't buy a house so close to a busy main road or next door to a chip shop (smells) so your potential market for resale is smaller than a house in a better location. Have you visited the house at multiple times of day?

@MrsJamin

I'd worry about the pollution living that close to traffic.

We don't need to live in this area but we wanted to live close to the cross rail path or Met line so the commute into London becomes easier and somewhere that we can afford within our budget. We live in a flat and not much space, this lockdown and wfh have increased the appetite for bigger space. What other areas would you suggest? we are looking at the ruislip, harrow area as well but I guess our money won't fetch much there