Riddle me this...

[WednesdayWhen]

Hi all, hoping you can help :)
Have put in an offer on a house
it's a weird one - unusual layout, quite dark bedrooms, one is up in attic.
North facing courtyard garden and....massive allotment style tree lined lawn down a long path, away from the house.

It's a 'wild card' but appeals to me...is in rural area but a terraced conversion.
SO - here's the mystery. I knew it had been on market for over a year. at 425,000
My offer met 400,000.
BUT - have just seen it was listed on an archived file from 2017!
feeling panicked - do I assume it's been languishing on market for all that time, circa 4 years....and it's basically a very unappealing, unsellable house which is a gamble too far?

OR could it be that it was listed in 2017, then taken down, or off the market, etc and there's no real cause for worry. Clearly a massive price difference as was listed in 2017 at 485,000
I can't ask agents as it was listed with a different one back in 2017.

My two biggest bug bears - am I buying an unsellable house, that no-one else will want in future, clearly
Or is the price the reason it wasn't selling all the years (?)
it's a 4 bed. spacious but really quite weird. Kitchen on first floor, bedrooms next to courtyard. Oh god I'll ever ever sell it if I need to, will I...
What would your views be?
Thanks all really grateful to have this forum for support. xxxxx

Can you link to the listing?

Definitely need a link to comment

it only takes one buyer to want a house, but that one does sound pretty hard to match up....not typical
No one likes north facing, no one likes an upstairs kitchen, no one likes to walk miles to the garden

I'd like a link too!

media.onthemarket.com/properties/4085330/884237756/document-0.pdf

Electric heating will be expensive.

It looks lovely.
What did you feel when you visited? I always know if a house is for me or not when I see it.
Talk to neighbours? Get some local knowledge about its recent occupation history..

Whoever converted that is a prat.

The layout is rather unusual that may put people off.
Bedrooms and living area are the “reverse” of a more traditional layout.
Location of bathroom rather random - on a different floor to bedrooms 1-3 (which share one shower room) and bedroom 4 has no bath or shower room on the same level. You’d need to go down one level for a bath and down 2 levels for a shower!
To access the secret garden you have to go through neighbours’ gardens (plural).
This may also be off-putting for some.

that's got potential but some very big drawbacks...

...ime places like that can be very cliquey, dh fell in love with something similar and I could just see that one dodgy neighbour would make it hell on wheels

no idea why the attic has a sink and not an ensuite....that's queer

how close exactly is the pub...that could be a pita

central courtyard- what's the deal with parking/deliveries

"had been laid with oak flooring" ...is it now carpet? lino? underwater? shite EA talk?

all seems a bit Access All Areas to me, and you'd never be able to sit peacefully in the garden!

That's a very good price for a 4 bed house round here! If you like it, that's all that matters, subject to survey not throwing up any awful issues.

Link won't work for me but it sounds funky op!!

Isn’t 2017 when it was converted?

OR could it be that it was listed in 2017, then taken down, or off the market, etc and there's no real cause for worry

My parents have had their house on and off the market since 2018 ... So it's possible.

Thanks all
it is nice but very unusual.
Hoochy - I loved it when I saw it but did feel the bedrooms were dark.
It was the weirdness that appealed to me, but I didn't have me 'resale' proof hat on.

Bluntness - it was converted in the 80s. hence the kitchen...

Heck I wish I'd offered £350,000 / £375,000 given it had been on so long. terrifying business isn't it

I'm not sure many people would buy an upside down house (that's what they're called here when bedrooms below living space). Do you have plans to re sell soonish/within 5-10 years?

My take would be that house prices reached their height (before this current spate) 2015/2016. Brexit happened and some were still on at the highs when actually many were overpriced and the market wouldn’t wear it. This property could be one of them at its 2017 price.

Then add in its quirky traits that some price too high, whilst others shy from and down value.

I would guess it was taken off the market and then an alternative agent has priced it more realistically accepting its quirks and pricing it to sell.
My parents lived in Tenterden so I vaguely know the area. It’s very nice but that property will not appeal to all. It’s fine you like it’s quirky nature whilst others won’t.

At the end of the day as long as you like it and it doesn’t have major flaws that’s fine. But yes selling on in the future it may be one where you just have to wait for the right buyer again.

looks like its near a sewage plant www.google.com/maps/place/Cranbrook+TN17+4PS/@51.0374442,0.6400913,228m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x47df2224c45c9359:0x7d6b23e92edec1cb!8m2!3d51.0384705!4d0.6394783

4 min walk from it

The only other thing is I can see on Companies House there is a ltd company that manages the property. Firstly is this a leasehold house? Or is it the service charge for all communal areas like garages, gardens etc?

What is the service charge annually?

Personally, it doesn’t have enough windows or views out. No wonder you say it is dark. Velux are ok to add extra light but not the only light. I wouldn’t like the bathroom arrangements either. I would also wonder about the parking situation and lack of garage for storage, especially as there are only bedrooms on the ground floor. Not for me whatever the price. It looks pretty from the outside with all the plants, but from inside I would feel as if I was in a prison or maybe an inside cabin on a ferry. Sorry.

Sorry, just noticed it has a garage en block.

I think it’s a poorly thought out conversion too. All those windows in the roof look weird.

I love it!

Blooming heck this doesn’t look good does it

Thanks tinhat!