Advice on houses - to pull out or not

[iLikeToRockNotRoll]

Advice please from those with more experience in buying houses than us. We have been accepted on a detached 4 bed - this was in November last year. It’s got great potential but we will need to do an extension and put in new kitchen etc. We are at the survey stage, there are a few flags but nothing huge and out of the ordinary for a house it’s ages.

We have just seen that a semi-detached 4 bed house round the corner has gone on the market for exactly the same price as the house we are buying. It’s beautiful, all done up and has had the extension with a new kitchen and a new bedroom (the 4th one) and benefits from a bigger garden. We haven’t viewed yet but plan to.

Should we jump from the house we are buying for the other one or use it as an opportunity to renegotiate the price (prices have fallen loads in recent months)? It will cost a couple of £100k to extend the house we are buying and get the new fittings, and it all looks like the only real big pro of the one we are buying now seems to be that it is detached rather than semi. The mortgage valuation also came in tens of thousands under the asking price too (but we were told by our mortgage broker that the valuation was done by algorithms so it’s not actually being undervalued).

What would you do? We don’t want to cause heartache and distress to the vendors of the house we are buying but we are also worried about paying significantly over market odds…

This is tricky. Is there a difference is square footage? Is the garden on the detached house bigger? Rather than comparing do you think you are paying too much for the detached against prices for other detached houses. Where I live it probably adds at least £100k to the value if not more. I would be more concerned regarding the valuation. Do you think the survey is more a correct valuation then the asking price or your offer?

You have to forget about upsetting the vendors. It's hard, but you cannot spend hundreds of thousands on a house to avoid upsetting people you will likely never see again.

It sucks for your vendors, but here you have to treat it like a business transaction.
View the other house, if it's your preference then you are perfectly within your rights to offer on it/ withdraw your current offer.
However, be careful you don't get screwed over yourself (e.g. you pull out of current purchase and then the other offer isn't accepted or falls through).
Don't underestimate the value of being detatched though. Especially if you've got kids! It's one less stress not having to worry about them disturbing the neighbours when they're crying/ bickering/ thumping up and down the stairs/ shouting at you from the other end of the house/ playing Taylor Swift at top volume

Surely your house is comparatively more expensive because it's detached though.

It does sound like the house on which you are sale agreed is over valued if a similar or even better house is coming up at the same price with all the work already done. I would 100% be moving my interest to the newly for sale house.
Do not underestimate the hassle, stress and cost of renovations. This is a financial transaction. The only heartache and distress you should be concerned about is your own. It's your money, do what you want with it.

Sounds like a no brainer on the semi-detached, IF it ticks all the boxes after viewing.

Detached
Every time

I prefer a detached. But if you like semis... extension costs have gone up massively recently and can be stressful. I'd try to view the house and if you still like it, make an offer and see how it goes.

I would quickly book a viewing. They rarely look as good as the pictures when you're standing in them, and it might just put your mind at rest about the detached one. If you do prefer it, and they haven't used a fish eye lense to make the garden look 3 times its actual size, then you can withdraw your offer from the detached one. All's fair in love and house buying.

Detached properties always attract a premium. Having lived in detached homes for 20+ years, I wouldn’t even consider a property that wasn’t detached.

Once you have done the extension and made improvements the property will increase in value, far more than a semi.

My advice would be think carefully whether you want the inconvenience & expense of the works, is this what’s putting you off? Was the surveyors valuation OK?

Good luck with making a decision OP, do what’s right for you & your family, you aren’t under any obligation to purchase upto exchange.

There is definitely a premium on detached houses over semi-detached, so depending on what percentage 100k is, it could be entirely fair.

Also, sometimes houses go over asking price, especially if they are attractive and rare. Recent transactions with which I am familiar have gone through at premiums over asking price of 6-8%. Granted, that can change with different market conditions, but I think the key questions are this: 1)Do you love the house that you have already agreed to purchase? 2)Can you afford to buy it and do the needed work? 3) Do you plan to live there for several years If the answer to all three questions is "yes," then allowing yourself to proceed, putting aside any regrets, and focussing on the renovation works, may be your best option.

It would be a shame for the vendors, BUT, you can't spend several hundred thousand pounds to not upset them.

I loved adding extensions & completely renovating houses, but tradespeople have become impossible to pin down here & materials gave become incredibly expensive & hard to get, so I'm avoiding extensions just now.

detached/semi detached needs to be thought about carefully & a premium paid for detached.

think about what's best for your family, then do that.

detached has no premium for me. Growing up in inner London there really aren't many & terraces in the right areas are expensive enough.

Avoiding building work in this climate is very attractive plus the market has changed since Nov.

I'd prefer a detached to be honest. How long would you see yourselves staying in each one?

We don’t want to cause heartache and distress to the vendors of the house we are buying but we are also worried about paying significantly over market odds…
It's business!
You're asking if you should pay over the odds so as not to upset the person who is trying to make a profit out of you, come on!

I'd be paying more for detached, no question. Having had bad neighbours I wouldn't risk it again.

If your choice is a renovated semi or a detached that needs work, definitely detached.

Its harsh but the vendors wellbeing is not your problem. Its the biggest thing you buy, you have to live in it, for a long time. The decision has to be right for you, no one else.

I would go for the semi, but I hate DIY and having building work done and don't really care about it being attached. Every house I've lived in has been a fixer upper, and its never completed until we sell it, and I'm sick of it.

if you like doing up old property and have the money and energy, and want a detached then go for the first one.

Detached detached detached.

What’s the value of the detached with the work done?

Like PP detached every time. How long are you planning to stay in new place?

No one ever says that they wish they hadn’t brought a detached house EVER!

I would probably prefer the semi if it meant avoiding spending £100k and living in a building site! But then we are really lucky with our neighbours so I don't value a detached the same as someone who has put up with noisy neighbours for years. Definitely view the semi and then weigh them up

And I would choose detached every time. I’ve lived in semi’s next to noisy neighbours. It was hell.

How do you know the semi will go for the prices they are asking? It could go for substantially more

Then you will have lost the house you're buying and not buy the one you now have your eye on (unless you go up to the higher price in any bidding war - if there is one of course)

All the people anti detached because of bad neighbours are the gardens still not attached?

anti not detached