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Original poster

Dream house on unsightly street, would you buy it?

43 replies

TuttleTree · 28/09/2023 21:02

There is a house we have found in an area that we LOVE that is perfect for us. DREAM HOME with a super sized south facing garden. Bit of work needed to tidy inside but nothing major that scares us. The area is safe and family friendly.

The area is full of gorgeous period properties and lovely uniform streets... massive curb appeal everywhere you look. However this house is on a less attractive street, full of lots of odd houses - some modernised, some more dated with minimal upkeep, a couple of period properties dotted up and down but look a bit out of place. It has been on the market for some time and we think the look and feel of the road could be the reason that the house has not sold but can't be sure....

Our worry is that we might have trouble selling it in future if it's been so difficult to shift now and there is nothing you can really do about the road that it's on. Also, as much as it is our dream home, I don't think we'd pictured living on a road like that when we settled on the area. What would you do? Would you buy it?

OP posts:

purpleme12 · 29/09/2023 09:19

Well yes I would but then again things like that don't bother me

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 29/09/2023 09:21

notacooldad · 29/09/2023 09:11

The saying goes, you don't buy best house on the worst street. You buy the worst house on the best street
That's not always wise advice.
Areas can change, a nice area can quickly become run down for a wide range of reasons, run down areas have become desirable places to live.
There's always change.

They’ve never changed round me in the 28 years I’ve lived here. They never changed around the area in Manchester l lived in the preceding 7 years.

Bad areas can sometimes ( sometimes) become good. Good areas never change

rhino12345 · 29/09/2023 09:22

The rule for things like this is buy the worst house on the best street and turn it into the best house

notacooldad · 29/09/2023 09:25

Can you link to the house,OP?
Terrible idea
What you want your place picked apart on a public forum and critised?
I know the place is, in theory in the public domain by being up for sale but the owners wouldn't expect it to be shredded on a site like this as is likely to happen*
Sure they maybe not on mn but one if their friends and family may recognise it.

And
The saying goes, you don't buy best house on the worst street. You buy the worst house on the best street
That's not always wise advice.
Areas can change, a nice area can quickly become run down for a wide range of reasons, run down areas have become desirable places to live.
There's always change.
Oops, sorry my mistake!!
I have been jumping threads and thought I was posting on a different one.
This house is really lovely!

Paddingtonthebear · 29/09/2023 09:25

Ours isn’t the most attractive street but it’s in a good postcode area , close to shops and catchment for two great schools. Houses will always sell here even though they are tiny terraced homes.

notacooldad · 29/09/2023 09:38

Bad areas can sometimes ( sometimes) become good. Good areas never change
I'm going to strongly disagree with you here.
My whole area has really changed since 1996.
It used to be really well liked with a great community. Houses hardly went up for sale.
Now most of them are multi occupancy, the pubs shut, the pubs were like community centres with trips for the elderly being arranged, social evenings, the place to go for for wakes or Christening celebrations, the post office long gone shops are boarded up and the house prices are lower than the rest of the town when they used to be slightly higher.

Often when a major employer shuts down, so does the area.,

Other areas of my town was like a ghost town in the 80s and no one would go near it unless they had no other choice.
It has had so much regen money pumped into over the decades, people bought their social housing for profit and moved on years ago. It is now an area that the locals can't afford to live in.

barbarahunter · 29/09/2023 09:43

In my opinion, unless you're stupidly rich there are always compromises with where you live. With the information you've provided OP, my inclination would be to buy the house while you can still afford it. When prices begin to rise again you may kick yourself if you let it go and it becomes out of your price range.

SallyWD · 29/09/2023 10:07

I think it really depends on how much you dislike the street. We also saw a dream house on a street we didn't want to live on. Amazing house full of the most beautiful furniture. It was an old man moving in to a retirement flat and he was going to give us his furniture for free! Anyway, we couldn't get past the street really. It has a lot of traffic and a lot of students. We made the right choice but I still dream of that house!
Forget about the house and decide how much the street is a issue for you

Bathbubbly · 29/09/2023 12:29

If it's a concern it's not as 'smart' as other streets I think that comes down to how much you like the property and general location, availability of properties in that area and being realistic what your budget gets you. We were desperate to be on a particular estate where very few properties come up so knew we would have to grab whatever came on the market and it was pot luck what it was.

Only you know how much of a deal breaker it is. The 'prestige' of the street and property is a valid concern to you, despite what others may do, after all it's you who has to live there and pay the mortgage for years to come! And looking out the window and coming home to a tidy, smart street is uplifting.

If your query is more wondering how much it may put future buyers off then it's something you need to weigh up against all the other factors and compromises you have to make when buying a house, and as you can see from replies here, some people would be bothered and others wouldn't. If it's a long term house that ticks all the boxes otherwise then maybe don't sweat it, but if you expect to move on in a couple of years then you need to think about the value and whether you make a lower offer.

Laurelin · 29/09/2023 13:58

It sounds like you could be looking at the house next door to mine! It's been up for sale for quite a while now.

Our road is very hilly and really needs to be resurfaced, and every house is a different style. It does look a bit strange. My house is one of the nicest ones on the road, and although the road could look nicer it doesn't really bother me as I don't spend much time looking at it. We've planted trees out front that will eventually obscure the view of the road and houses across the street (and will make the whole road look nicer) and put a lot of effort into making the front garden look nice. The area seems to be improving gradually anyway, as the older residents are passing away and the houses come up for sale and the new owners update them. If you really like the house and don't plan on moving any time soon, don't let the look of the road put you off.

RidingMyBike · 29/09/2023 14:21

Is it just that the houses are mismatched and look a bit odd or does it look problematic - nightmare parking, graffiti, broken glass, evidence of dog dirt, drug dealing type stuff? Poorly maintained houses? Is it well lit for walking home at night?

Depends on the layout of your house but people mostly are inside their house looking at something inside (book, TV, food, hobby) or out at their garden. I doubt most people spend ages looking at the external front of their house or the street. So it doesn't really matter what it looks like.

TheNinthLock · 29/09/2023 15:45

Dontjudgeme101 · 29/09/2023 08:49

Op, please don’t do this. It’s not fair on the current owners.

Show quote history

Fair 😊. Was just wondering if street was really that bad? Sometimes an eclectic mix is nicer than a street of identical properties.

Kedece2410 · 29/09/2023 15:53

No council houses or anything like that

God perish the thought there might be council houses 🙄

Lots of council houses are well maintained & look lovely. Lots of privately owned houses look a disgrace

maddiemookins16mum · 29/09/2023 16:31

Our street (well cul de sac) is a bit like you describe. At least 5 of the 11 houses could do with some ‘attention’. The reality is that 2 of them have elderly owners who can’t manage or afford to do work. the other is a complicated probate one, and sitting empty at present (garden is a tip) The other two are rental properties where the Landlord gives no fecks about how his two houses look (semi detatched) and have the old brown windows and dated front doors and untidy gardens - one has a skip on the drive, it’s been there 9 months. It could be really lovely area but the ‘scruffyness’ of our close is the first thing I notice every time I pull into the road. The neighbouring roads are pristine.

BlueMongoose · 30/09/2023 13:40

If some of the street is uncared for, or it feels dangerous or anything like that, that may be a problem. If it's just that they aren't all 'little boxes all the same', personally I wouldn't let that put me off. As Whisteltunelessy says, one of the most sought after streets hereabouts has very mixed housing, from small old stone terraced through inter-war semis to large and completely unmatched detacheds, all built in bits and scraps, some by individual plot, from about 1890 to about the 2000s.

BlueMongoose · 30/09/2023 13:46

maddiemookins16mum · 29/09/2023 16:31

That can change fairly fast. On an estate where family of mine lives, one with a very low turnover, a lot of houses have been newly extended in the last decade or so as young families have moved in where the original buyers from the 1960s, many of whom never moved out, have died or moved into sheltered housing. A few are still owned by elderly people who have stayed. In the course of nature, they will eventually leave. And where I live, about 3/4 of the houses on my bit of my street have come up for sale, or are likely to do so, in the next few years, for the same reasons, with people moving to be closer to kids, or to where they get more living support. Most of them haven't had a makeover for many decades, as the owners are happy with them as they are. So I forsee a lot of building work....

SuddenlyOld · 30/09/2023 19:02

If it's your dream home would you resell it?
Can't be that difficult to sell if you're considering buying it
Things change

Location is important but so long as the surrounding area is right then that might be enough

For me our 'dream house' would include the street and surrounding area, not just the house itself. We are hoping to exchange soon on a dream home. Not 'the' dream home as that would be a detached cottage at the seaside with the beach on our doorstep and way outside our price range, but when we viewed it the important things were garden size, parking, the street, area, distance from busy roads, inside space.

Pamcakey · 30/09/2023 19:08

Meh, I live opposite a skip site.
My house was also on the market for ages which was lucky for us.

I barely notice the skip site and I absolutely adore my house. I don’t plan on selling it ever or at least not for 40 years so I don’t care.

As long as it’s not a ‘bad’ area I.e high crime, I wouldn’t be bothered if it was the perfect house for me.

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