Would you buy this house?

[Usernamesthis]

I am not a stylist person by any means, we are house hunting and I love this house. The location is perfect for us . DH would prefer a project and somewhere with more character. I love the fact we can just move in and it's chain free.

What do you think?This house

Sorry OP I got comfused with the links that were posted. It's the Hambro Gardens house that's in the street party road. The neighbours there are all really friendly. It's also a nice quiet part of the Marine Estate traffic wise as it's not a cut through road. There is an hour long parking restriction on that road which is a pain unless you have a spare parking space on the drive for visitors.

People sneering about the area of the Chalkwell/Westcliff House - it's a lovely place to live. Lovely walks, good schools and fairly close to shops so you don't have to rely on your car. Chalkwell park is lovely in the summer. The beach is great in the summer and doesn't get as busy as Southend beaches. We always pick either Chalkwell beach or Thorpe Bay if we want to avoid the crowds in the summer. Leigh beach gets too busy on summer weekends as it's so small but it's lovely during the week when it's quieter.

The man slashing his own throat mentioned earlier was suffering a mental health crises and had discharged himself from hospital after a previous attempt I believe - could happen anywhere given the state of mental health provision in this country.

Gardens do tent to be small around here - you need to look at Warren Rd or Woodlands park if a big garden is a priority. The compromise then is that you need to drive to get anywhere as it's quite out of the way. The houses are gorgeous though and right next to the woods too.

We are in Leigh but wouldn't hesitate to buy a house in Chalkwell if the right one ( and the money) was available. It would have to have an actual sea view for us the make the move though. We await our lottery win!

Lockdown really brought home to us how very lucky we are to live by the sea.

I would say a large number of people don't WFH and/or they have family ties. I work remotely now, but DH is a S/E gardener, so can't move too far from his customer base (has one main customer that accounts for about 50% of his income). We looked to move last year and one of the main issues was we couldn't move too far from his work or his mum, who is on her own and needs support.

@dollybird Oh I agree - its not always possible. We moved back north to be closer to family so I completely understand that. I think work is more flexible now than it was but appreciate that doesnt mean everyone is wfh all the time.

With regard to the house linked to in the op - I like it but if I had that amount of cash I probably wouldnt buy in the SE if I didnt have to.

It's a beautiful house OP, I love the light and space. I don't really get why Mumsnet is so in love with old properties and I say that as someone currently buying a big 1950's property at the moment. I'd love a new build but it's just not possible to get one with a huge garden and city location where I live so I'm compromising.

Too modern for me and I'd want a nicer view and a much bigger garden.

We are still in the South, but more in the middle. Even here, you can get a lot more for that sort of money.

I love it !! Wish I could afford, if you can then a big yes x

This is what you get for this price in this area - it’s more than many areas of the SE.

But people have linked to cheaper houses in the same area 🤷🏻‍♀️

That shows your naivety. Interior decoration on MN = teal paint and feature wallpaper from DIY.com.

That might be your style (mine is very different) but each to their own! I just think you need character features to add character as opposed to a bit of posh paint & antiques. 😆

It’s a common mistake so that’s ok.

The cheaper houses are smaller, need a lot of work, and are not turnkey, that’s the point.

The cheaper houses are smaller, need a lot of work, and are not turnkey, that’s the point

Yes it’s definitely turnkey which is why it’s not very economical to pay the top price for turnkey that you are then going to repaint entirely & add in features. That’s my point.

Looks good to me, you can gradually decorate to your taste and plant up the garden. Don't know about prices in that area though, it seems a lot but if you can afford it why not

She seems happy with it as it is.

It’s not economic to buy a doer upper and spend a shit ton on lengthy building work at current prices.

If you look at historical sold prices for similar houses (when borrowing rates were at zero) you will see that this asking price is just laughable in the present climate.