Another would you buy any of these properties thread

[AfterTheRainComesSun]

Forgetting the fact that these are under, offer, interested to hear people thoughts on these properties. They are all converted flats in a lovely area of South West London.

https://www.matthewjamesestateagents.co.uk/property/residential/for-sale/surbiton/avenue-south/MAJ32939042 I love the living room of this one but can't get over the fact that main door opens into the kitchen, am I the only one being bothered by that?

https://www.matthewjamesestateagents.co.uk/property/residential/for-sale/surrey/surbiton/st-philips-road/MAJ32546093
I think this one is stunning but lower ground floor apartments seem a risky option to me because of humidity, lack of light and potential issues with safety. Would it be silly to overlook a property similar to this because of the above factors I mentioned?

https://www.matthewjamesestateagents.co.uk/property/residential/for-sale/kingston-upon-thames/lingfield-avenue/MAJ32936676
I Like the light in this property but am I right thinking 119 years lease is a bad idea to consider?

https://www.matthewjamesestateagents.co.uk/property/residential/for-sale/surrey/surbiton/cadogan-road/MAJ32861623
More modest that the others but I see a lot of potential, especially for the price

I would buy any of those properties.

All your points as to why you don't want to buy these properties just seem like you don't want to live in a apartment but can't afford the type of property you actually would like.

@Clutterbugsmum Not at all, apartments is all we could afford to buy in this area and we have decided to compromise on property type as we value the lifestyle we have here. But it is also a lot of £££ for us and we are not very familiar with the UK housing market so want to make sure we wouldn't make silly mistakes.

They all appear to be under offer already?

Ah.. just RTT properly! Ignore me!

Yes.

They all look fine and the first one looks amazing.

@Octavia64 I also love the first one but never saw the front door opening into a kitchen so thought it was weird.

Would you buy a lower ground flat too, are these not a bit risky?

Flats carved out of houses are likely to have odd floor plans.

I would never buy a lower ground floor AKA basement flat. Rainfall is getting worse in the UK, the ground will be saturated more of the year and any dwelling even partly below ground level will be more at risk from surface water flooding and overwhelmed drains.

A lower ground floor flat is more liable to flooding.

I personally wouldn't rule out a whole category of flats on that basis. I'd want to look at the flat in question and see whether it has had an issues and whether I thought I could fix them.

I'm happy to do work on houses/flats though which some people are not.

@Octavia64 I wouldn’t mind a place that needs work but we won’t have much £££ left after the purchase so would prefer not to

I think they're all good. My sister lived in a basement flat that did have terrible damp problems though, more condensation through inadequate ventilation than rising damp, I think. Everything they owned ended up mildewed

@LindaPen thank you, it’s a big concern of mine. Would a ground floor flat be better you reckon or the same?

Also what is considered to be a short lease? 120 years seems very short to me

I love the lower ground floor one but even the garden looks damp.

No I wouldn’t personally as would be worried they would be damp.

That’s not a particularly short lease, it’s fine. You can Google lease length and it will tell you that a lease of this length will not be considered a problem and won’t affect price.

Flat 3 is the nicest one imo

I wouldn’t buy a kitchen entrance because I am messy and like to ignore it until the next day!

Ground floor and basement flats are a much worse security risk, this will be reflected in your insurance payments . You should probably have a grille over windows in both instances, which is a bit prison- like IMHO.

A garage is a lovely thing!

i'd be reviewing window placement for ventilation, how many in the building (one looked like it could be as many as 3 flats), and noise issues.

top floor less noise but heat rises and could be warmer in the summer months.
the modern top floor conversion might get super hot in the summer and might need air con to make it tolerable as i'm not sure how much of a breeze the skylights would catch.

I used to live in Surbiton. Choose quickly or don't bother.
They will be snapped up so very quickly.

the first or the second have more square footage than the 3rd and 4th.
the first has the best garage access.
so investment wise NOT knowing the area i'd say the first.

@Allthegoodnamesarechosen I also wonder about security but how is it different from a house?

@Twiglets1 I know under 90 years you can’t get a mortgage so if we were to buy a 120 yrs place and resell in 10-15 yrs wouldn’t it be tisky as less people might be interested on it?

You can extend the lease yourself @AfterTheRainComesSun for a small charge with that much left on it

@Twiglets1 thank you. I thought it costed several thousands and there was a limit to how much you can extend? Will defo look into it properly