Old terrace house - what is this on the wall?

[Touty]

Hi, I’ve been viewing an old mid terrace house, seen a few things to be investigated; but can someone identify what this is on the walk in the attached picture? TIA x

Sorry, I don’t know enough about leasehold to comment.
You would have to still pay the service charges by the looks of it.

the advert says 190 and 200 per year for the SC and the GR. where did you see 800?

Sorry I see what you mean those are the six month figures, thank you 😊

I’m not sure that a dwelling like this one would be subject to enfranchisement rules which would compel the freeholder to sell you the freehold interest. You should take legal advice on this. The value of the leaseholder is subject to a standardised formula- again your conveyancer should be able to advise you.

Thank you, can you say why you don’t think it would be subject to enfranchisement rules.

Location. It is in a terrace. And possibly situated on an estate of similarly leasehold properties? Freeholder developers tend to create leaseholds as an ongoing cash-generating enterprise. As I said, best get suitable legal advice on this point.

So my viewing was cancelled on the new build as it had just been sold.

i have seen another interesting house.

What to you think of this house, 3 bed semi detached. Ive shown you the front and back of house.

Are you prepared to send the RM link?

First impressions: likely a rental, it’s not been well loved - the state of the gutters, front garden flower bed etc indicate a lack of maintenance. The windows look a bit tired, the house will need repainting, but you need to look on street view to check if all of the houses have been pebbledashed or just these two. A render can cause damp. Hard to tell without more evidence to go on.

Here is the advert

It looks nice inside. Long term I’d be concerned about the roof on the back extension?

What about this www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/149910833#/?channel=RES_BUY www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/149910833#/?channel=RES_BUY]]]]

I’m afraid the RM listing for this one also shows damp. It is surface level tidy and decorative level modern, but the photos show towels on the window sills and what looks like mould/damp on the corner of the kitchen wall (next to the dining table) and on the walls upstairs. The photo showing the cracked hard standing is either directing you to a problem or is the worst photo of the garden ever. Suspect the former to keep the EA’s arse out of a fire. The patio at the rear looks like it is higher than it should be and again there is a lack of a drain under the tap. Green stains climbing up the wall from the bottom at the rear may also indicate a water ingress issue. I’d imagine the extension would need attention as a result. The guttering to the extension looks to be ineffective and will need attention to avoid future issues. There is no evidence of a rear air brick which could be preventing the house from breathing. These sorts of houses need an airflow from front to back to avoid mould issues.

A downstairs bathroom is less desirable than one upstairs so don’t overpay for that. The house is priced at more than it sold for at the height of the market whilst arguably nothing has been done to maintain it in that time. Having a nose at next door which sold for £151k (and was in much better condition with an upstairs bathroom) the flattish roof on the one you are looking at does not have a standard felt and bitumen sealed roof - you need to check what covering is on that extension and if there is still a warranty on that work. £151k was the price achieved for next door when the market was buoyant and This I think it the true value of the one you are looking at but I doubt the vendors will recognise that. The real value was added between 2015 and 2021 when the property was modernised to an extent but not to the standard of next door.

Take a close look at the viewing to all of these points. Ask the vendors plenty of questions. Sadly I think this may be another one to avoid.

@Netaporter excellent write up.
I think the ground level at the rear is easy enough to drop, however I also see the manhole cover is partially built over.
The big issue for me is the adhoc beam holding the roof up over the dining bench, and the amount of damp on that ceiling.
So I agree with Netaporter, jog on!

@Netaporter wow thank you so much for this, I really appreciate you taking the time to look at all this and the help you have given me here! I’m so grateful this is so kind.🙏

@OneForTheToad thank you so much for this.

@Netaporter @OneForTheToad yes I don’t think I’ll take this any further.

These damp houses keep following me😏

@CormorantStrikesBack thank you for the link, I will look the house up.

Hi guys I’ve offered on this house. Does it look ok?

What house?

Do you want to share the link? If you’ve offered already, do you still want an honest opinion?

Here it is we agreed 130k, I thought it is ok as it’s a fairly new build, circa late 90’s.

what do u think?

Here is the link.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147016562#/?channel=RES_BUY
Last sold in that row was 41, went for 125k in 2022.
The road at the front seems to be the arterial road through the village, how busy is that? Kitchen looks a bit old. I don’t like bathrooms without windows, especially if they don’t have a lit vanity unit over the sink. Speaking of sink, no mixer tap. The gutters need a clean.
No damp though!

@Touty congratulations on your new home!

I think it looks a far safer bet than any of the other ones you have considered thus far. You can definitely add value by bringing style to the rear garden, the front garden and skimming over the Artex. The bathroom will need a refresh in time. You could consider the introduction of a couple of sunpipes to bring natural light into the bathroom. They are light magnifying apertures set into the roof (a roofer can do this for you). I’d also upgrade the fan extractor to one that removes maximum moisture at the lowest decibel level. For the immediate future, remove the vegetation in the front garden encroaching on the brickwork - you don’t need to introduce damp. Get a gas safe engineer to examine the boiler before exchange. the kitchen will also need a refresh over time during which you might re-site the boiler.
Get a roofer to check the gutters and also ensure there is mesh at the bottom of the gutters in the back garden to prevent debris blocking them - there looks to be water splashing back onto the brickwork which indicates a blocked drain.

Wishing you all the best for the future!

Guys should I get a basic survey?