Opinions on house we missed out on

[HelloMoon87]

Hi,

A while back we lost out on this house.

A number of houses came along around there, very similar to this, we want to make an offer. What do you think of this house?

Location, location, location

I suppose the price is the above and being detached.

London is going to start consuming itself shortly.

Lovely and lovely garden. Go for it.

It's a nice house but I am agog at London prices. You could get an actual mansion around here for that price.

Oh my word over £1M for it - wow! Personally there is s lot of work internally to be done on it even if I had that amount of money I personally would not buy it - but its London so provably explains it!

Being Cheshire based I think it’s a crazy price for a bog standard looking property that doesn’t call to me in anyway.

I don’t know the area that well but do know there are some beautiful properties and fantastic restaurants in the Brixton/Herne Hill area.

Is it super convenient for a particular school?

I'm not sure what you're asking if the house is sold, why do you need/want our opinions on it? It's nice, possibly needs a bit of work but looks like it has great features and plenty of light. Lovely location though I don't know whether you're in catchment for any state primaries. Also not sure what your secondary options would be, if that matters. Possibly Charter North but I'm not close enough to know the catchment.

If you're not worried about schools or are going independent obviously you're golden.

Not my style of house if I was spending over a million. But can see why it would appeal.

I live in a lovely part of the country and wouldn’t pay 500k for that house if it was near here. In an urban situation probably nearer 400k.

The reason I say that is because the value of that house is almost entirely down to the location. You need to work out what value you put in that. The house itself is almost incidental.

I think it’s hard to say unless you know the local market. It’s the type of house I would absolutely be drawn to if we were looking to step up to somewhere a bit bigger but I’d be looking to pay not an awful lot more than £300K for it here. Obviously London is a completely different ball game so I don’t really have a frame of reference in terms of what else you could get for your money.

It's a lovely house you can do so much with it . Needs a lot doing to it and it could be a money pit if you are not careful. Good luck OP

I would need to spend at least another £200k to make it into a home and knock some walls down to open up some of the space. I'm not keen on boxy more modern houses and prefer something with more character. I wouldn't buy it.

Yes it is the location and the schools but we are seeing some houses pop up close to it that require work too, but wondering if it's worth it for the location. It does tick a lot of boxes in terms of garden, detached, quite good amount of space (though nothing like some of the Victorian houses in the area)... This area is so expensive though, if we did the work, it would pay for itself even in the short run but not sure if it's investment worthy at all.
We are looking at state schools which unfortunately in this area are very specific on catchment.

I live in London so not shocked by the price, however this house has zero charm and it looks like a very old and beaten up new build. It will require everything doing in it and it will still not hold much appeal to me. If I were spending this kind of money, I’d be looking at something completely different.

I have to say - for me it requires too much work to make it appealing. But I think it depends on what stage in your life you are. I have been there and done that with building work and not doing it again. So for me it would be a no.

I love it but I have a thing for 60s builds and own one myself. As far as price, you're better positioned than random mumsnetters to know what's normal for the area and what you feel these properties are worth to you.

Personally, I used to live not far from there and when it came time to think about buying we left London as couldn't face the live-to-work lifestyle getting a mortgage in London would impose on us. So I guess for me the location wasn't worth it. But I'm lucky in that my partner and I both have jobs we can do anywhere, so staying in London was not as necessary to us as it is to others.

Which features do you value in this house? I think this is the main question really, apart from is it worth it because as you say it needs work but I understand from the other posts that London is a different market and is it worth it is very specific to people who know this area... What would you keep or change in this house?

Different in what way? Older houses? The issue I see is that while the character/charm is lovely, for someone like us without a huge renovation budget, old houses need a lot more money. Also in this area the older houses are usually bigger and much more expensive ~2 mln

Bloody hell, you don't get much for your money in that location!

More character, yes. Older house and one with more curb appeal. But I understand the struggle with budget. In this specific house, I don’t like the garden, the layout (what is with the weird small reception room?), the low ceilings and the small bedrooms. You will need to do all this work to it and you will still not solve some of these issues. I’m sorry I am so critical, but you asked for opinions.

I'm ignoring that it costs 3 times what it would here because there isn't much to be done about it.

It's hard to tell the exact sizes of rooms but seems like a sensible family house. Unlike others, here, I like having private space for people to hang out in - it's invaluable with older kids and if anyone works from home.

Style wise, if you try to make it what it isn't then it will seem to lack character. Play on the mid century proportions with appropriate furniture and decor and it would be lovely.

Character/charm is all subjective. Like a PP I love a 60s house and don’t think new build, no charm at all when I see a house like that. If I bought it I’d give it a lick of paint and new flooring and possibly open up the wall between the kitchen and dining room but I’d give it a while getting the feel for it before doing anything structural.

For this house, I would have converted double garage into kitchen/utility room, the houses showing up have only single garage though. I guess I feel a bit sad of what could have been...

Love the flooring in the hall and dining room, BTW (just found the floor plan). I wonder if it's under the carpet in the living room, too? If it's the proper block flooring rather than modern stuff and you find it in the house you eventually buy, it's worth trying to hang on to if it's not damaged because it scrubs up beautifully and is really hard wearing.

I think it's an unattractive 60s house and I normally like this era. Only one decent sized bedroom. Was this originally a 3-bed with another one carved out?
A money pit to me and in the end still an unattractive house. Nice garden though.

As a Londoner I think it's overpriced.