What’s wrong with this property…

[MellowMint]

Looking for some advice…

We’re interested in buying a house from a developer (only 5 houses were built in total, high standard, great area etc.)

Two bigger houses are at the front of the plot, three smaller ones at the back – the two large ones in the front and two of the smaller ones at the back were sold a long time ago, only this one is left. All of them are detached and very similar (the differences are only cosmetic, e.g. the color of the front door).

What makes us wonder is that this particular house has been on the market for almost a year, even though the others sold quickly. Recently, the listing was taken down and reposted (same photos, just arranged differently). This has happened twice already, and now the developer has also added another agent to sell it.

I called today and tried to ask the agent what’s going on with this house – he said that supposedly there are interested buyers, but they first need to sell their own properties. It sounded a bit like an excuse and an attempt to put pressure on me, especially since I’ve told him that we’ve been watching this house for almost a year. But in the end, I don’t really know what else he could have told me, certainly not the whole truth 😂 I know the market is slower at the moment, but still, the situation seems suspicious.

Tomorrow we have a viewing scheduled. It’s not our first purchase, but it’s the first time we going to see a house tha that hasn’t sold for so long. Honestly, I’m confused – houses that stay unsold for a long time always made me think of old ones, in need of major renovations, requiring a lot of work and investment, etc. But here it’s the complete opposite…

My question to those with more experience: what else is worth asking tomorrow apart of the obvious questions, what are we missing here?
Something feels off here, but I can’t put my finger on it 🤔

Thanks. Is there anything in particular we should be aware when it comes to shared access to the drive? It’s not something that we dealt with before so got no idea what to ask, what we should pay attention to etc.

Garden - meh, we got huge garden now and it’s a lot of work. This one is bigger than your usual new builds, we can work with it (I think…) but we shall see tomorrow once we stand in there.

Bathrooms - also meh, not a deal breaker I think we want the space, so the glass door become secondary issue to us.

It will be interesting to see how it feels when you are inside it - from photo 12 that old property looks like it impacts this property far more than any of the other 4.

Personally I think it’s lovely but yes, at that price the garden is a bit pokey.

it might just be as simple as its a bit grey and tastes have changed, and for that price people now want something else

bedroom 4 is also tiny. I mean its bigger than my childhood bedroom but its not big enough for a spare room really, its smaller than the office downstairs (which is not well placed to be kids bedroom) and its entirely out of proportion to the enormous main suite and in the wrong place to be a dressing room. So if you need 3 beds and a spare the kids will argue - there will be other houses at the same pricepoint that are better proportioned, I am guessing.

Looking at photo 12c the house to the right looks like it has a very shape garden/lawn so maybe that was why it sold.

And the one to your left has a drive so that's why that was more desirable.

Defo drive a hard bargain if you are keen.

If you lived in that older house, you’d be gutted, wouldn’t you?

Unless it was them selling off their garden that ended up with them being hemmed in by 5 new-builds, in which case it’s their own fault.

I'm not so sure about this, because surely that shared access is also a potential issue for the neighbouring house as well, which has sold?
Sorry OP nothing more helpful to add. The house isn't my cup of tea but I don't think there are any obvious red flags with it. Yeah, garden doesn't look massive but it's a new build so not that surprising.

I don't see the issue with the old house across the road, most houses have houses opposite them.

If you lived in that older house, you’d be gutted, wouldn’t you?

The definitely have got the worst aspect.

I think it could just be that it's a bit expensive - not necessarily overpriced, especially if it's to your taste and fits your budget, more that if you look at sold house prices in the area over the last year, there aren't that many in that price bracket. So perhaps there's just a smaller market for people with this budget who like this kind of house, and those people all bought the other ones already? Where I live (where there are no houses costing this much!) anything big or expensive sits around on the market for ages waiting for a buyer, while smaller, cheaper houses (4-bed semis, 3-bed detached or semis) change hands quite quickly.

I think that’s what happened there, driving around we could see many houses in that area with large land, so I think those people just sold it and build on it.

If you wanted to have a load of people around, where would they park?

I immediately thought the shared access driveway would put some people off - you need to clarify who ‘owns’ it and is therefore responsible for any maintenance and associated costs. We’ve had two shared access properties, one where we owned the driveway and one where we didn’t. As the owners technically we are responsible for all costs and maintenance for the driveway and must allow our neighbours unrestricted access to their house and drive (and also to dig it ip for gas works etc!) There was already documentation in place when we bought the house to clarify that if the neighbours dig it up for any reason, they are liable for the cost of putting it right.
The one we didn’t own was a PITA, it was shared access to enbloc garages and the people that ‘owned’ that bit of land were dicks about access, repairs, everything! We ended up not using the garage for cars, only storage so they couldn’t claim we were wrecking their tarmac with our car…
Caveat emptor - check all the details re shared access and don’t buy the house until it’s all documented and sorted by the housebuilder!

We’ve been there just the other day.
The “drive” in front of garage would fit two cars easily without blocking the access to the other property, maybe 3 if people park right behind us. The access to that road is quite wide without visible restrictions to park on the road, so there would be space on the road as well. Our family could easily visit, if we wanted host 30 people then it would be an issue 😅😂 although garden wouldn’t fit that many probably 🤭

It’s right in front of it more than opposite it - the other photos have been very deliberately taken without showing it.

Thank you this is super helpful ! 🥰

We only buy end of terraces, so that would be the major blocker for me. Personally I’m not a fan of developer houses, they are always a bit cheek by jowl. Hate the idea of being crammed between other houses with gardens overlooked and no doubt bedroom windows too. Can you afford a period house if the market is rocky? The issue with developer houses is they can build new ones easily and in doing so devalue yours. Most people buying them want the 10 year builder’s warranty, so selling them on can be trickier than you think.

As new builds go, it’s very spacious, fairly high spec and has a decent sized garden. Seems reasonably priced. It sounds like it ticks a lot of boxes for you op, so I hope you like it. Every house you buy has a compromise somewhere!

Picture 17 suggests that the black tarmac is communal with a right of access to the house on the right? Does this mean there is effectively no or a least a very limited cartilage to the front of the house and cars will always have to be parked by the garage?

@BarnacleBeasley there is a road in between isn't there? For me is normal to have a houses on both sides and roads in the middle. 🤷🏻‍♀️

@MellowMint that's would be my only concern. My next home I want to be able to fit 6 cars on the drive for Christmas/family & friend get togethers! 😆

Are all of the other houses the same inside?

It's far too dreary and relentlessly grey, for me. I couldn't live with the decor in the bathrooms, it would give me a headache after a few minutes - and the kitchen is terribly drab and dreary. I think I would have to factor in the cost of replacing the kitchen and the bathrooms and redecorating throughout. So, maybe that is what is putting other buyers off the property?

Also, the house seems disproportionately large for the size of the plot. The garden is very small, considering the size of the house. You couldn't really have anything more than a patio in the garden, which again may be what is putting people off buying the house.

But the only opinion that actually matters is yours. If you like it, then go for it.

There a main road, let’s call it m, although it’s not a main main busy road, from which you turn into to the new tarmac road.
That tarmac road leads to three houses at the back - on the left of this house, this house in the middle and house on the right which has access to their drive. From being there I’d say the tarmac road is very wide, people pointed on that old house in the middle but I think photos are decieving, yes the house is there but is not that near as it looks like, I’d same normal distance as you would expect to have neighbours. There is enough space to park in front if needed, access to the “old house” is not in front of this house.

Yes they were all the same in terms of spec, colours, bathroom and kitchen. So whilist I understand people may not like this decor, someone like it 😂 as other houses have sold. But I do think that share access might be an issue to people. Walls can always be painted and kitchen fronts changed

Is the road going to be adopted by the council? We had no parking restrictions on our new build estate until it was adopted and now there are yellow lines everywhere and covenants about not using visitor spaces for our own cars and all sorts.

also is there an estate management company and what are the fees like?