It's next to a garage

[Frikkinperiod]

DS is looking to buy his first flat.

He's found one next to Kwik fit. The flat is the last in a long row of properties next to a dual carriageway.

His mortgage broker said some banks will consider the next door to a garage as a negative in their offer.

Why?

There's a bed shop next to Kwik fit, then no more housing for 1.5km if that's of importance.

Because it's harder for him to sell if he defaults and they repossess?

Why is it harder to sell?

Because it’s next to a garage, because a lot of people will automatically reject properties like that.

Many years ago I lived close to a car workshop for a year or two. It was very noisy at times and not always just during the day as recovery trucks would turn up at all hours to drop off broken down cars. During the day parking could also be a nightmare as the customers would leave their cars parked all over the place.

That's helpful. Thank you.

Hadn't even thought of that, as the flat is really well sound proofed.

Also potential fire risk maybe.

My son looked at a flat across the road from a petrol station/garage but found most lenders would not give a mortgage on it.

Quite possibly a fire risk?

But mostly, I would assume just because they're more difficult to sell so their risk is greater.

The noise would drive me insane!! how long have the current owners owned it for and do they live there?

So a flat, kwikfit, a bed shop, and a main road, nothing else.
I wouldn't go anywhere near it. Tell him to keep looking

The dual carriageway would seriously put me off as well as the garage. He'll not be able to open the windows in summer for the noise. Unless he enjoys the noise of traffic obviously.
I moved a few years ago that was two streets back from a dual carriageway because the noise was so intrusive with windows open.

If only his budget made this possible.

I get that but this one is always going to be difficult to sell on when he is ready to move. He is more likely to loose money on this one just to get it sold.

The flat is a dud for all the reasons people have said. I wouldn’t buy it for £100. The good news for him is that the market generally for flats is shit so it’s likely he can get something else within budget. But he has to be careful because if he gets it wrong he could be trapped for years, unable to sell.

There's several others in budget, but they're in the wrong area of town, or only 1 bed, or need significant work, or leasehold (shudder).

This is a share of the freehold with 3 others. In decent condition. Been owned for 15 years by vendor.

We've had no issues at all getting excited by it until the mortgage broker mentioned the garage may be a stumbling block.

Then he should keep on looking. As soon as I saw the title of your thread, my initial thought was ‘no way would I buy that property’. Then after reading the flat is near a dual carriageway, I thought ‘the flat is a stone cold dud’. There will be many people like me with the same feelings - it would be too big a risk and the flat market won’t be improving anytime soon. If he’s fine with the noise and being there for years and years then all good.

Hi OP, is the broker aware that it is a Kwik Fit car garage as opposed to a petrol station? Properties by petrol stations can be problematic because of the increased fire hazard and potential for ground contamination but a "repair " type garage shouldn't be an issue in the same way.
As PPs have said it might be harder to sell on as some people will discount it immediately but the fact that the vendor has been there for 15 years is a good sign! There will always be FTB looking for properties at the lower end of the market (exactly as your son is currently) so I think it's worth investigating further. 🤞for DS!

No way would I buy it either.

But I can afford to live away from a dual carriageway. That would be the killer for me.

I wouldn't mind about Kwik fit at all.

It's a great FTB purchase in my opinion. People will always discard properties for a reason that is not on their wish list.

I hope he is able to get it if the mortgage company agree to lend.

I think he needs to act with caution,there is a house down the road from us, opposite the petrol station, been and the market for atleast 2 years. I would keep looking tbh.

My DS bought a terraced house next to a garage. Their reception building is actually joined to his house. His AIP was withdrawn by his lender when they found out. His broker found him a new lender in about 5 minutes flat. The garage is only open 8-5 Mon - Fri so there are a lot worse businesses he could be next to. And it's very handy when he needs his car servicing and MOTing.

My first flat was above a row of shops, including a garage. I bought it for £100k when the same flat anywhere else would have been £150k and sold it for £180k rather than £250k it would have achieved elsewhere.

In short it is fine. It won't be unsellable, just cheaper. In the same way he is getting it cheaper now.

I agree it's the risk factor from fire and noise and crime of living next to a garage/petrol station that makes it harder to get a mortgage, not sure whether a Kwik Fit counts but I guess they will have oil and petrol stored. Does he need 2 beds? We've all been FTB at one point and there are always compromises which perhaps some of us older buyers are forgetting. However I would prefer to buy something smaller in a better location that's more likely to hold it's value. Back in the 2008 crash me and many of my young relatives and friends went into negative equity but the ones that recovered were in the better areas, my relative lost a huge proportion of their homes value as it was such an undesirable flat so I would be very cautious