Posting on behalf of a family member
Hi all,
I'm hoping to get some outside opinions on this scenario if you knowledgeable folk here wouldn't mind adding in your 2c's to the equation.
Basically we have seen a large (almost 3,000sq ft) detached house for sale in a rural area. We currently live in a city, however we have been thinking of heading out to the sticks for quite some time now for the benefits of a larger home, more privacy, peace & quiet etc...
The house we're interested in is approx. 35 minutes from the nearest large city, so it's not totally isolated. Also, we're retired so won't be commuting to work etc.. We just want a nice comfortable home to relax in.
The plan would be to hang onto our city house for the immediate future as it's in a good area and not rent it out, so we have the option of moving back there if the country lifestyle doesn't work out for us so we have something to fall back on. The rural house we're interested in however is nicely situated in the middle of two towns, approx. 5 miles to either one, and ticks all of our boxes location wise, site wise etc..
The house itself was built 10 years ago and was finished to a fairly high standard. I say was, as the house is currently a bank sale and the previous owners have stripped it of all it's fixtures and fittings and so will need a bit of money (20k?) spent on it to make it habitable once again. It's in otherwise good condition.
As the house is a bank sale, it's priced very keenly indeed. There's been a few open viewings with a large turnout and according to the EA there's an offer about 10% under the asking on the table - however to make a long story short, we have more than a hunch that this isn't the case and that this is an illusive phantom bidder.
Due to the favourable pricing of the house, we would be able to buy this property in cash and have enough left over to bring the house up to a good finished standard for comfortable living once again, without the need to sell our house in the city (which we would hang onto for a year minimum to see if the country life is for us, and then possibly consider selling or renting later on down the line)
So all sounds great so far, right? Well, wrong. After talking to some neighbours we have discovered that the house is liable to flooding. Apparently the road outside the house can get badly flooded making it near to impossible to pass (though some neighbours reckon a jeep could manage it no bother). Now, the house itself has never actually flooded - even during the freak weather of around 2009 when surrounding areas needed canoes to get in and out of houses, but we've been reliably informed that the water has come up to as far as the front door step - but not actually entered the house.
There is absolutely no signs of water/flood damage to the house internally nor any dampness etc.. and we've heard from more than one local source that the house has never been flooded - only the driveway and road outside. We have also checked the address with numerous insurance companies and insurance is not an issue - it's not being flagged as a flood risk on their system, and it has never been claimed for a flood event previously.
On talking to more neighbours, it would seem that this flooding has only started within the past few years, and they reckon it's only affected this house on average 3 times in the past 10 years.
We feel that we pretty much have all the information we need to make an informed decision before deciding to put an offer on this property, but would like some outsiders opinions first.
Whilst this possible flood situation is far from ideal, we feel that it's something we could live with if it only happens every once in awhile. As we're retired, if there's a few days that the driveway is impassible it's not a major issue for us as we won't be missing out on work or school runs etc..
Apparently the council have done works on the road in front previously to raise it a little, but this doesn't appear to have solved the problem. If we did encounter a large problem with a flood, our contingency plan would be to either be to 1.) wait it out in the house and have it well stocked with supplies, 2.) retreat to our home in the city or 3.) take a winter break in Spain for a few weeks until the bad weather has cleared (which is something we've often thought about doing anyhow)
Other than this, the house ticks all the boxes for us - price, location, site, views, space, design etc...
The house is currently priced at roughly a third of what other similar houses would be in the locality. Obviously this is to allow for the fact that it's a bank repossession, will need a good chunk of change to place fixtures and fittings, and given the fact that it's in a place liable to flooding and so is priced accordingly. Other houses in this price range in the area are basically shacks, shells of houses fit for demolition.
We have been looking casually for the past few years for a house in the country, but there was always some negative whether it be price or location etc.. This is the first one that suits us and that we can comfortably afford along in having change to spare AND keep our city residence.
Are we mad to be even considering this? Or do you think it would be worth a punt to have our dream home finished to a high standard and mortgage free for under 100k?
Advice from the locals in the area has been that it's worth taking a chance on so long as we'd be getting it for a good bargain, which is what we intend, and if placing a bid it would be considerably lower than the present asking price.
We love the house and are eager for it IF we get it at the right price, but would love to hear others opinions on it in case we're potentially making a huge mistake.
Hi all,
I'm hoping to get some outside opinions on this scenario if you knowledgeable folk here wouldn't mind adding in your 2c's to the equation.
Basically we have seen a large (almost 3,000sq ft) detached house for sale in a rural area. We currently live in a city, however we have been thinking of heading out to the sticks for quite some time now for the benefits of a larger home, more privacy, peace & quiet etc...
The house we're interested in is approx. 35 minutes from the nearest large city, so it's not totally isolated. Also, we're retired so won't be commuting to work etc.. We just want a nice comfortable home to relax in.
The plan would be to hang onto our city house for the immediate future as it's in a good area and not rent it out, so we have the option of moving back there if the country lifestyle doesn't work out for us so we have something to fall back on. The rural house we're interested in however is nicely situated in the middle of two towns, approx. 5 miles to either one, and ticks all of our boxes location wise, site wise etc..
The house itself was built 10 years ago and was finished to a fairly high standard. I say was, as the house is currently a bank sale and the previous owners have stripped it of all it's fixtures and fittings and so will need a bit of money (20k?) spent on it to make it habitable once again. It's in otherwise good condition.
As the house is a bank sale, it's priced very keenly indeed. There's been a few open viewings with a large turnout and according to the EA there's an offer about 10% under the asking on the table - however to make a long story short, we have more than a hunch that this isn't the case and that this is an illusive phantom bidder.
Due to the favourable pricing of the house, we would be able to buy this property in cash and have enough left over to bring the house up to a good finished standard for comfortable living once again, without the need to sell our house in the city (which we would hang onto for a year minimum to see if the country life is for us, and then possibly consider selling or renting later on down the line)
So all sounds great so far, right? Well, wrong. After talking to some neighbours we have discovered that the house is liable to flooding. Apparently the road outside the house can get badly flooded making it near to impossible to pass (though some neighbours reckon a jeep could manage it no bother). Now, the house itself has never actually flooded - even during the freak weather of around 2009 when surrounding areas needed canoes to get in and out of houses, but we've been reliably informed that the water has come up to as far as the front door step - but not actually entered the house.
There is absolutely no signs of water/flood damage to the house internally nor any dampness etc.. and we've heard from more than one local source that the house has never been flooded - only the driveway and road outside. We have also checked the address with numerous insurance companies and insurance is not an issue - it's not being flagged as a flood risk on their system, and it has never been claimed for a flood event previously.
On talking to more neighbours, it would seem that this flooding has only started within the past few years, and they reckon it's only affected this house on average 3 times in the past 10 years.
We feel that we pretty much have all the information we need to make an informed decision before deciding to put an offer on this property, but would like some outsiders opinions first.
Whilst this possible flood situation is far from ideal, we feel that it's something we could live with if it only happens every once in awhile. As we're retired, if there's a few days that the driveway is impassible it's not a major issue for us as we won't be missing out on work or school runs etc..
Apparently the council have done works on the road in front previously to raise it a little, but this doesn't appear to have solved the problem. If we did encounter a large problem with a flood, our contingency plan would be to either be to 1.) wait it out in the house and have it well stocked with supplies, 2.) retreat to our home in the city or 3.) take a winter break in Spain for a few weeks until the bad weather has cleared (which is something we've often thought about doing anyhow)
Other than this, the house ticks all the boxes for us - price, location, site, views, space, design etc...
The house is currently priced at roughly a third of what other similar houses would be in the locality. Obviously this is to allow for the fact that it's a bank repossession, will need a good chunk of change to place fixtures and fittings, and given the fact that it's in a place liable to flooding and so is priced accordingly. Other houses in this price range in the area are basically shacks, shells of houses fit for demolition.
We have been looking casually for the past few years for a house in the country, but there was always some negative whether it be price or location etc.. This is the first one that suits us and that we can comfortably afford along in having change to spare AND keep our city residence.
Are we mad to be even considering this? Or do you think it would be worth a punt to have our dream home finished to a high standard and mortgage free for under 100k?
Advice from the locals in the area has been that it's worth taking a chance on so long as we'd be getting it for a good bargain, which is what we intend, and if placing a bid it would be considerably lower than the present asking price.
We love the house and are eager for it IF we get it at the right price, but would love to hear others opinions on it in case we're potentially making a huge mistake.