Little brother is buying a house.

[smallblueplanet]

More help needed please. The OHs little brother is looking to fly the nest and has been asking for advice.

He's looked at a couple of places and is a bit undecided as to the pro's and cons of each. I've put my two-penneth in but wondered what I might have not considered in my blinkered view!

Two main contenders...

A smaller house would mean living on a major road with heavy traffic and so having the original Edwardian windows replaced with double glazing so it cuts down on both noise and fuel bills! The upside is it doesn't need doing up inside.

The other period property has the space he needs, is in a quieter area and could probably be bought for a good price but...ta da! requires underpinning.

My take on it was that once the underpinning is done, then you've got a good solid house at a good price in a good area with the space you require.

What do you lot think?

[sharonr]

I would go for the underpinning as it`s in a quite area.
Living on a major road with noise can be quite disturbing with all the traffic.
Sharon.

[dan1979]

The second house will be for a 'good price' because of the very small number of buyers who could take it.

Anyone requiring a mortgage on it has got no chance as the work would have to be done and ok'd by insurers before any lender would touch it.

[lynda66]

yep, he will be lucky to get a mortgage for the one that needs underpinning, if he has bags of cash stashed then it could be a good buy, as long as he takes into account any sign of dropping market prices in the area, and how much it will cost to get the work done. and adjusts the purchase price accordingly.

if the first house has it's original windows, he needs to check that the reason they have not already been replaced is not because it is covered by any kind of conservation orders, which meant they couldn't remove them ....... my parents had this problem, and had to replace the windows like for like, rather than with anything modern, and there was loads of other stuff they couldn't do.

[smallblueplanet]

Yeah he's at home since he split with his ex, he doesn't need a mortgage though, since they sold their previous place in London and made a packet!

[lynda66]

then i'd go for the one that needs underpinning and make them a stupidly low price offer .... if it's been on the market for ages, they'll probably rip both his arms off (make sure he points out everything that needs doing ....... if it needs underpinning, it probably needs loads of other stuff too ..... make sure he gets a proper survey done, so he knows exactly what other problems there are, it'll be worth the cost if he can get lots more off the price as a result..

[zazen999]

I'd get some quotes on underpinning first. It takes quite a while to do as they can obviously only do one section at a time.

Why does it need underpinning in the first place? This is what would concern me - are there any other underlying problems that might need addressing in the near future? If the underpinning has needed doing for a long time - then the house itself may have other issues - cracked walls, roof trusses etc. He might be buying a money pit [worst case scenario].

What I would do is to make the offer on the underpinning one subject to survey and do some work on calculating time/cost etc. Get a good builder in to look over the house as well.

But, at the same time, keep looking for appropriate properties. Just on the off chance.

[Two_Sheds]

Location, location, location. You can change/improve a house, but you can't move it.

We live on a busy road, and it's hell. We have traffic noise all day, and screaming drunks all night Double-glazing just can't cope.

[Seahorse]

I'd echo Andrea's point about whether the need for underpinning might mean there are other issues too.

Would there be future resale problems with an underpinned house? (I know it would be sound but buyers might be put off just by the whole idea). And what about insurance premiums? I'd wonder why the current owner hasn't been able to get the work done on his own insurance

Replacing Edwardian windows sounds pricey though and traffic wouldn't be my first choice either!

I suppose unless he's got bags and bags of cash, there's always going to be some sort of compromise!

[squashysu]

i second two sheds - we lived on a busy main road (dual carraigeway) for 10 years and it was hell!!!!!!! couldnt sell when we wanted to etc, sold last year and are now happy in our new home!

get a price for the underpinning, get a good survey, tell the vendor its a cash sale and go for the biggest discount by £20K as houses arent selling!!

Can you tell i was a legal PA in residential conveyancing for 10 years so any questions just ask x

[smallblueplanet]

I'd get some quotes on underpinning first. It takes quite a while to do as they can obviously only do one section at a time.

According to the agent the vendor has some quotes - up to £15k cost.

Why does it need underpinning in the first place?

Lol! I asked LB that and he said they said it was 'falling down' - I said to him 'yes, but why is it falling down'?!!! Don't know yet.

What I would do is to make the offer on the underpinning one subject to survey and do some work on calculating time/cost etc. Get a good builder in to look over the house as well.

Yeah, that's kinda what I said.

So does no-one think living on a busy road is a good idea - I couldn't think of any pros to tell him? Interesting point about resale too squashysu.

It just seems easier now to look at somewhere not quite right (and noisey) but done up, well except for the windows! I keep saying it might be short-sighted, but I guess I wouldn't be the one doing the work.

[zazen999]

Lol! I asked LB that and he said they said it was 'falling down' - I said to him 'yes, but why is it falling down'?!!! Don't know yet.

er - in that case -

12 years in civils in materials engineering says he needs much more detailed info on this aspect...a general survey might not pick up any ground engineering issues - which this often is.

I'd still recommend carrying on looking - tis a buyers market and if the first place isn't right then discount it...esp if he doesn't need a mortgage then in a few months some buyers will be gagging to move and the cash sale should be enough to get a bargain.

smaller house - busy road AND the windows needing doing = not ideal.

I say keep looking - buy in haste and all that.

[smallblueplanet]

smaller house - busy road AND the windows needing doing = not ideal.

I say keep looking - buy in haste and all that.

Yeah and normally I'd agree if it wasn't for the fact that like me when I was buying, he's looking in an area where few 'suitable' properties come on the market.

When we bought our place in a small hamlet, there were very few places around about for sale. That was four years ago, since then almost nothing else - well if you don't count the Georgian rectory that went for £1.5m!

[zazen999]

too exclusive - that's your problem!!!

We had the same - we saw next door and it was definitely too small. By then, I'd fallen in love with the village/idea of having a canal on the back of the garden/even getting a boat one day. We found out this one was also up, more space, better garden, more potential - the downside was it wasn't on the end of the row but I'm not at all bothered - we made and offer and bingo.