House buying, selling, viewing and the housing market.
This ecological, affordable, straw bale co-housing project has just applied for permission in Leeds.
They’re having an evening event – Investors Evening, introduced by Rachel Reeves MP for Leeds West, we will be launching their Loanstock Offer – Thursday 23rd June 2011. 6:30pm
LILAClow impact living affordable community –
For most of us straw bale housing has been only seen on TV on Grand Designs!
A strangely interesting house because of the number of trophys and apparently dead things hung up.
Strikes me as off to have so many quite possibly sensitive items on display.
Anne Maurice – house doctor – once went to a house where there were lots of heads and stuffed dead things and told them in no uncertain terms to get rid of them! Neutralise the house – not alienate a percentage of buyers!!
Who’d paint their house blue?
It wasn’t blue when the google car went road though – I can’t see it on street view of Cortis Avenue
I’ve got to give this house a mention. It’s got the most amazing tiling in the kitchen. Very unusual. Probably not everyone’s taste though.
It’s pretty bizarre but also very interesting!
There’s a bath on a shelf. Shocking.
Why?
This site allows you to search for properties with 9+ bedrooms!
Sextant French Property – descroptions are in english which makes it very easy to use this site!
But it’s my dream house!
This is something I frequently read when people are asking questions. They’re usually really important questions like:
What does this mean in the surveyor’s report: subsidence is ongoing…
Or
The surveyor has undervalued my house – I think it’s worth more, but how can I convince the mortgage company?
When you’ve decided something is your dream house you often fall into the trap of wanting to buy it no matter what.
It’s worth taking some time out and deciding exactly why the property is your dream house. Sometimes it’ll be location – it’ll be in the right place for you to enjoy your life as you want. Sometimes it’ll be because the style has blown you away. Sometimes it might be because the furniture portrays a lifestyle you really want.
Before you make any serious decisions about buying your “dream house” you should take a step back.
Analyse why it’s your dream house. Write down everything you like about it.
Then go and view some other houses. Write down what you like about them. And then do some more scientific stuff like measuring the floor space area, calculating how far it is from the places you need in your life (school, shops, work etc),
Score them all and then compare. Is the dream house good value or have you been seduced by fluffy rugs and a shiny bathroom?
Bear in mind if it’s just some interior decoration you like, you can apply that to any other house. Things you can’t change are more important. Even floor space might be able to be increased but an extension or loft conversion costs money and you’d need to do your sums carefully.
Weigh everything up and you might discover the dream house isn’t!
This is what the blurb says:
“PropertyWizza answers your questions in an instant. Want to know ‘what planning applications are in progress locally?’, ‘Is this house at risk of flooding?’ or simply ‘which is the best local pub?’ PropertyWizza is the house hunter’s best friend.”
So I’m testing it out. I have to try it in Chrome browser as they don’t have one yet for firefox. A pity as my current fave property search tool (Property bee) doesn’t have a chrome version!
You can read more about property wizza here
Well I didn’t notice the button int he top toolbar at first – but when it’s red you can click it and get access to info. It looks really useful !
This is the info you can access!
What’s for sale locally?
MousePrice
How much are local houses valued?
MousePrice
How much have local houses sold for?
HousePrices MousePrice
Show me maps and streetview
Maps & Streetview
Old Maps
Local environment
Flood Risk
Environmental Maps
What’s the word on the street?
Crime Statistics
Planning Applications
Commuting Times
Information about the area
Local Pub Guide
Minor Problems
Parking
Bankruptcies and Public Notices
Schools
Primary Schools
Secondary Schools
High Schools
Independent Schools
Ofsted Reports
LHA Rates
I’d say install it and see how much you use it! I’m certainly going to be playing with it for a while! It works by fetching the postcode for the property – as that’s what’s required on most of the sites it links to. The links open in a new window so you can click several and see all the reports.
If you’re serious about buying a house then you’ll find it very handy!
Should you buy a one bedroom property?
It’s an interesting question and one maybe someone who is single would ask. I don’t think it’s a very good idea at all. I think one bedroom properties might have some demand as a rental perhaps, but it’ll only be because of cost. Most people aren’t minimalists and have tons of stuff that would completely fill a one bedroom place.
A one bedroom place doesn’t have enough room for anyone else in to stay for more than a day or so on the sofa. If you ever need a lodger then you’d just not have room in a one bedroom property.
If you have relatives to stay then how happy will they be to sleep on a sofa? Even a sofa bed isn’t the best thing in the world as you’ll disturb them staying up late, or getting up early.
If your family expands – you get a partner, and or a child, then you’ll need more room. Babies might be tiny but they take up a lot of space with the things they need.
If you have a hobby that needs room to store something, then a one bedroom flat will quickly become crowded and too small. If you ever decide you want to work from home you might need the space and having a spare room means you can separate out your home and work life which makes for a good balance. Whilst you can stick a computer in the corner of the lounge – or a work table for making things on – you would soon find yourself looking at it all the time when you’re relaxing.
You might argue that a one bedroom place is cheaper than a two, but it’s smaller too! Compare floor size area to get a real comparison.
If you can buy something with more rooms then do so! The resale issue will bring up the same discussion you’re having with yourself – and if prices have dropped you might find the value of your one bedroom property has dropped more than a two bedroom one.
Sarah Beeny and her team of specialists head to the Murphy family’s chocolate box cottage in Cheshire.
This episode of Help, my house is falling downn was interesting.
A couple had bought a 4 bedroom cottage in Cheshire and within a few months they started noticing problems like damp, wobbly floors and cracks appearing.
Watch it on 4onDemand
They’d only had a basic survey and which didn’t pick up on the 10% of roof tiles needing replacement or the big gap at the edge which allowed water to pour in when it rained.
The children’s bedroom floor was also wobbly. I can’t imagine how they’d have not noticed it being wobbly when they bought it though! There was also woodworm in the main bedroom. The floor between the children’s room and downstairs was not fire safe. This necessitated a trip to the Gloucester fire training centre and setting fire to a mock up of a child’s room.
The property needed re-roofing which took all the couple’s budget of £10,000 – but at the end of the program it appeared they’d completely redone everything including replastering, putting in an ensuite in the children’s room and getting new furnishings. The couple said they’d dipped into their savings. I thought this was strange. If they had savings then why did they say they could only spend £10k at the beginning? Would it be a worse TV show if they said “we’ve got buckets of cash”?