Show us your real estate pawn (vol 2)
Discussion
louiebaby said:
FourWheelDrift said:
Harpsden Court, Henley-on-Thames, £7.75m - http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...
Whilst undeniably lovely, for that price in the Henley area, I'd want river frontage, some wellies, a good flood insurance policy, and a small place on higher ground for when it inevitably needs to dry out for a couple of months.
http://maps.environment-agency.gov.uk/wiyby/wiybyC...
FourWheelDrift said:
Whilst it's lovely, parts - like the kitchen - would make me feel like I was living in a museum, equally it would feel wrong to update it - so build a second one ?
Harry Flashman said:
We're off to look at this at the weekend...
Lovely building, location works for us, but a block of modern flats right opposite it which may put me off. Expensive for that particular part of Streatham, but a unique building, especially in London.
http://www.hamptons.co.uk/buy/property/5-bedroom-d...
OK all, reporting back.Lovely building, location works for us, but a block of modern flats right opposite it which may put me off. Expensive for that particular part of Streatham, but a unique building, especially in London.
http://www.hamptons.co.uk/buy/property/5-bedroom-d...
Positive points:
- beautiful building
- stunning reception/dining room and reception
- beautiful period features
- private driveway, garage and parking to the rear (a real rarity in London)
- lovely garden – decent size for London, and very secluded
- not at all overlooked at the back: again, rare for London
- not listed, so work could be done on it with less hassle than on most buildings like this
- nice new kitchen and bathrooms
Negative points
- The photos make it look much, much larger than it actually feels. Bedrooms are poky (except for the master)
- Kitchen is tiny, and there is no way to extend it without major work and planning permission to extend front elevation
- No loft to go into
- Old electrics – no data cabling or anything tech at all
- Very noisy street. To be fair, you hear nothing inside the house
- The small council estate opposite is not a good one: odd folk hanging around and hassling passers-by, dirty washing on balconies, people obviously high on drugs
- Right underneath a turning point for city airport. Not immense noise, but frequent. Again, an issue outside, not so much inside
- Absolutely no insulation, anywhere. Band G for energy. Top floor was baking yesterday.
- New-ish boiler, but on old, gravity fed CH system
- Cosmetics have been taken care of – but dodgy pointing and flashings, and cracked stones make me think that they have not cared for the structure: and on a building like this, this is a major concern. Fresh paint everywhere, possibly hiding damp or issues.
If it was 15% bigger in every dimension, and properly refurbished (as opposed to just new kitchen units, bathrooms and a lick of paint) I would have considered it. But the layout means you cannot really get the rooms bigger. The house is on a hill, so access to the back garden is from the top floor – and there is planning permission for doors to access the garden. However, these doors access from the corridor at the top of the stairs. If the bedrooms were on the back side of the house, a 2m extension would change everything completely. As it stands, changing the upstairs layout would require replacing that lovely staircase, and heavy structural work to support a floor in a void: not worth it.
Our house is (or will be when refurb is done) bigger internally, much more functional, similarly private garden and next to apark on a very quiet street and in perfect, top-spec condition, all in for £250k less than the asking on this. So whilst it is nothing like as pretty, not unique, and not detached, it will be a much more functional place to live in when (hopefully) we have a family.
I think that if we were a couple post children, this would make a lovely London bolt-hole. But the prospect of us/dog/kids tripping over each other in the kitchen, small kids’ bedrooms and vestigial spare room for in-laws, and being worried about the children walking past that estate on their own, meant it was not for us.
Edited by Harry Flashman on Tuesday 7th June 12:52
TheJimi said:
Right call, Harry, given what you've said.
Out of interest, what areas of London would one be looking at to NOT have to walk past crappy areas to get to?
Genuinely curious, as I don't know London all very well at all.
Most bits of London are close to a bad bit, as is the case in many cities (including many of the areas above, actually). Super prime (Hyde Park, Mayfair etc) are fine, but not affordable to most. Out of interest, what areas of London would one be looking at to NOT have to walk past crappy areas to get to?
Genuinely curious, as I don't know London all very well at all.
However, “bad bits” vary hugely. Many estates are either partly privately owned, or full of decent tenants and communities, and living near them is no problem. I have a housing association block next to my current home – I know many of my neighbours well, like them a great deal, and invite them over for barbecues etc (and vice-versa).
Random street violence here is, despite what the Mail will tell you, pretty rare – most issues are between rival gang members and very rarely affect innocent passers-by.
That said, there are bad estates, and I would not want to live near one, or walk past one every day. Your odds of being a victim just will be higher.
One of the reasons we picked the house that we are refurbishing is because it is not next to any social housing, and the walk between it and the station is on brightly lit residential roads with expensive houses on, mostly owned by middle class folk. This may sound snobbish and mean, but we were thinking of children walking home from the station after taking a train back from school, and of resale value.
The house I posted would always have a problem with that sink estate in front of it.
Harry Flashman said:
Most bits of London are close to a bad bit, as is the case in many cities (including many of the areas above, actually). Super prime (Hyde Park, Mayfair etc) are fine, but not affordable to most.
However, “bad bits” vary hugely. Many estates are either partly privately owned, or full of decent tenants and communities, and living near them is no problem. I have a housing association block next to my current home – I know many of my neighbours well, like them a great deal, and invite them over for barbecues etc (and vice-versa).
Random street violence here is, despite what the Mail will tell you, pretty rare – most issues are between rival gang members and very rarely affect innocent passers-by.
That said, there are bad estates, and I would not want to live near one, or walk past one every day. Your odds of being a victim just will be higher.
One of the reasons we picked the house that we are refurbishing is because it is not next to any social housing, and the walk between it and the station is on brightly lit residential roads with expensive houses on, mostly owned by middle class folk. This may sound snobbish and mean, but we were thinking of children walking home from the station after taking a train back from school, and of resale value.
The house I posted would always have a problem with that sink estate in front of it.
Cheers Harry, interesting stuff However, “bad bits” vary hugely. Many estates are either partly privately owned, or full of decent tenants and communities, and living near them is no problem. I have a housing association block next to my current home – I know many of my neighbours well, like them a great deal, and invite them over for barbecues etc (and vice-versa).
Random street violence here is, despite what the Mail will tell you, pretty rare – most issues are between rival gang members and very rarely affect innocent passers-by.
That said, there are bad estates, and I would not want to live near one, or walk past one every day. Your odds of being a victim just will be higher.
One of the reasons we picked the house that we are refurbishing is because it is not next to any social housing, and the walk between it and the station is on brightly lit residential roads with expensive houses on, mostly owned by middle class folk. This may sound snobbish and mean, but we were thinking of children walking home from the station after taking a train back from school, and of resale value.
The house I posted would always have a problem with that sink estate in front of it.
gibbon said:
Everything is priced for a reason.
...beyond stating the bleeding obvious, what question was that the answer to? 
Former torpedo testing building for sale as a house, £6.75M:
http://search.savills.com/list/property-for-sale/e...
http://search.savills.com/list/property-for-sale/e...
Xaero said:
Former torpedo testing building for sale as a house, £6.75M:
http://search.savills.com/list/property-for-sale/e...
Fantastic place - but it's not a home.http://search.savills.com/list/property-for-sale/e...
Du1point8 said:
numtumfutunch said:
V8RX7 said:
Fantastic place - but it's not a home.
Am sure we've had it before on this threadIts a lot of money for somewhere outside of proper London too
TheJimi said:
...beyond stating the bleeding obvious, what question was that the answer to?
Gosh, quite the grump.It was a reply to an ongoing rambling 'conversation' with flashman. I shall endeavour to be more clear and concise, though i would think the subcontext and unwritten meaning of the brief comment was clear.
TheJimi said:
What context? You're giving an answer to a question that no-one asked.
As for everything being priced for a reason. Well, spank my arse call me Charlie, what a revelation!
It was a comment upon Flashmans findings, post various london locals speculation regarding the pricing of said property, on a an open thread, about property. Context enough? Shall I await your formal invitation to comment upon anything further, regarding anything, at all? Or should we just nicely move along?As for everything being priced for a reason. Well, spank my arse call me Charlie, what a revelation!
I never understand the argument for arguments sake on pistonheads sometimes, I can only assume wires get crossed in the written word and lack of emotion.
Slap.
Charlie.
I'm honestly not being argumentative, and I do, ironically enough, know exactly what you mean re arguing for the sake of it :-)
By context, I mean that A) it wasn't a question asked and B) do you really think it's a revelation to anyone?
Anyway, the thread is derailed enough and this is becoming a "thing" which I didn't really intend, so...back to the prawn :-)
By context, I mean that A) it wasn't a question asked and B) do you really think it's a revelation to anyone?
Anyway, the thread is derailed enough and this is becoming a "thing" which I didn't really intend, so...back to the prawn :-)
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