went to view a house - confused.

[PixelpeepS3]

we need help (me and other half)

I have bought a house before but it was my parents house so no need to make any decisions, it was cheap and i wanted to get on the ladder...

fast forward a few years, me and other half finally have enough deposit and a mortgage agreed to go look for our own place (have been renting)

So - this experience is completely new and scary.

Went to view a property last night in Cambridge. We like it, we like almost everything about it.

A bungalow, Its got a lovely big kitchen, it has offstreet parking for like 6 cars (the driveway down the side is only 6'6" wide so they'd have to be small cars!) Garden is a nice size & shape, has a small workshop with power/lighting and an electric full length shutter (guy used to have motorbikes and the side driveway goes all the way round to the end of the garden.)

We have two sticking points, 2 of the three bedrooms are smaller than average and its semi detached rather than detached.

Plus again, the place is finished to a really high standard and it comes in £18k under budget

I know this is really only a decision me and the OH can make but i'm not sure if uncertainty about the whole process is clouding our judgement and stopping us putting in an offer..

heart says yes head says... you need to think about it more.

we would be moving from Hornchurch in Essex so there will be a fairly major upheaval in our lives (her traveling into London each day etc)

anyone got any advice?

[PixelpeepS3]

yajeed said:

Where abouts in Cambridge?

Soham, in Ely

[PixelpeepS3]

hi all, thank you so much for the replies - i was expecting to get flamed with 'only you will know if its right..'

to add: we don't have any children and this is literally the first house we have looked at in person, but spent many many hours discounting properties online..

floor plan is ..

[PixelpeepS3]

Borroxs said:

Floor plan has the main living room and your bedroom against the party wall. That's a bit of a negative.

As its a bungalow I'm going to guess its pretty old, probably has proper thick wall between the two houses?

If you've no kids then then bed 2 & 3 are in effect spare rooms. Looking at it, you can get a double bed in Bedroom 2 I think. So the two bedrooms aren't particularly small, they're just not generous.

What do you want to do with this home long term? You don't say how old you are or if kids are on the cards.

If it was my home, and as we are now approaching 50, I'd convert it to a 2 bed house with generous en-suites and lose the main bathroom all together. But as we don't really know whats important to you, its hard to say if its right for you or not.

If one of the main draws is the workshop and parking, well, most houses out in the sticks a bit can have these added if not already there.


You cant tell if your neighbours are going to be a problem with it being semi. Its possible. But lots of detached houses have neighbours from hell, so the neighbour issue is moot. A neighbour 20 yards away that has parties or perhaps noisy teenagers every weekend can be much more of a problem than two OAPs that you never hear from in a semi.

thanks for this - very helpful.

Kids are not on the cards, we are both in our late 30's - one thing to note about the driveway down to the work shop... its 6' 6" wide according to the current owners which is 1981.2mm - and our current car is 1966mm wide

15.2mm spare in total 7mm per side - i would say that entire side is a bit pointless for us.. i have crudely adapted the floor plan with the exterior layout.

[PixelpeepS3]

Borroxs said:

Folding wing mirrors is going to give you enough - do you have that handy electric feature?

no. and don't even get me started on Audi's Standard vs extra equipment.

Got heated leather and nav standard but no parking sensors or folding mirrors.

[PixelpeepS3]

why soham ?

My partners sister and husband, along with a little niece and nephew live in the town. Ely (4.7 miles) station has direct links into London, house prices are still reasonable, people are (generally) pleasant enough, less traffic, less pollution, less crime, broadband speeds are good (up to 79m)

I long to live in a place where eye contact doesn't automatically = a puncture wound.

[PixelpeepS3]

the neighbour on the attached wall is a bed bound lady who has a care worker and son/daughter who visit regularly - i guess the concern would be more the noise WE make given our front room (and bedroom) are on the joining wall and we have recently splashed out on sonos subs and play:1/play:3's etc..

[PixelpeepS3]

The Don of Croy said:

PixelpeepS3 said:

why soham ?

My partners sister and husband, along with a little niece and nephew live in the town. Ely (4.7 miles) station has direct links into London, house prices are still reasonable, people are (generally) pleasant enough, less traffic, less pollution, less crime, broadband speeds are good (up to 79m)

I long to live in a place where eye contact doesn't automatically = a puncture wound.

Highlighted bits of interest - when it does happen, it happens big time.

Other than that, there's a lot going for it. (My parents have lived across the fens for 25+ years and driving through there on a summers evening is really quite pleasant...if a little flat.)

we are painfully aware of that - the inlaws lived next door to Huntly (they are still there). - they are right next to the school (across the stream)

[PixelpeepS3]

QuickQuack said:

Depends on if you prefer to do things up yourself slowly or you want something finished inside but personally, I would prefer this by stretching myself a tiny bit +/- try to negotiate a bit on the price:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...

3 decent sized bedrooms - check
Detached - check
Off street parking - check
Get out of your car when you're on your drive - check
Garage which you can use as a workshop - check
Garden - check
Outside / local area - looks good, better than the other one if anything
Inside - needs some work, some, including me, would prefer to buy in this sort of state anyway. Liveable but modernise to your own taste without ripping out brand new stuff.

Hi All,

thank you each and every one of you for the advice - we have decided not to make an offer - the reason - pretty much everything that was suggested - "if you have to think about it, the answer is no"

we were caught up in the romance - the kitchen was lovely and the standard was good.

also - it was in 'speed lane' - im gutted.. would love to have answered that when a traffic cop asks where do i live....

here is a link to the original property if anyone is interested.. looks a dog from outside but our thoughts were we could spend a few grand tarting that up - glad we didn't now..

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope... - original property

to QuickQuack - we are going to see that place tomorrow, it was already on our radar - its been on rightmove since july so an an offer <£20k seems in order

[PixelpeepS3]

So, we have made an offer on that other property..

[PixelpeepS3]

twokcc said:

PixelpeepS3 said:

So, we have made an offer on that other property..

Looks good and potential to improve to make a large kitchen/diner by removing dividing wall when kitchen needs a refurb.

yeh that is exactly the intention... every room needs extensive modernisation - we have reflected this in the offer