Opinions needed on potential house purchase

Opinions needed on potential house purchase

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Discussion

jgy6000

Original Poster:

199 posts

169 months

Friday 26th May 2017
quotequote all
Can I get some opinions on this property from the wider audience?

http://www.hortonestateagents.co.uk/properties-for...

I like the house and location wise it's spot on. It's a residential area with well kept properties. Garage and drive all good. The only thing causing doubt in my mind is the size of the rooms. Particularly the bedrooms...

What do people think/ how does it compare?

This will be the first house I buy as I have been renting up until now and it's just for me and the other half, no kids yet but likely in the next 5 years.

Thanks all

PositronicRay

26,957 posts

182 months

Friday 26th May 2017
quotequote all
Not huge, bedroom 4 is a box room/study.

Enough room for beds, as long as you don't need too much in the way of wardrobes/chests

If it were me

a) Main bedroom
b) Spare bedroom
c) dressing room
d) storage/study

But we do seem to have a lot of stuff.

ETA

Hasn't Leicester gone metric yet?

Edited by PositronicRay on Friday 26th May 20:17

PartOfTheProblem

1,927 posts

170 months

Friday 26th May 2017
quotequote all
Master bedroom at under 8ft wide is pathetic tbh.

PositronicRay

26,957 posts

182 months

Friday 26th May 2017
quotequote all
It ain't huge but people used to raise families in smaller. 2 up 2 down 12' sq rooms.

A bed is about 6' long so just enough space to walk round.

It's annoying how house builders make very awkward floor plans, all for the sake or cramming in an extra (useless) bedroom.
Turning it into a 3 bedder would make sense. (looks to around 80sq m)

Edited by PositronicRay on Friday 26th May 21:45

Ynox

1,702 posts

178 months

Friday 26th May 2017
quotequote all
The master bedroom is pointless. It's tiny even though it's an ensuite.

Agree this place would be better as a 3 bed rather than 4.

Otherwise it's a pretty nice house. The price has made me slightly jealous (similar property down here would be 500+k!).

The Moose

22,821 posts

208 months

Friday 26th May 2017
quotequote all
Looking at the floor plan, it's a funny old shape of a house - I'm not sure that space, anywhere, is being made best use of.

It does seem to offer good value for money - where I used to be in the UK - that'd be knocking on the 900+!!

Dr Mike Oxgreen

4,101 posts

164 months

Saturday 27th May 2017
quotequote all
Bedroom 1 is far too small to be your main 'living' bedroom. It would piss you off after a while being squeezed into that space. Two people would get in each other's way just trying to move around in it.

I think there are two options:

1) Use bedroom 2 as your master bedroom. It's a better size, albeit without en suite. Use bedroom 1 as a guest room.

2) Sacrifice bedroom 4, knocking down the wall between it and bedroom 1 (wall being probably only a stud and plasterboard wall). This would make bedroom 1 nice and big, albeit a strange shape. Sure, you'd be turning the house into a three bed house, but to be frank it's a bit marginal as a four bed. When selling you could always point out how easy it would be to restore the wall, or even do it yourself and sell it as a four bed.

Great value for money though!

Edited by Dr Mike Oxgreen on Saturday 27th May 07:09

PositronicRay

26,957 posts

182 months

Saturday 27th May 2017
quotequote all
Dr Mike Oxgreen said:
Bedroom 1 is far too small to be your main 'living' bedroom. It would piss you off after a while being squeezed into that space. Two people would get in each other's way just trying to move around in it.

I think there are two options:

1) Use bedroom 2 as your master bedroom. It's a better size, albeit without en suite. Use bedroom 1 as a guest room.

2) Sacrifice bedroom 4, knocking down the wall between it and bedroom 1 (wall being probably only a stud and plasterboard wall). This would make bedroom 1 nice and big, albeit a strange shape. Sure, you'd be turning the house into a three bed house, but to be frank it's a bit marginal as a four bed. When selling you could always point out how easy it would be to restore the wall, or even do it yourself and sell it as a four bed.

Great value for money though!

Edited by Dr Mike Oxgreen on Saturday 27th May 07:09
Bedroom 1 could knock into Bed 4, it'd make a decent size room with 2 x windows. Seal up the original doorway, then you could actually get into the ensuite without banging doors. And/or make a bigger ensuite with some storage.

When I see the layouts house builders come up with words fail me, a 5 y/o could do better!

GT03ROB

13,207 posts

220 months

Saturday 27th May 2017
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Nothing offensive or objectionable about it. It's typical of new builds. Compared to prices down south great value as well.

As a first house for 2 not bad at all. As a family house with 3 kids, needing 4 bedrooms ..... yikes

stuartmmcfc

8,653 posts

191 months

Saturday 27th May 2017
quotequote all
Ynox said:
The price has made me slightly jealous (similar property down here would be 500+k!).
You should see what you actually get for £500k around here!
House is near me and Glenfield's a nice area OP.

CubanPete

3,630 posts

187 months

Saturday 27th May 2017
quotequote all
PositronicRay said:
It ain't huge but people used to raise families in smaller. 2 up 2 down 12' sq rooms.

A bed is about 6' long so just enough space to walk round.

It's annoying how house builders make very awkward floor plans, all for the sake or cramming in an extra (useless) bedroom.
Turning it into a 3 bedder would make sense. (looks to around 80sq m)

Edited by PositronicRay on Friday 26th May 21:45
My two bed flat is about 90sqm.... About the same size as a small three bed...

wiggy001

6,542 posts

270 months

Saturday 27th May 2017
quotequote all
Agreed with the other posters. As a 3 bed it's a nice house which would suit a couple with regular guests or with 1 child. In that respect it is similar to our house. With a second child due at any time, we are converting the loft to give us a large master bedroom with en-suite, 2 double rooms and a small box room.


Dr Mike Oxgreen

4,101 posts

164 months

Saturday 27th May 2017
quotequote all
PositronicRay said:
Bedroom 1 could knock into Bed 4, it'd make a decent size room with 2 x windows. Seal up the original doorway, then you could actually get into the ensuite without banging doors. And/or make a bigger ensuite with some storage.
That's a very good point. Knocking through means you no longer need the existing doorway, and then you could extend the en suite to the right to bring the wall flush with the stairs. The en suite would be a much nicer size then.

8-P

2,756 posts

259 months

Saturday 27th May 2017
quotequote all
This really depends on your budget/circumstance is this top whack or just somewhere in the middle? Did you only expect to be able to afford a 3 bed in your budget? Really dependant on your position. That aside, it looks like a corner plot, it doesnt need much doing to it on the face of it, garage, reasonable drive, nice open plan kitchen living. Biggest neg for me is the garden is tiny, but that might be ok for you. A floor plan would be nice, I didnt spot one and knowing what direction is faces. If that garden is South - West ish itll be nice in the summer. Im not surprise the 4th bedroom is small, they nearly always are on this type of house.

Dr Mike Oxgreen

4,101 posts

164 months

Saturday 27th May 2017
quotequote all
I missed the floor plan as well at first. Scroll down below the gallery, and it's next to the EPC.

jgy6000

Original Poster:

199 posts

169 months

Saturday 27th May 2017
quotequote all
Thanks for all the feedback, it's much appreciated.

To answer a few questions, top budget would be £300k so depending on what the sellers would take we would have a bit of a saving on what we are willing to spend. Not looking for 4 beds specifically, just 3 or more.

The "master" bedroom we would have as a guest room and use bedroom two as our main room. Then the box room as a walk in wardrobe type of affair and the back bedroom as a bit of an office.

The garden we would be happy with, we both work a lot so a big garden that needs a lot of work although would be nice wouldn't be realistic for us and probably get out of hand.

Going for a second viewing on Monday so we're going to pay particular attention to the room sizes and take it from there.

The current owners have changed the downstairs layout quite a bit and the bit beyond the dinning table is an extension to the original house

Thanks all



Edited by jgy6000 on Saturday 27th May 21:38

CorradoTDI

1,432 posts

170 months

Saturday 27th May 2017
quotequote all
PositronicRay said:
Bedroom 1 could knock into Bed 4, it'd make a decent size room with 2 x windows. Seal up the original doorway, then you could actually get into the ensuite without banging doors. And/or make a bigger ensuite with some storage.

When I see the layouts house builders come up with words fail me, a 5 y/o could do better!
This. Check to see if it's a stud wall, if it is you could take it down and seal up the door, make good with some slight electrical adjustments for under a grand...

If you don't touch the en suite and used the door from B4 then that alcove you create could be a desk as it has a window, just drop some power down.

Also agree with second comment... where is the boiler? If in the garage then the AC should be above it next to the en suite and providing instant hot water but more money in the extra bedroom so the squeeze it in awkwardly into the corner of 2 rooms.

Looks well built, tidy and well presented though - get it bought!

Edited by CorradoTDI on Saturday 27th May 23:28

mikeiow

5,286 posts

129 months

Sunday 28th May 2017
quotequote all
Round the corner from us: Glenfield is (imho, having lived here 19 years!) a nice place: good play park down the road if/when you get young ones, easy access to motorway and City centre.
House looks fine, I like what they have done downstairs to make it a nice living space!
Good luck smile

PositronicRay

26,957 posts

182 months

Sunday 28th May 2017
quotequote all
CorradoTDI said:
PositronicRay said:
Bedroom 1 could knock into Bed 4, it'd make a decent size room with 2 x windows. Seal up the original doorway, then you could actually get into the ensuite without banging doors. And/or make a bigger ensuite with some storage.

When I see the layouts house builders come up with words fail me, a 5 y/o could do better!
This. Check to see if it's a stud wall, if it is you could take it down and seal up the door, make good with some slight electrical adjustments for under a grand...

If you don't touch the en suite and used the door from B4 then that alcove you create could be a desk as it has a window, just drop some power down.

Also agree with second comment... where is the boiler? If in the garage then the AC should be above it next to the en suite and providing instant hot water but more money in the extra bedroom so the squeeze it in awkwardly into the corner of 2 rooms.

Looks well built, tidy and well presented though - get it bought!

Edited by CorradoTDI on Saturday 27th May 23:28
It'd make a nice feature of the landing. Mixing one oldish piece in otherwise contemporary surroundings often works really well







Tomo1971

1,127 posts

156 months

Sunday 28th May 2017
quotequote all
Nothing much to add really other than whats said already, very strange layout but for where the house is in the UK, a good price.

Four beds have been squeezed into a space that should have had 3 decent bedrooms in it though.

If money wasn't an issue, and 3 bed was big enough (can the garage be converted to a bedroom at a later date if needed?), would using the door to B4 be an option and get rid of B1 door and widen the en-suite to the top of the stairs? I know the main issue is the size of the master but the en-suite does seem to be quite tiny too. Even joining B1 & B4 together, not sure you would have a decent space around the bed to get a table and to be able to get around it easily. Also, by doing this, the master would share a wall with B2 and so any nocturnal noises from the master WILL be heard in B2. As it stands, at least B4 will act as a sound barrier from the master and where I assume the kids will sleep (B2 & 3).

Downstairs is a nice flowing layout

We used to live in a ex LA house, two of the bedrooms were about 12 feet square and with having a super - king size bed, it had to go on a corner (so we could get in furniture/wardrobes) - it was a pain for the wife to keep clambering down the bed to get out. Obvious from the EA pics, that is what someone has to do at that house now. It will get boring very soon!