Show us your real estate pawn (Vol 4)

[okgo]

abzmike said:

Yes, that’s very nice. Seem to recall it was on that Scotland Home of the Year TV show a couple,of years back. Not shy with the piece though - there are plenty of country piles available for that kind of money around there.

The thing is, that's just a second home for someone from London, nobody wants a pile because they're a fking nightmare, especially with the weather you get up there. I reckon that's well done for what it is. Modern House as I may have said recently I think overpriced everything but about 20%.

I've said that I'll make a move back to near where I grew up in a few years, though this sort of thing is tempting me to do it earlier. Bit close to the road and no pool, but suppose you could install, mix of old and new is what I'd want, old only a bit of a pain to actually live in.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/111148628#/...

[loafer123]

okgo said:

The thing is, that's just a second home for someone from London, nobody wants a pile because they're a fking nightmare, especially with the weather you get up there. I reckon that's well done for what it is. Modern House as I may have said recently I think overpriced everything but about 20%.

I've said that I'll make a move back to near where I grew up in a few years, though this sort of thing is tempting me to do it earlier. Bit close to the road and no pool, but suppose you could install, mix of old and new is what I'd want, old only a bit of a pain to actually live in.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/111148628#/...

That is really quite lovely.

[okgo]

loafer123 said:

That is really quite lovely.

Half of the battle with such things is finding a village that will stay a village and not end up joining some ghastly overspill (like Hook and Alton which slowly always expanding in every direction). I think that village is protected, and there's a bat colony or something in the tunnel which means nobody is allowed to do very much, river one side, motorway not too far in the other hopefully means you'd buy it and it would stay as it is. All that's missing is a village shop!

[cayman-black]

dxg said:

This is just incredible. Love everything about it.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/110945225#/

Now that is nice and just shows millions is not always necessary. I like it a lot.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

cayman-black said:

dxg said:

This is just incredible. Love everything about it.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/110945225#/

Now that is nice and just shows millions is not always necessary. I like it a lot.

I like it too. As someone has said, it'll almost certainly be a bolt-hole for a wealthy punter - I'd do the same if I had a spare million knocking about.

[NickCQ]

loafer123 said:

okgo said:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/111148628#/...

That is really quite lovely.

Doesn't do it for me, I'm afraid. I'd want to rebuild the ugly extension, sort out the first floorplan and probably rebuild the garage. But then you'd be £2+ MM into an awkward house directly on a road with less than an acre of garden.

I don't know the area but I'd worry that your house is on the rat run / diversion when the M3 backs up between J5-6 (which is frequently).

[The Moose]

dxg said:

This is just incredible. Love everything about it.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/110945225#/

Looks nice, but struggling to see how much land comes with the house. I never understand why agents make that information hard to find.

[NickCQ]

The Moose said:

dxg said:

This is just incredible. Love everything about it.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/110945225#/

Looks nice, but struggling to see how much land comes with the house. I never understand why agents make that information hard to find.

The fact that the description says "private garden" rather than "grounds" or some other agent guff makes me think that you just get the little lawn at the side. I doubt the target market of second homers wants a load of land to worry about.

[okgo]

The Moose said:

Looks nice, but struggling to see how much land comes with the house. I never understand why agents make that information hard to find.

Probably isn't any? The garden you can see I'd have thought.

@nick - some fair points, not sure on the rat run element though. I think once the extension ages a bit externally it may be a little better. Our school which isn't too far away sprayed the roof and walls with some sort of yoghurt to age it more quickly They could have exmployed similar here.

[NickCQ]

okgo said:

not sure on the rat run element though

All I can say is that we used to have a client in Basingstoke and I've tried many creative strategies to go North out of there in rush hour

[ElectricSoup]

dxg said:

This is just incredible. Love everything about it.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/110945225#/

Would be a great ski chalet. I'd love to own that.

[TTmonkey]

okgo said:

The Moose said:

Looks nice, but struggling to see how much land comes with the house. I never understand why agents make that information hard to find.

Probably isn't any? The garden you can see I'd have thought.

@nick - some fair points, not sure on the rat run element though. I think once the extension ages a bit externally it may be a little better. Our school which isn't too far away sprayed the roof and walls with some sort of yoghurt to age it more quickly They could have exmployed similar here.

Extension is terrible. For too angular and modern.

The road can be a diversion for the M3 when it’s static, but it’s not a rat run. The M3 would have to be closed for it to be used. It’s not suitable as just a way of skirting around rush hour travel. Since the M3 traffic has been very much improved over the last few years, there is very little cause to avoid it other than when totally closed by accident (like it was last Thursday!)

[RichB]

okgo said:

<clip> I've said that I'll make a move back to near where I grew up in a few years, though this sort of thing is tempting me to do it earlier. Bit close to the road and no pool, but suppose you could install, mix of old and new is what I'd want, old only a bit of a pain to actually live in.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/111148628#/...

It looks nice but as you say it would be a pain to live with. The upstairs layout is certainly compromised. It is billed as a 6 bedroom house but only has two bathrooms upstairs and the ensuite is not only used by the master bedroom but also two other bedrooms, because the smallest bedroom cannot access the other bathroom without going through another bedroom. The garage is too small, 18x18 is about the minimum you really want.

[The Moose]

NickCQ said:

The Moose said:

dxg said:

This is just incredible. Love everything about it.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/110945225#/

Looks nice, but struggling to see how much land comes with the house. I never understand why agents make that information hard to find.

The fact that the description says "private garden" rather than "grounds" or some other agent guff makes me think that you just get the little lawn at the side. I doubt the target market of second homers wants a load of land to worry about.

Agreed on both points, however that's surely going to be on most peoples' list of questions. Why not make it easy for people?!

[okgo]

The Moose said:

Agreed on both points, however that's surely going to be on most peoples' list of questions. Why not make it easy for people?!

Ads are designed to generate intrigue. They want people in the house, not ruling it out from their computer. Bums on seats sell cars as they say.

[GT911]

okgo said:

loafer123 said:

That is really quite lovely.

Half of the battle with such things is finding a village that will stay a village and not end up joining some ghastly overspill (like Hook and Alton which slowly always expanding in every direction). I think that village is protected, and there's a bat colony or something in the tunnel which means nobody is allowed to do very much, river one side, motorway not too far in the other hopefully means you'd buy it and it would stay as it is. All that's missing is a village shop!

The whole village is a Conservation Area with 30 listed buildings or so along the main road. The house and church behind it are star listed and form the centrepiece of the protected character and views, so you'd be on a pretty safe bet that things should stay that way.

Despite that, I can't look at any property for sale these days which has a large open field right next to the house and not wonder what if, and what's the real reason they are selling. What if that field becomes a housing development, and what if that field becomes a traveller settlement overnight...

[GT911]

NickCQ said:

Doesn't do it for me, I'm afraid. I'd want to rebuild the ugly extension, sort out the first floorplan and probably rebuild the garage. But then you'd be £2+ MM into an awkward house directly on a road with less than an acre of garden.

I don't know the area but I'd worry that your house is on the rat run / diversion when the M3 backs up between J5-6 (which is frequently).

It's Grade II* listed in a conservation area with article 4 direction, good luck with your rebuild plans!

[NickCQ]

GT911 said:

It's Grade II* listed in a conservation area with article 4 direction, good luck with your rebuild plans!

Presumably you'd have some traction with the conservation officer to knock down the later additions and replace with something more sympathetic? Neither the garage nor the wing at the other end are particularly special. No experience myself though.

[okgo]

GT911 said:

The whole village is a Conservation Area with 30 listed buildings or so along the main road. The house and church behind it are star listed and form the centrepiece of the protected character and views, so you'd be on a pretty safe bet that things should stay that way.

Despite that, I can't look at any property for sale these days which has a large open field right next to the house and not wonder what if, and what's the real reason they are selling. What if that field becomes a housing development, and what if that field becomes a traveller settlement overnight...

All good reasons to go for a little more land. Not too much as then you have the traveler problem on your own lane. As we did in the 90’s down near Blounce..!

[GT911]

NickCQ said:

Presumably you'd have some traction with the conservation officer to knock down the later additions and replace with something more sympathetic? Neither the garage nor the wing at the other end are particularly special. No experience myself though.

Can't sleep, so I looked at the planning history.

Listed building status dated 1952.
Garage was added in the 70s.
Internal layout was modified 2007.
Conservatory/garden room was added 2008.
Master bed/dining room wing was added 2012.
Permission to repair/replace the roof was granted 2019.

It took 3 goes to get the new wing through planning, the first two attempts in 2011 were withdrawn, which is usually because you want to avoid a refusal.

The first attempt was an extension twice as long as what was granted, the second attempt was a design where the extension was attached to the garage. The approved design was essentially a replica of the previous half gable end, relocated 6 metres into the garden, so what you see is as 'sympathetic' as it gets, planning-wise.

The house sits by the entry to the church so you can be pretty sure that Wilfred and Doris of Greywell and a fair chunk of the Sunday congregation will be up in arms about any kind of revisit to the planning permissions.

Not an impossibility, but you would need a hefty dose of patience and money to throw at the planning process and be prepared to accept that you could be facing refusals for many years before anything was approved.

Edited by GT911 on Tuesday 3rd August 00:38