How much extra would you pay for this??

[Staz]

I'm after some genuine advice on this please guys.

Right now I am house hunting and have found a really nice place where I would love to live. Well actually I have found 2, they're right next door to each other and are of course a mirror image of each other.

The only real difference between them is the garage location. The garages for both places are together on one side of the plot. Here's a crappy pic I just knocked up:

Just in case you don't know what you're seeing here we have the road at the bottom, then a strip of grass a path and then the 2 houses. Let's call them house A and B. To the right is then a driveway leading to the garages next to house B. The driveway also leads to about 4 other houses on the same patch.

In front of each garage is also a parking space.

So you can now see the obvious difference in the parking situation. To get to the garage from A you need to go either around the front of the house or to the end of the garden, through a gate and around the garages. With B it's a little closer the front way of course but also you can go out the back and straight into the garage. I'm not sure if there's also a gate from the garden but if not I'd fit one.

It's when you look at things like running a hose to the driveway or an extension lead even there's obviously a massive benefit in having house B, but how much is that worth??

I have had an offer accepted on house A but B have turned down that offer plus £2k. I have made a second offer this morning and added a further 1.5k and am waiting for an answer but I fear it'll be turned down too.

There are a few circumstantial factors involved too, such as one place is empty and the other not but both of those have their pluses and minuses so it's not that clear cut and I don't really want to go into that.

All I'm asking is how much would YOU pay just for the garage to be next door to the house?

Thanks

 

[HotboxDeluxe]

I wouldn't want to pay what you've offered so far! I'd stick with the 3.5k as it stands, I know it would be loads more convenient but how much do you want to pay for your convenience versus feeding the sellers greed?

 

[MG]

Hi Leon
I'm probably being thick here, but I can't quite work out the diagram. However, I get the drift of what you're saying.

Personally, I think it'd be nicer to to jhave the garage next doo as this would make it easier to get power in there if it isn't already, and it'd be a little more convenient. However, I don;t think I'd pay more than an extra couple of grand unless there are other benefits with the house.

It depends how long you want to live there for, too. If it's relatively short term I'd save the money and live the slight inconvenience, if it's long term and it's going to bug you everytime you go to the garage etc then perhaps the extra is worth paying!

Probably not a helpful answer in making a decision - sorry! I wouldn't rush it too much anyway, it still seems to be a buyers market.

 

[Staz]

Here's the aerial shot if that helps Martin:

I'm planning to live there for potentially 10 years. I'd like to move sooner but I'm trying to be realistic and am already spending more than I planned to get a nicer place that I could stay in for even longer if I needed to.

As you say Martin, getting power in there would be a pain, they already have a small solar panel to power the internal light.

There's more to it of course but I would like to hear others peoples' thoughts on it in it's basic form.

 

[Ads]

I wouldn't pay £3.5k to have the garage next door, but then that's because I doubt I would need to stretch hoses etc to garage. And even if I did I wouldn't pay that much for the pleasure.
And in some ways I wouldn't want my house/garden right next to a garage and a driveway.
What's the privacy like for house B's garden to the driveway.
Also looks like there's a bit less light (more shadow) in B's garden.

What's to the left of house A??

From the photo house A looks better positioned to me. Just looks like there's a whole lot more going on on the side of house B... i.e. drives, garages, other houses, cars(but maybe that's just down to what we can see in the photo).

Anyway, in response to your question.... I'd pay a grand, max.

 

[MG]

Yes, that helps - cheers! My preference would be to have the garage next to the house and I would probably pay up to £5K more for that privilege if i was planning on staying there for 10 years or so. 10 years is quite a while and a long time to wish you had spent a bit more money to get the house with the garage next door.

 

[Nutkin]

i prefer to have the garage as far from the house as possible, that way i cant smell the bodies.

 

[HotboxDeluxe]

 

[unkle]

Cant really tell how big these houses are, if they are a bit pokey and you have lots of items and feel having the garage closer would make life easier then go for the house with the closer garage, if all your going to do is store your car, mountain bikes, lawn mowers etc etc in there then save your cash and spend a small amount on some quality retractable hose's, extension cables etc etc. Youre maybe spending £3.5k upfront but then your going to be paying interest on this money too.

Personally, I'd go for the closer garage, put electrics and a fridge in there and use it as a place to retreat to when Mrs Staz goes on the warpath

 

[Staz]

i prefer to have the garage as far from the house as possible, that way i cant smell the bodies.

The bodies of the iTunes account thieves?

I can imagine that a lot of people (my girlfriend included) wouldn't really care about the garage location. One flat I was looking at had the garage about 100m away. I Am happy to pay more but I'm not sure how much it's worth extra. Not how much it's worth to me but how much to how many people so that I know if I'd recoup it on the resale.

What's the privacy like for house B's garden to the driveway.
Also looks like there's a bit less light (more shadow) in B's garden.

What's to the left of house A??

From the photo house A looks better positioned to me. Just looks like there's a whole lot more going on on the side of house B... i.e. drives, garages, other houses, cars(but maybe that's just down to what we can see in the photo).

The fence around both gardens is about 6 foot so privacy isn't an issue really.

To the left of house A is the end of the back garden from the houses on the street around the corner. There's a channel between the fences as they were built by different builders.

The driveway for others being next to house B doesn't really impact on it for me TBH.

One extra thing to note though is that although there's the parking space in front of the garage, with house B you actually get more space in front of that space too i.e. right next to the house.

 

[Staz]

Cant really tell how big these houses are, if they are a bit pokey and you have lots of items and feel having the garage closer would make life easier then go for the house with the closer garage, if all your going to do is store your car, mountain bikes, lawn mowers etc etc in there then save your cash and spend a small amount on some quality retractable hose's, extension cables etc etc. Youre maybe spending £3.5k upfront but then your going to be paying interest on this money too.

Personally, I'd go for the closer garage, put electrics and a fridge in there and use it as a place to retreat to when Mrs Staz goes on the warpath

Lol

Yeah with house B there's the potential for useful storage to be had such as a freezer. Walking around to the garage for house A, opening the front door, squeezing past the car and then walking back with a bag of chips doesn't sound like fun to me.

The houses were built in 2005 and bigger than average houses of that era. If I add the room dimensions together the house is approx. 8 metres long.

 

[Nutkin]

id go for the closer garage and run power too it.

easier to work on the car then, Biggest thing i hated about my flat is no garage to work on the car. but thats what the parents place is for but ive run out fo room in the back garden hiding the ex girlfriends.

 

[jojo]

I would pay the little extra and have the garage closer, but only if you think you can get a higher value back come resale time, like will the property always be worth the extra 3-5k for the convenience?

 

[Les 51]

I'd def pay extra for the convinience of the garage, looking at what you've got 3.5k is pretty much top I'd go for I think.
My garage is quite a long way away and got no electric and is fine for storage but no good for working in the car!

 

[pns2007]

I would prefer the garage closer to my house (ie B), everything would be so much easier, you could also use the garage wall as support etc for a shed or garden/summer house etc (by the way the sun shines in the garden).

If your unsure about values (and you say the houses were built in 2005), do a land registry search on both properties to see what the orignal price of each was when they were sold (compare the difference in price if you catch my drift) £4 each search for a copy of the register, it may or may not show the info you need.

https://www.landregistry.gov.uk/wps/portal/Property_Search

Hope this helps

 

[Staz]

I actually found this site at the weekend:

http://www.houseprices.co.uk

Although I'm not sure how accurate it is though. I checked my parents' houses and my sisters and they're all bang on but when I check these 2 houses when they were new there's a £25k difference between them!!

Can a few people let me know on the accuracy of the site please? I have checked their more recent sale prices and with a 5 month gap in 2007 there was a £10k difference in price!

 

[Ads]

I actually found this site at the weekend:

http://www.houseprices.co.uk

Although I'm not sure how accurate it is though. I checked my parents' houses and my sisters and they're all bang on but when I check these 2 houses when they were new there's a £25k difference between them!!

Can a few people let me know on the accuracy of the site please? I have checked their more recent sale prices and with a 5 month gap in 2007 there was a £10k difference in price!

Yeah mate, they should all be spot on with the sale prices as they get the data from the land registry.

The price they hold for my property is correct to the pound. Also for every other property I've ever checked.

I usually use www.ourproperty.co.uk . You need to register (for free) to gain access to ALL historic records and some properties have surveys (basic) you can view also.

I also use www.nethouseprices.com but I find the first site I mentioned the best.

 

[pns2007]

Well that site is spot on for the three houses sold in my street.

Land Registry info will definately be correct as its probably the source of most of this information.

If they were 25K difference when new and 10K difference in 2007 then you have your answer really.

I would go higher than the 3.5K already offered but try and work out the percentages and the current depreciation in houses over the last 2 years from the value in 2007

 

[Staz]

Wow that's unbelievable!

I need to do some thinking then....

 

[Nutkin]

Spot on for my flat also nice to know the one bellow me just sold for 18k more than i payed

 

[Staz]

Hopefully I'll get an answer on my offer today. If it's a no I think I'll wait until the end of the week and add another £500.

Spot on for my flat also nice to know the one bellow me just sold for 18k more than i payed

I bet that's made your day!

 

[unkle]

Hopefully I'll get an answer on my offer today. If it's a no I think I'll wait until the end of the week and add another £500.

Any reason why both houses are for sale?

 

[Ads]

Any reason why both houses are for sale?

Private parking planning permission wasn't granted so the garages are to be pulled down.

 

[jojo]

Any reason why both houses are for sale?

And why is the cheaper one empty?

 

[Ads]

How many owners since new??
You say they were built in 2005 and bought I assume, and then changed ownership in 2007 at roughly the same time (five months apart), and now they are both up for sale again at the same time in 2009.
Seems a bit on the strange side, thinking about it now.

Can the estate agent give you any background on the reasons for sale??

 

[Staz]

Too many questions!! lol

Ok, no idea why both are for sale at the same time. They were both sold within a week of each other in Feb 2005. House A was resold Aug the same year. House B was then sold July 2005 and A in Dec. The interesting thing is none of the other 3 houses of the same sort in the same little estate have been resold since new!

But the lady living in house A has split with her fella who is now in Australia. Not sure on house B but that's the one that's empty. I'll ask next time I speak to the estate agents.

 

[Ads]

That's a lot of sales in a short space of time.
I'd definitely do some digging.

You tried googling the address to see what comes up??
I've done it in the past for a property I was interested in and managed to get hold of the minutes of council meetings regarding land and social problems.
Even better if you can get hold of the names of previous owners (which I also managed to find thanks to google).

 

[Essflee]

There are obviously pros and cons to btoh houses, having the garage makes it easier for cleaning your car or off loading the shopping, but what I will say that it can also depend on who moves in next door, if the neighbours have 2 or more cars and your in the house next to drive you could feel a little penned in with the neighbours constantly walking past and looking in your front window...My dad is in a similar situation withhis house...

Just something to think about really...

 

[Staz]

I didn't find anything on either house with Google so no answers there.

My offers has been turned down. She's given the figure she wants and that's ANOTHER 3.5K on top. She's stated that if she doesn't get that for it she's not bothered she'll just rent it out again. Another estate agent has told me it's not worth that amount so I would be paying out just for my own benefit of having the garage next door.

 

[Ads]

So she wants £7k more than the offer you put in for house A?

That's the problem with buying from people who don't really have to sell. They tend to want more than they really should.

Although, that is the oldest one in the book.... "I don't need to sell, I'll just rent it out!"
Heard that so many times when I was looking for a place to buy.
In fact, I checked the sale price of a property I had an offer refused on. A couple of months later he sold it for £2k less than I offered after rejecting my offer on the grounds that if he doesn't get £4k more than my offer he'd just "rent it out"!

Could she be bluffing?? Hard to know really.

What's the absolute MAX extra you would pay over the offer you put in for house A? If it's more than you have already offered then maybe get your estate agent to put that offer in and tell him to make it VERY CLEAR to the seller that this is your final offer and all you can afford and if rejected then you'll buy the property next door which you have already had an offer excepted on.

If she accepts then the only other thing you would need to worry about is being gazumped because by the sounds of it she would be open to a good gazumping!

 

[Nutkin]

see this is wher eid get ****** off buy the one next door and just run a power cable through her garden to the shed ! possibly treading on her cat while doing it.

 

[Staz]

I've already used the place next door as leverage and that hasn't made any effect.

I'm in the worst possible situation really. House A is 99% perfect and she's desperate to sell so it's accepting an offer 7k down on the asking price. House B was up for 3k more but is clearly less desperate to sell (to rent or not she's still turned down a good offer).

I need to think about it but I may offer another 1.5k. That's 5k down on the asking price then and as far as I would ever go.

The silly thing is if I'd offered that a week ago and it was accepted then it wouldn't be a problem, it's only that next door has accepted such a lower offer it makes it harder to turn down.

 

[NHN]

TBH, its rather obvious why house B is best for you overall, hopefully I read it right, do you want the hassle of the neighbour constantly driving in out with you doing stuff to your car if you have the A garage, maybe cables or water pipes across there parking area etc etc, I assume this is the point about the garage being next to you, sometimes the extra cost is seriously outweighed by the how much stress that you would have alleviated by paying the extra amount, for me garage next to my house would be so much easier for a variety of reasons, ease of access, car next to house, easily run water, cables etc to, etc etc, 3.5k isnt that much to pay extra for also peace of mind, plus you have a link through the garden to it with a side access door, so no need to keep opening the front up all the time or going out front door, stick a freezer in the back etc etc, its a no brainer for choice of property, only question to yourself really is, can I afford it & how much more shall I pay

Are there any issues with the path at the front with people constantly walking past etc, late night friday pissheads, is it a frequently used route, school kids, etc etc, all to be considered these days

 

[Staz]

The limit on how much I CAN pay hasn't been reached really so it's all down to how much I want to pay for that place specifically.

There's no doubting that it's a better option having the garage next door I just resent paying a premium for it when the person I sell it onto may not be so bothered, hence asking on here. It's encouraging that so many would consider paying more though.

The entire estate is pretty well off and as far as I have seen on numerous viewings and drive bys the pathway is mostly empty and there are no pubs or schools THAT nearby.

 

[Ads]

see this is wher eid get ****** off buy the one next door and just run a power cable through her garden to the shed ! possibly treading on her cat while doing it.

OR.... talk her into joining as.net, then tell her to accept your offer or you'll ban her.

 

[NHN]

I dont see why you're worried about what the next person will pay, with properties they go up & down, in the 10 years you are saying you would be there, it could go up & down several times, its 10 years Staz, not 6 months-1 year, why worry about that now, pay a fair price that makes you comfortable owning it & happy you chose the right one for the features etc it has, you obviously know the one you want, dont settle for something just cause its cheaper, you'll always curse the day you did, trust me

 

[quattrojames]

Where is the sun in relation to the garden? I'm inclined to agree that it's preferable to getting the garage next to the house, but its also nice to have a sunny garden. Without knowing where North is on the map - ( I imagine that the rear of the house is N facing looking at the aerial view...?) - it would be a pita if you never got any evening sun in the garden due to the location of the garage.

That aside, or if that doesn't bother you. then I would opt for the plot B too I think, hard to put a value on it though. As I'm sure you know estate agents will lie and decive to maximise their income, so don't get fished in

 

[jojo]

I've got an idea!

Why don't you buy both, and rent house A out and live in house B, and tell the tennants in house A there's no garage!

 

[Ads]

I've already used the place next door as leverage and that hasn't made any effect.

I'm in the worst possible situation really. House A is 99% perfect and she's desperate to sell so it's accepting an offer 7k down on the asking price. House B was up for 3k more but is clearly less desperate to sell (to rent or not she's still turned down a good offer).

I need to think about it but I may offer another 1.5k. That's 5k down on the asking price then and as far as I would ever go.

The silly thing is if I'd offered that a week ago and it was accepted then it wouldn't be a problem, it's only that next door has accepted such a lower offer it makes it harder to turn down.

Hold on, let me get the maths right.....

House A accepted £7k down on asking price, and House B had an asking price £3k higher. So £10k difference between House A acceptance and House B asking price. BUT your highest offer on House B will be £5k below asking price... therefore you're willing to pay £5k more for house B than you have to on house A. But the seller of House B wants £7k more than accepted offer on house A.

How much does an extra £7k on your mortgage increase your monthly payments by?? About another £50 per month (capital and interest.... or about half that in just interest.)
Use this calculator to work it out for both repayment and interest only type mortgages http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/mortgage-calculator
I found it to be the most accurate and useful one for me.

If you've got your heart set on House B (which it sounds like you have) it's not THAT bad when you look at it like that.
There was a time not too long ago when people had to pay more than the asking price to secure a purchase.

 

[RAPS3]

Staz on reading all of the above and answering your question simply, I'd go for the garage near the house and depending on both houses being similar in construction, quality of work, work required inside etc. I'd probably pay up th £7k to be honest.

It will make that much difference to you having the garage close by. Just for hoses, electrics, ease of access, plus the extra parking space near the house.

If you were not interested in cars and had a rot box that you just dumped in place then it wouldnt matter much, but you dont. I'd say go for it.