It's a great pity I can't take photos of the houses I am seeing on our quest for the perfect extended family home. The last was probably the best and I couldn't sleep for thinking about it, moving us in, getting myself settled, utilising its potential. It's a shame because it's really too soon to be finding The One. There is a VERY long way to go before we are even in the field. To sell in Scotland now one needs to buy a survey first, £475 for this place I'm told. That sounded harsh but then I remembered that it avoids the need to pay for surveys on houses viewed, which could easily add up to more if one or two fell through. The surveyor has lots of influence over the asking price as his/her valuation is seen upfront and is usually set as the 'Offers Over' price. Maybe it's the same in England. I'm not sure. Anyway, it's new to me and does make one think carefully before putting something on the market. If for any reason a house is withdrawn for more than 4 weeks a new survey has to be paid for!
The house that so excited is 30 years old, designed by and built for the present owners. The husband was an engineer so it should be structurally sturdy. It's surrounded by almost an acre of completely wild woodland and the couple are keen on their privacy so the hedges are towering 20' high leylandii which could do with a cut. There is an outside office with lighting and heating, suitable for Chloe's practice I think. On the 1st floor there are 2 en suite bedrooms and an enormous living room so as to make the most of the views (not quite visible above the leylandii!) On the ground floor is a fully appointed kitchen, morning room, another living room with doors onto the garden (happily mostly lawn and established shrubs) and two bedrooms with a separate bathroom. On the mezzanine between the front and rear of the house there is a vast (I'm not exaggerating here, it's far bigger than any single room in my present house) entrance hall with a plain teal carpet (just the place for Kes, Iain's gorgeous long coated Alsation to roll off her mud!) A utility room, and a small stairway to an interesting attic room which would be excellent for Sandy. The decor (teal carpet included) is a bit dated but clean so we could ignore it. We might need more furniture.
Mustn't get too attached. But of course I am.
2 comments:
Sounds great. I think we have similar survey laws here now, also leylandi laws about how high they can be grown..........the house does sound perfect, tho i could do with 2 kitchens so I could make my own messes without fear. How many bathrooms? probably loads. When we sold our Victorian the estate agent said the same thing as to yours "ooooh different", and then proceeded to over price it, which held us up for ages, so i suggest a second opinion.
Yup, I found out from Costa that the pre-sale survey is in force in England so all that blah was for nothing!!.
Yes, I would like my own kitchen but as we're we're in a holding pattern again I've got lots of time to think.
Re the agents, I suspect they will try to underprice rather than overprice as they want sales in what's a slow market.
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