Who will buy these homes?

OldFrill

Allira

OldFrill

Allira

David49

A large number of houses that are vacated are in need of work, they may well be liveable but decorating over time most will need others much more work.
That is the advantage of a new build it’s ready to live in with no work needed.

But that's the point- no-one builds bungalows any more.

Here's some new build bungalows -
New build bungalows for Sale in Scotland | New Developments | OnTheMarket share.google/Jo3GOl68DLW4TXnCW

But I don't want to move to Scotland 😀
I like the first one though! Can it be moved here?

However, point taken, it must be this area which is anti-bungalow.

Goodness knows why - l thought you were in Scotland!

Nowhere near, OldFrill

And, sadly, I've never been.
A lot of my friends and acquaintances are Scottish but they migrated here 🙂

Allira

M0nica

Why is there aan assumption that if a house/bungalow is not brand new thaat it will be a wreck and need lots of work done on it.

We are serial home improvers and over our years of home owning have sold three properties varying in age from 75 years to over 550 years old, one this year and all were in immaculate condition, with modernup to date services. The same applied to my parent's bungalow. our last house was slow to sell because it was higher priced and the market was poorer, but all the others sold in days because they were in good order.

We have just bought a project house from owners just into their 50s and it is a mess.

That is our experience in the bungalows we have seen and looked at online.

It is not an assumption.

fwiw, I am helping with house/bungalow searches for two families.
Two separate[ish] areas.

I would say it is true of 3/4 of bunglaows. They need lots of work done to them.
Estate agents say "in need of modernisation". or "some modernisation".

That had me doing a quick Rightmove check on bungalows here currently for sale (officially that is - as I estimate about 50% of properties in this area are sold "unofficially" and never get near an estate agent). I've included bungalows proper up to dormer ones. The "officially" for sale ones currently:

6 - ready to move into (basically the more expensive ones)
2 - a noticeable amount of work to do
9 - LOTS of work to do

So round about 50% of the officially for sale ones where you have to call the builders in as soon as you move in - well I would anyway.....

None currently in the "you have gotta be kidding!" amount of work to do category.

fancythat

Allira

M0nica

Why is there aan assumption that if a house/bungalow is not brand new thaat it will be a wreck and need lots of work done on it.

We are serial home improvers and over our years of home owning have sold three properties varying in age from 75 years to over 550 years old, one this year and all were in immaculate condition, with modernup to date services. The same applied to my parent's bungalow. our last house was slow to sell because it was higher priced and the market was poorer, but all the others sold in days because they were in good order.

We have just bought a project house from owners just into their 50s and it is a mess.

That is our experience in the bungalows we have seen and looked at online.

It is not an assumption.

fwiw, I am helping with house/bungalow searches for two families.
Two separate[ish] areas.

I would say it is true of 3/4 of bunglaows. They need lots of work done to them.
Estate agents say "in need of modernisation". or "some modernisation".

People "do work" the moment they buy, even new builds.

CariadAgain

That had me doing a quick Rightmove check on bungalows here currently for sale (officially that is - as I estimate about 50% of properties in this area are sold "unofficially" and never get near an estate agent). I've included bungalows proper up to dormer ones. The "officially" for sale ones currently:

6 - ready to move into (basically the more expensive ones)
2 - a noticeable amount of work to do
9 - LOTS of work to do

So round about 50% of the officially for sale ones where you have to call the builders in as soon as you move in - well I would anyway.....

None currently in the "you have gotta be kidding!" amount of work to do category.

Out of 20 for sale around here - 10 have been reduced. The others have been added fairly recently.

Allira

CariadAgain

That had me doing a quick Rightmove check on bungalows here currently for sale (officially that is - as I estimate about 50% of properties in this area are sold "unofficially" and never get near an estate agent). I've included bungalows proper up to dormer ones. The "officially" for sale ones currently:

6 - ready to move into (basically the more expensive ones)
2 - a noticeable amount of work to do
9 - LOTS of work to do

So round about 50% of the officially for sale ones where you have to call the builders in as soon as you move in - well I would anyway.....

None currently in the "you have gotta be kidding!" amount of work to do category.

Out of 20 for sale around here - 10 have been reduced. The others have been added fairly recently.

Sorry, make that 31 bungalows on Rightmove, of which 17 have been reduced in price.

OldFrill

I wouldn't mind Blairgowrie but rather put off by the likely midge population. Currently fine in my 3 storey.

Why would Blairgowrie have a greater midge problem than any other place in the area?

Allira

CariadAgain

That had me doing a quick Rightmove check on bungalows here currently for sale (officially that is - as I estimate about 50% of properties in this area are sold "unofficially" and never get near an estate agent). I've included bungalows proper up to dormer ones. The "officially" for sale ones currently:

6 - ready to move into (basically the more expensive ones)
2 - a noticeable amount of work to do
9 - LOTS of work to do

So round about 50% of the officially for sale ones where you have to call the builders in as soon as you move in - well I would anyway.....

None currently in the "you have gotta be kidding!" amount of work to do category.

Out of 20 for sale around here - 10 have been reduced. The others have been added fairly recently.

I notice the "optimist sellers" here. The ones that seem to be looking more at other areas to decide what to price their house at - and then they hang on the market and hang on the market - as I watch the price come down steadily.

Like a lot of people - I keep an eye on the market thereafter. So I'm pretty au fait with what's available here and what is considered "at least good enough standard to buy" here. I can now pick out instantly at the time houses come on the market whether a house/etc will be deemed reasonable condition (or occasionally nice) and that will go pretty quickly.

My own came in the "you have gotta be kidding" level at the time I bought it - boy did it ever need LOADS of work and so was being a "hanger-onner" on the market. What I have realised subsequently is that some houses (including mine) are deliberately being left as "hanger-onner" on the market - while people locally are well aware they're for sale and are deliberately waiting it out for the vendor to reduce the price - and then they go "We intended to have it from Day 1 and were deliberately not viewing it - so the vendor thought there was no interest - but we were waiting and willing that vendor to reduce the price and then stop pretending we're not interested". That's certainly what happens here and I was unaware of that - as it's not something I've ever noticed happening where I'm from.

That's certainly not a very realistic way to operate I reckon - and I was very surprised to actually get told after I'd bought it that mine was on that "waiting list" and earmarked (yep....I was told - in so many words!!!!!!!!). I was gobsmacked anyone would realistically consider it for a moment - with its oil tank/tatty Rayburn/bodges throughout and absolutely stank of cigarette smoke and lots of it came straight out of the 1970s/1980s in style. People smile when they look at it now and tell me they like it - and I go "You shoulda seen it when I first came across it. Talk about a heartsink house".

Having lived here for many years, it's a question of location, location, location, CariadAgain
And also of layout, some are most peculiar and there seems that no adjustments could be made!

CariadAgain

That had me doing a quick Rightmove check on bungalows here currently for sale (officially that is - as I estimate about 50% of properties in this area are sold "unofficially" and never get near an estate agent). I've included bungalows proper up to dormer ones. The "officially" for sale ones currently:

6 - ready to move into (basically the more expensive ones)
2 - a noticeable amount of work to do
9 - LOTS of work to do

So round about 50% of the officially for sale ones where you have to call the builders in as soon as you move in - well I would anyway.....

None currently in the "you have gotta be kidding!" amount of work to do category.

Some do prefer not doing any work after purchase. A choice.

Allira

Having lived here for many years, it's a question of location, location, location, CariadAgain
And also of layout, some are most peculiar and there seems that no adjustments could be made!

Exactly so, IMO. You can change a lot about a house but you can't move it to another location.

When we bought our house it needed a lot of work, which we didn't really want, as we were both working and had two young children, but it was exactly what we were looking for, and the things on our 'dealbreaker' list were in short supply in the area we wanted, so we bought it. It was the right size, had a garage gardens and the right number of rooms, so we knew we could get it the way we wanted it, even though it was far from that when we exchanged contracts.

I think that is true for most people - we know where we want to live (if not the exact area then the facilities etc we'd like) and will compromise on other things to get it, which often means doing building work on the house, whether we like it or not.

Also, bungalows are often owned by older people who buy them in earlier old age, so may well need to be modernised to bring them up to scratch for the next generation of 'younger oldies' who will do them up then live in them without doing much else for years. (Not everyone, I know

Allira

Having lived here for many years, it's a question of location, location, location, CariadAgain
And also of layout, some are most peculiar and there seems that no adjustments could be made!

Yep location indeed is a very strong factor.

Basically why I bought the dump it was is that I looked around the area and thought "Boring", "rundown old-fashioned houses", etc, etc - and then thought "But it's going to Go Up/Up/Up" and these tatty, old-fashioned houses are going to be bought and renovated and it's going to become a very Good Area.

It has......there are even houses on their second renovation project work since I moved here.

Cynic me/sometimes intuitive me also had a reasonable idea that Something Bad was coming up that would have a negative impact on much of the country - and I didn't know the specifics of it until 2020 and then I saw what it was I'd been preparing for - but by the time Lockdown came I'd gone out and about around a year before it did so looking for places I could go for walks where vehicles couldn't go (cue in 2020 I found out those vehicles I was working out how to avoid were police cars - as they went up and down and up and down again around the town).

But I was pretty much as settled as I could be/work on the house as done as I had the money for by then.

Agree re the layout of some and I look online at lots of the houses and think "But that's so illogical!" about various things. I'm someone who even does my own little "time and motion" study on a place to make it run as efficiently as possible (I'm no "homemaker" LOL). The most illogical bit in this house is the kitchen was deliberately built around the Rayburn I promptly removed - so I was left with a big tall alcove where it had been (but it came in handy for a huge tall fridge and an even taller freezer that I bought and fits them quite nicely).

Doodledog

Allira

Having lived here for many years, it's a question of location, location, location, CariadAgain
And also of layout, some are most peculiar and there seems that no adjustments could be made!

Exactly so, IMO. You can change a lot about a house but you can't move it to another location.

When we bought our house it needed a lot of work, which we didn't really want, as we were both working and had two young children, but it was exactly what we were looking for, and the things on our 'dealbreaker' list were in short supply in the area we wanted, so we bought it. It was the right size, had a garage gardens and the right number of rooms, so we knew we could get it the way we wanted it, even though it was far from that when we exchanged contracts.

I think that is true for most people - we know where we want to live (if not the exact area then the facilities etc we'd like) and will compromise on other things to get it, which often means doing building work on the house, whether we like it or not.

Also, bungalows are often owned by older people who buy them in earlier old age, so may well need to be modernised to bring them up to scratch for the next generation of 'younger oldies' who will do them up then live in them without doing much else for years. (Not everyone, I know

I agree Doodledog, We bought when I was 16, location. We've modernised, had a conservatory built along the length of the back of our home, extended up with a Mansard addition. All necessary changes, over time.

Norah

CariadAgain

That had me doing a quick Rightmove check on bungalows here currently for sale (officially that is - as I estimate about 50% of properties in this area are sold "unofficially" and never get near an estate agent). I've included bungalows proper up to dormer ones. The "officially" for sale ones currently:

6 - ready to move into (basically the more expensive ones)
2 - a noticeable amount of work to do
9 - LOTS of work to do

So round about 50% of the officially for sale ones where you have to call the builders in as soon as you move in - well I would anyway.....

None currently in the "you have gotta be kidding!" amount of work to do category.

Some do prefer not doing any work after purchase. A choice.

Yep...and exactly what I would have bought if the opportunity had been there and I'd had the money for it.

Even by the standards of tradespeople from my own home area (ie they're reliable) I would have loved to move into a house I didn't have to do a thing to #sighs. If I'd known what many of the tradespeople are like for reliability here (ie it's called the "Pembrokeshire Promise" - as they promise and they promise - and they often don't do......) then even more so.

I'd have loved a place that didn't need so much as a paintbrush lifted....and, give a woman I chatted to whilst inspecting the area her due = she looked me up and down when I told her why I was on holiday in this area and promptly told me "You don't go for such-and-such area - my policeman husband is always up there for trouble....that's not for you.". Another look up and down and she said "Your houses for someone like you are in such-and-such area". Cue for me looking at the area she recommended for me and taking it as a compliment - some just built/others in the process/quite a "posh" estate and I could have got one that didnt need any work - but I'm single and so I couldnt afford it and bought the dump I actually got....

That sounds really frustrating! It does seem like something that could be handled more locally to save time and stress.

Most likely it was a condition of the Planning consent, that a proportion of the new homes were built for social housing.

They will be purchased by either Housing Associations or the local council, to house rental tenants.

I've been passing a local new development which includes, a block of small flats/ bedsits linked by a covered archway to a larger property which will accommodate the support workers. a team of paid carers working in shifts to support the inhabitants of the flats.