My kid’s moving out! House buying.

[pirate]

Many years ago, in a previous house, I refitted 3 bathrooms. The main one had a nice whirlpool bath with taps midway along one side.
It was not a big bathroom. The bath was 1.8m and the wall was 1.9m so just enough space to fit the bath below the window. It took a while to juggle the bath into position, but I was really happy with it because the taps were in the middle, not at the outside wall, but in the room. Also, the big pump/motor assembly was at the RHS, so if it ever failed, it was accessible by opening up the plasterboard wall on the landing, so everything was fixable.
SWMBO said "NO!" the taps must be against the wall...meaning pre-assembling the H and C feeds...and the pump would be against an inaccessible wall. I took the bath out, assembled the piping etc and slotted the bath into position...
My wife took her first bath in the newly finished bathroom and after bathing she used the taps to haul herself upright...and the tap rotated...I can only say I was fortunate because the push-fit connectors didn't ever leak, and I superglued the tap base to the bath...but 2 years later the pump failed and all the fitted units had to be removed, then the bath and some of the tiling...basically the whole bathroom had to be re-done.
Trust me, it's just not possible to replace/service taps fitted midway along a bath if that side of the bath is against the wall...
Unless you have access from behind that wall or from below. It may not be so stylish, but taps at the end of a bath are much easier to work on.

 

[pirate]

Oh, and she wanted an electric shower over the bath...but that is another story!

 

[littlespark]

We put the offer in on Friday, a good 10% less than the asking price…(considering it’s been on the market since September) but we haven’t heard back today…. So either;

1. The sellers are disgusted with the offer, and aren’t responding to such an insult. Or

2. They are seriously thinking about it.

Either way, it’s not a “no”



More thoughts on the plans, and I’m thinking this wall I want to remove is brick….. so structural engineer and an RSJ? Or, is it not actually holding anything up?




This space at the window was an outside store… so there has already been a brick wall removed, and RSJ added from the end of the chimney to the top wall…. (Marked grey on plan)
So if that wall (and now RSJ) was supporting joists… is it likely the other wall, which is running perpendicular, isn’t supporting anything? (The red bit)

I should have paid more attention to the floorboards.
Downstairs boards are running front to back… so joists left to right…. Do upstairs boards normally run the same way, or at right angles to the bottom floor?

I may be putting in a partition wall further forward from that position… to the other end of the chimney breast, just to give the kitchen more space… or I might leave it open.

Another thought is that where the outside store was will be a concrete floor…. Rather than floorboards elsewhere…. Then the thought of, could it have been an asbestos ceiling in there?

Home report hasn’t brought that up.

 

[Simon47]

I don't think there's any rule, and I've seem houses where different rooms have different directions for joists. Or even different ways within a room !
My guess is that the wall between hallway & kitchen/lounge ran all the way to back wall, and joists run left to right as the plan is shown.

 

[littlespark]

I KNOW the downstairs boards run front to back... theres no carpets down, and a i lifted a loose board on viewing to check space under.... What i didnt check was wether that back area was concrete or not.

For a 50 year old ex council house, im pretty certain the joists will run uniformly left to right downstairs.... but upstairs.... i just have an inkling it goes the other way.... ie front to back

 

[James]

We put the offer in on Friday, a good 10% less than the asking price…(considering it’s been on the market since September) but we haven’t heard back today…. So either;

1. The sellers are disgusted with the offer, and aren’t responding to such an insult. Or

2. They are seriously thinking about it.

Either way, it’s not a “no”



More thoughts on the plans, and I’m thinking this wall I want to remove is brick….. so structural engineer and an RSJ? Or, is it not actually holding anything up?

View attachment 119477


This space at the window was an outside store… so there has already been a brick wall removed, and RSJ added from the end of the chimney to the top wall…. (Marked grey on plan)
So if that wall (and now RSJ) was supporting joists… is it likely the other wall, which is running perpendicular, isn’t supporting anything? (The red bit)

I should have paid more attention to the floorboards.
Downstairs boards are running front to back… so joists left to right…. Do upstairs boards normally run the same way, or at right angles to the bottom floor?

I may be putting in a partition wall further forward from that position… to the other end of the chimney breast, just to give the kitchen more space… or I might leave it open.

Another thought is that where the outside store was will be a concrete floor…. Rather than floorboards elsewhere…. Then the thought of, could it have been an asbestos ceiling in there?

Home report hasn’t brought that up.

house i am hoping to buy at the moment.
1st offer was 13% under the asking price.
they came back with a figure 9% under the asking price.
we have settled on that.
I might have pushed more but I have a wife that has started to make plans that now can not be upset!!

I dont think your original offer was insulting.

 

[brianmoooore]

For a 50 year old ex council house, im pretty certain the joists will run uniformly left to right downstairs.... but upstairs.... i just have an inkling it goes the other way.... ie front to back

Largest downstairs area is the living room. The span here sets the size of the joists for the whole place, if the upstairs floor and downstairs ceilings are to al be on the same levels.
The room is rectangular and well off of square, so the joists would preferably go across the shortest way, which would allow smaller joists. It looks like there's a load bearing downstairs wall, originally running from front to back, carrying the joists from each side, with a trimmer between what may be double joists, forming the stairwell.
The upstairs floorboards will then, of course, run front to back.

 

[littlespark]

So it was 1. Disgusted with the offer…

Sellers are in no hurry to sell, so are holding out for asking price.

Which wasn’t surprising, but was all she can afford.

We’ll knock this project on the head just now, wait until there’s more choice.


Other options more in town are maybe smaller, don’t have parking or are already done up. There would be little needing done to them to increase value for future resale.


Thanks everyone for advice




Edit.
Youngest has now had a 3rd unconditional offer for uni…. This time for Aberdeen, which is her top choice and where her biggest sister went.

 

[UNG]

So it was 1. Disgusted with the offer…

Sellers are in no hurry to sell, so are holding out for asking price.

Which wasn’t surprising, but was all she can afford.

We’ll knock this project on the head just now, wait until there’s more choice.


Other options more in town are maybe smaller, don’t have parking or are already done up. There would be little needing done to them to increase value for future resale.


Thanks everyone for advice

Did they not make a counter offer or is there no room for negotiation with the sellers especially with the costs of maintaining what looks like a vacant property
Having gone through the chaos of helping my daughter purchase a property under the Scottish system last year I always looked for feedback from the estate agents to get a feel for the local market prices as it was the property she bought came about because the higher bidders pulled out and she raised her offer slightly after some negotiation with the sellers agent

From the pictures the property looks empty and reminds me of when my son was looking to buy a house down in the Telford area, at a similar time of year the property owner had more or less moved out but because it was winter had to keep the property heated the property had been on the market from the previous August and despite a few viewings no offers had been made. It was up for offers over £202,000 IIRC we made an offer of £195,000 and the seller countered with £198,000 and the deal was done mainly down to the ongoing costs of maintaining a vacant property during the winter and the need to release the capital to clear a short term loan on their new property
I suppose it is down to how long the sellers can hang on in the hope of achieving the asking price and with the current government trashing the economy and with some of the budget changes yet to take effect I think buyers may be scarce in the months to come

 

[littlespark]

What i was told by the agent is, that they are waiting for other interested parties to offer, and are expecting over the asking price. As we were well below, theyre just not going to go for it. Other parties also have houses to sell.... so it might all depend on whether they sell or not as to whether they actually offer.

We can hold back a month or two for the market to pick up. See what comes up.

We had a house before that we did up to rent out, but got really hacked off with the tenant, and ended up selling it on when he left rather than look for another.

The other properties in her price range are either flats, or just otherwise not suitable.
I might even look further outside the postcode to see whats around a bit further away.

 

[plugsandsparks]

Just a point, a £150,000 house is worth £500/month in interest in my bank account, so time is money....
If you are ready to go and can complete in 2 months, seller will benefit , rather than wait 6 months and lose £2000

 

[UNG]

What i was told by the agent is, that they are waiting for other interested parties to offer, and are expecting over the asking price.

Aah that old estate agent chestnut which really means we have higher fee expectations

As we were well below, theyre just not going to go for it.

The problem is some think their property is worth more than it really is

Other parties also have houses to sell.... so it might all depend on whether they sell or not as to whether they actually offer.

We can hold back a month or two for the market to pick up. See what comes up.

The housing market has been quite volatile for a while now when my daughter was in the buying process having had her offer accepted she had her initial mortgage offer pulled fortunately the broker managed to secure another offer quite quickly but it remains to be seen what the stamp duty changes in the budget do to the market come April

We had a house before that we did up to rent out, but got really hacked off with the tenant, and ended up selling it on when he left rather than look for another.

That is what is driving the private landlord from the rental market especially when the government wants to protect the tenant from the nasty landlord

The other properties in her price range are either flats, or just otherwise not suitable.
I might even look further outside the postcode to see whats around a bit further away.

A similar situation to what my daughter was in when she first moved up to a new job in Glasgow she found a flat to rent on the outskirts in a nice village so a couple of years on she wanted to stay and purchase a house in an area she knew which was not easy when it is a sought after area