On The Move

A bit of haggling and the owner of the Carlton Lane property is considering an offer of £110k. The estate agent have just phoned me and told me that the owner will contact me direct after considering it over night. That really is pretty close to maximum I would want to go on that property, but at least it has not been rejected straight away.

Over the weekend I am going to revisit both the apartments at The Forge and the ones at Bracken Meadows. Those two are really now my second and third choices respectively should the Carlton Lane offer be rejected. My offer at the Forge expires on Sunday, although I am sure I could negotiate an extension if it came down to it. Bovis are willing to give me the apartment I want at Bracken Meadows with the carpets and shower for £90k instead of £96k.

Next week could be a case of sorting out mortgage finance, surveys and solicitors then....

Oh and I bought my first item for my new property....

Our kettle blew up last night and Andy was on about boiling pans of water until he gets his kitchen done. No, no, no, thought I. Not messing around with that, and I would need a kettle anyway for when I move in, so there we go and there it is.

Charles from Bovis contacted me today to let me know the regional office were willing to sign off on my proposal. Unsurprisingly, Charles was keen for me to make a decision today or tomorrow, but I told him I would not be making a decision until the weekend. This means I could get the apartment I wanted for £90k, which is £10k cheaper than the Ruston apartment at The Forge. Decisions, decisions.

Been back in touch with the sales team at Bovis today about the Bracken Meadow apartments. Asked if they would consider a deal of carpets plus a shower installation on my preferred plot for £90k; this is against a list price of £96k. Waiting to see what they come back with tomorrow.

Increasingly, it is looking like it is going to come down to a choice between this and The Forge, with The Carriages there as a back up plan. All that assumes Ms Carlton Lane will not come down on price.

.... it seems, the only bunch of greedy money grabbing parasites. I made initial contact with a couple of solicitors today provided to me by the George Wimpey sales rep at The Forge. Now I had of course budgeted for solicitors fees, but it still galling when you get two quotes around the £800 mark for all the conveyancing and land registry paperwork.

Went back to the Carlton Lane property for a second viewing today, as much to refresh my memory as anything else, as I went to view the apartment the first time back at the end of April. On a second viewing, the following struck me:

• The bathroom is actually bigger than I remember it to be; alot less narrow than I had thought.
• The two bedrooms are a very good size. The current owner has a king-sized double in the main problem and there is still plenty of room for other furniture.
• Likewise the lounge/kitchen area is a very good size.

Is it all worth an extra £20k more than other 2-bed apartments I have seen recently though? No, it isn't. Meeting the current asking price would mean adding another £5k to my deposit, which would seriously eat into my savings that I will need to kit out the place. I know she is leaving appliances there, and even offered to leave some of the wardrobes if I wanted, but I could pick such items up for less than £1500 and they would be brand new.

Speaking to the woman who owns it currently though, I am more pessimistic than I was about whether the current owner will negotiate on price. The sense that I get from her is that she already feels that she has cut it by far too much, and she is in a sense, with no chain to speak of, in a reasonable position to sit out the price downturn. She also told me that when she had it on the market for £125k, she had turned down an offer of £122k from an investor, who wanted to buy it with everything included and rent it out. She did hint that an emotional attachment to some of the furnishings may have been the reason she did not sell, but I don't feel that if she turned down an offer of just £3k less than asking, that I am going to get away with one of more in the region of £10k - £15k. Worth a shot, but if it is no dice, then I need to get moving onto other options, however much I like this property.

The last property I went to view was at the George Wimpey development in north west Leeds called The Forge. They had just four 2-bed apartments left in two different formats. The first type, called a Hornsby, has an en-suite attached to the main bedroom, but does not have an open plan lounge/kitchen area, with the kitchen accessible from the lounge via a short hallway. The second type is the Ruston, which has no en-suite, but you gain a huge open plan space for the kitchen/lounge area, which runs the full length of the apartment. The Ruston also has sloped ceilings, where the Hornsby does not, but actually you don't lose that much space really. The Hornsby is on at £105k, whilst the Ruston is £113.

Here is the Hornsby floorplan:

And here is the Ruston:

I was most taken by the Ruston, in spite of the loss of the en-suite and the slightly sloped ceilings, mainly because the space for the kitchen/lounge area was bigger than any of the other apartments I had seen. It is so spacious I could even consider placing my office down one wall of the lounge if I wanted. There would be no issue putting a dining set in there behind where the door swings in. The double doors down the side would be great to open up in the summer to let air through into the lounge.

The flats are set back in the development, and the great thing about the location is that immediately behind the block is a copse of trees and a decent strip of lawn, which would be great on summer days to sit out on reading a book. The kitchen and main bedroom are on the back, so they also look out over the lawn and trees and the side double window from the lounge, at least in the flat that would be my preference if I went for it, had a great view down towards Leeds city centre.

The location itself is good. It took me 20 minutes to drive back from there yesterday, although being located on Leeds Ring Road and to the north of the city, travelling to the south to get onto the main motorways is going to be a bit of a bind at rush house I would imagine. Public transport into Leeds should be fairly good though, and in terms of access to shops and facilities, everything I would need would be close by.

Another good selling point of this property is the price. Although the Ruston style apartment that I am interested in was on the market at £113k and did not include carpets, the sales rep (Sam) said that if I made my decision within a week, I could buy for £100k and that would include carpets. The apartment does come with a washer/dryer and a space for a fridge/freezer, and it also has an allocated parking spot as standard to the side of the flat. As the Ruston does not have an en-suite, the bathroom comes with a shower fitted above the bath. The main bedroom includes two built in wardrobes, so I would only have to find the bed and a set of drawers.

This one was a good one to end the weekend on, and given their offer is good for seven days, it does put some pressure on to consider what I now need to do this week and how I need to think about what my order of preference is for the properties I have seen. Hopefully now I can move on from this phase to actually putting in an offer and starting to get mortgage proceedings moving.

This is another Miller Homes development that I went to see over the weekend. It is in East Ardsley, which is only about 10 minutes drive from where I am living at the moment. Two things struck me about the location when I first arrived, one was the proximity of the M62 motorway, which was literally across the road and then up a steep bank (see map here). The second was the pair of huge electricity masts next to the site entrance and across the road some kind of electrical substation. According to the sales rep (Ross), the masts use to go across the site, but they had paid to have it routed underground so they could build there.

Just in terms of geography the location is fine for me getting around for work, and it is easy to get into either Leeds or Wakefield on a weekend. Compared to the apartments I had looked at Old Harworth the previous day, this place is also a bit closer to shops and facilities, with the White Rose Centre not being all that far away.

There were two ground floor apartments available, one at £92k and one at £96k, with the former being more or less complete now, whilst the latter still had a kitchen to be fitted amongst other things. Much like other new build properties I have been to see the standard spec here does not include any carpets, tiling, white goods or a shower in the main bathroom (due to there also being an en-suite shower cubicle). From what I gathered speaking to Ross, you normally get choices around those types of things if you are reserving a property "before the roof goes on". These are the last two apartments that he is trying to shift, so he has had to make the decisions around the worktops and the fitted wardrobes etc.

Both of the apartments were very similar, but the more expensive one was on the the bottom corner of the development, whereas the cheaper one was at the other end of the L-shaped block. The principle difference between the two, was that the cheaper one had the kitchen as a separate room from the lounge, whereas the more expensive one was open plan, with the kitchen accessible from the lounge through an archway. The more expensive one also had a higher spec in terms of the worktops, kitchen units and tiling around the bathroom and en-suite. Carpet and vinyl could be put down, but this would cost me an additional £1700 approx.

Were I purchasing at this site, I would be going for the more expensive lot, as I prefer the open plan space for the kitchen/lounge, rather than in separate rooms across the corridor from one another. Both of the apartments had the lounge facing out towards the road on the front and the M62. I did ask Ross about the noise, as you can literally look up to the M62 and see the tops of trucks passing down the motorway, but he seemed to think it was not really an issue with the double glazing and the fact that when the motorway is at its busiest, most people are out at work anyway. I was not convinced; it is after all very close!

Other than that the apartments were not that dissimilar to the ones at Fairfield Manor, with the main bedroom having an en-suite and, in the more expensive one at least, a decent open plan area for the lounge and kitchen. Unlike Fairfield Manor, this does at least have an allocated parking spot, with some scattered visitors parking spots too, and also has gas central heating rather than electric. Due to the fact that both apartments I saw are on the ground floor they also have an alarm fitted as standard: I did not know whether to be comforted by that or not!

Not a bad apartments, but it did not really ignite my interest, and I would worry about the sound you would get from the motorway being that close. I would still rank this one about the same sort of level as Fairfield Manor, with it having the advantage on price, but Fairfield Manor being in a better location and also a 1st floor plot.

After going to see the 3-bed townhouses in Sheffield, and a short stop for refueling at Lakeside, Dad and I zipped off down the A1 to the Bovis development at Old Haworth.

You can actually see the Bracken Meadows development as you drive down the A1 for just on junction from the M18, and when you come off the A1 you end up doubling back on yourself and picking your way to the outskirts of the village of Old Haworth. Although closest to Doncaster and having a DN postcode, the village and its surrounds are actually in North Notts. The contrast with the urban location of the Sheffield townhouses we saw in the morning could not be greater; this is a rural area, with the development looking out across a stretch of fields towards the A1 in the middle distance. This more rural location is a major selling point to me, as it provided pleasant views, a surrounding countryside that would provide ample ornithological opportunities, but still had good road links to all the place I would need to be able to get to for work (it took me about 35 minutes to get back to Leeds up the A1).

If the location was good, the what of the property itself? I was there to view the two bedroom apartments, for which they had six plots for sale (2 ground floor, 2 first floor & 2 second floor) ranging between £90k and £96k. Upon getting there we were met with our rather flustered looking sales rep Charles; he was fairly new to the site and although more than amiable his unfamiliarity with the site did show through during our visit. It was very busy though whilst we were there and Charles indicated during our time looking around that they were seeing a stronger interest than had been anticipated at this point in the cycle, as people such as myself were taking the opportunity of depressed prices to jump on the property market or move up a few notches.

The flat itself is situated in the corner of the development with views from the back looking out over farmers fields and towards the A1 in the distance. There are three different formats of the apartments dependent on where they are situated on the block (see this PDF for reference), so we had a look around all three types, starting on the ground floor and working are way up to the second floor. The first floor apartments are the most expensive, as these have the better views and security, but do not lose any of the space like the second floor flats do due to the sloping ceilings.

There was still alot of work to do on the apartments we looked at, which only had the plumbing and powerpoints installed for the kitchen, but Charles, after admitting they were short of workmen, did suggest that they would be done shortly. There was alot of stuff that was not included in the standard spec. In the kitchen, only the oven and extractor fan were included, so I would have to buy all white goods myself. No carpets or tiling was included either. More perplexing was the fact that, although there was no en-suite with this property, you only got your bath, with no shower included in the price!

That said, it appeared that not only was Charles prepared to negotiate on the inclusion of these items (no white goods though), but also hinted at a deal on the price. I think therefore a call back this week is on the cards to try and find out what they are willing to do on that score.

The apartments themselves were nice, although compared to the townhouses we had seen earlier in Sheffield, obviously not as spacious and had no en-suite either. They are though at least £15k cheaper, and there is a nice open plan space for the kitchen and dining area, in a kind of L-shape. The area was not as impressive as the flat I saw at Fairfield Manor, but again, that is on the market for nearly £15k more, with no strong indication of a willingness to negotiate on carpets etc. The kitchen also came with a gas hob, which is my preference over electric, and the flat had gas central heating throughout.

The two bedrooms were a reasonable size and I liked the idea of having my office space set up looking out over the fields, which would be possible with the 1st floor apartments. I think a sofa bed or single bed would have to be the choice in the second bedroom, although I am increasingly coming round to the idea, considering for the most part I will not have guests staying, that in the second bedroom, it might just be totally office space with a desk, bookshelves and some cabinets for storing paperwork etc.

The flat comes with an allocated parking spot to the rear, but I can't remember what Charles said about visitor spaces, so will have to check back on that. The annual management fee was £900, which Charles mentioned he thought was 'a bit steep', and I am inclined to agree with him. This is one of the drawbacks of living in an apartment as opposed to a house I guess, but most of the other apartments I have seen have annual management fees of around £700 or so.

Having looked around the various flat types on the various floors I was most taken by plots 34 and 35 (see the PDF again - last page). These are both first floor apartments, and therefore the most expensive of the six plots available, but they have the best views, especially 35, which has great views from both bedrooms and the lounge/kitchen across the fields towards the A1.

Great location then, but going for this place would be dependent on what I can get included in the deal and how much I can negotiate on price. I would hope that I can get carpet, tiling and the shower at a price of around £90k (£6k cheaper than the list price). I also need to try and find out quite quickly if anyone could build on the farmland that the flats look out over; buying a place that has a great view is fine providing a couple of years down the track that some developer does not come along and build another load of flats right in the middle of that view.

Visited a couple of very nice properties with Dad in tow. The first was the only three bed property I currently have on my radar, a town house at a George Wimpey development in Sheffield called The Carriages. The house type is called a Carlton, and it is a three bed townhouse split over three storeys. There are five currently for sale on the development at £115k. The development still has a further phase to be completed and the parking area for the townhouses will not be finished until the end of July, with the remainder of the build being completed towards the end of the year.

The location is a bit of a mixed blessing. It is a high street location in Darnell, so I would not be lacking for close by facilities in terms of shops, restaurants, pubs and so on. It is not all that far from Sheffield City Centre with access by bus and train within walking distance (the bus stop is nearly outside the door), and access to the M1 is pretty easy by just hopping on Sheffield Parkway and heading down to junction 33, although I suspect it would be absolute murder at rush hour (where isn't though?). The area seems very ethnically diverse, which makes a nice changes from the predominantly old, white surrounds of where I rent at the moment. I am still not sold on a high street style location though, and my preference has always been to remain closer to Leeds, or if I was going to go a considerable distance from Leeds to go somewhere a bit more rural. The area is also a regeneration area, having been in the past an area most closely associated with the heavy industry of the Don Valley, and some of the surrounding buildings look a bit worse for wear.

We went to have a look around the show house first before moving onto one of the actual properties. The first potential drawback of these properties was their location on the development; other than a short strip of land the houses face straight out onto the main road. This is a busy main road as well with pubs, shops and restaurants in either direction, so it could potentially get quite noisy. However, as the sales rep (Angela) pointed out, both the main bedrooms and the lounge are on the back, and their location on the main road was one of the reasons they were so reasonably priced for a three-bed property (she suggested the next batch to be built further back on the development, could be £20k more!).

The property itself was really nice. The front door opened into a hallway with the stairs going up in front of you to the right and a corridor leading to the lounge right at the end, and the kitchen, which was just off to the left before the door into the lounge. A small storage cupboard was under the stairs, which looked big enough for essentials like hoover, ironing board and perhaps a shoe rack. The lounge was right at the back of the house with double doors opening up onto a small garden and access to the parking at the back (one allocated space per resident, but no visitors parking). It was a large, almost square space (14ft by 12ft), and would be well lit most of the day being on the side that would catch the most sun. The image below is from the show home and gives some idea of the spacious layout of the lounge:

The kitchen is long and narrow with all the units down the opposite wall to the door. It opens up slightly just in front of the window, so you could put a small dining set in there looking out of the front of the building. The kitchen only comes with the units and the oven and extractor fan as standard, but does have the spaces for a washer/dryer, dishwasher and fridge/freezer available. The image below is again from the show home, looking from the door down the kitchen.

Going up the stairs to the first floor the first room you come to is the 2nd bedroom, which is easily big enough for a double bed and is actually comparable to master bedroom on the second floor in size. Moving along the landing to the next set of stairs you come to the main bathroom, with a bath, wash basin and toilet in it, but no shower as standard. This seems to be another common theme in new developments that I am coming across; if you have an en-suite shower cubicle, then they don't have a shower fitted as standard above the bath in the main bedroom. Why? Well, I know, costs and all that, but hardly ideal if you have guests staying and they want to take a shower on a morning. Anyway, aside from the lack of shower the bathroom was more than adequate.

The last room on the first floor is the small bedroom, which is little more than a box room with a window looking out over the front. Having two large bedrooms already that you could easily fit king sized doubles in, this would be a great small office, with space for a desk and a couple of bookcases or drawers for filing paperwork etc.

A trip up the stairs to the top floor brings you to the main bedroom, which is again a great size, which will easily fit in a large double bed. To give you even more space in the bedroom itself, the space for the fitted wardrobe is out of the way, next to the walkthrough to the ensuite bathroom which is on the front of the house. The picture below is taken from the door looking into the main bedroom and the walk through to the ensuite is off to the left. The bedroom is again on the back, so should be insulated from any noise from the main road to a certain degree. The ensuite is a very good size, even accounting for the sloped roof down one side of it. It has a nice, modern shower cubicle, toilet and wash basin.

A very nice property then, with perhaps more space than I would need. Much like the other new builds I have been to see the past few days, the standard spec does not include carpets, tiles or a shower in the main bathroom. The other downsides are the location and the price; it is towards the top side of my budget, so I would hope if I did go for it, I might be able to knock some off the price or at least get carpets/tiling included in the deal. The location is the other issue, being in an urban high street location when my preference is for somewhere a bit more suburban or semi-rural.

Went to see the last remaining 2-bed apartment in the Miller Houses development at Fairfield Manor yesterday (first mentioned here). When I arrived, I was informed by the sales rep (Phil) that the apartment had been reserved by someone else, and he would know by 2pm the following day (today) whether that was going ahead or not. Still worth a quick look around though I thought.

The apartment was the first floor corner apartment and was on the market for £113,500. At that price it was certainly towards the top end of the 2-bed apartment new builds that I was looking at, and is not all that far off the price for the first property I went to see at Carlton Lane, so I was expecting it to be pretty decent.

The location is certainly a major boon from my perspective. It is located just off Aberford Road, one of the major roads linking south Leeds and Wakefield. It is only about 10 minutes drive from where I am renting at the moment and would provide good access to train station and to both Leeds and Wakefield city centres.

The apartment itself was adequate, but even given the location, I did not feel it was much of an advance on the West Point development I went to see, and was over £30k more expensive. The door opens into the main hallway with the largest bedroom opposite, which is was a good sized room looking out over the front of the building, with a fitted wardrobe and an en-suite bathroom (shower only).

The next down the hallway on the same side is the second bedroom, which would have room for a sofa bed and a desk, in fact it was not much different in size to the main bedroom. Opposite the second bedroom was the bathroom, which although it has a sink, toilet and bath, only had a loose shower head affixed on the side of the bath, so not really much use as a proper shower which you can stand up in. Phil explained that a proper affixed shower was not part of the standard spec as you had a full shower cubicle in the en-suite.

The most impressive space was the kitchen/lounge area which is open plan and runs the full length of the apartment, with the lounge having plenty of light from balcony windows on the front and a couple of smaller windows down the side. The kitchen came with the hob and extractor fan as standard as well as the units, and has space for a washer/dryer and fridge/freezer. The length of this open plan area was certainly the main plus point from my perspective.

There are a few other downsides though. In addition to the price, there is no allocated parking. There is parking associated with the development, but it is a bit more of a free for all, and once the development is full there will be slightly more residents than parking. Phil explained that there were no restrictions, unlike on some developments, around parking on the road outside, but one can imagine, particularly since there are some family houses on the development that are likely to have more than once car, that parking might become an issue over time.

The other thing I found surprising was that the apartment did not come with any carpets or tiling as standard. I thought these were standard on most new builds, but my experience today looking at other sites suggests otherwise. Still, given the price, I would have thought I would get them thrown in. Apparently not. I think for me to take on this flat there would have to be some negotiation around the carpets at least before I considered buying.

Phil did ring me today and told me that the sale had fallen through, so it was back on the market but at a reduced 'for this weekend only' price of £112,500. I have not been back to him yet, but unless they are willing to reduce the price further and throw in the carpets I think I will be investigating other options.