One of the temptations with house hunting is always a quick sneak peek at houses in the next price bracket up. Like pressing your face to the windows of expensive jewellery shops, or salivating over a super car as it glides past, the gleam of luxury property is intoxicating!
And so, every now and then we would set the upper price limit to double what we can currently afford, just to see, in Bullseye style (for those of you over 40) 'what we could've won' had we won the lottery, benefited from a large inheritance, robbed a bank or already reached retirement age for the lump sum, and cashed in our existing house in Leamington. John hates 'The Game of Life' board game, but you perhaps can draw a parallel - money can indeed make bigger and better things happen.
Waiting a few more months was definitely an option - no point rushing the search for your perfect house, right? The only reason we are looking right now is just in case the perfect house came up before next November's Big R Day. Holding off for another 18 months would mean we had so much more to play with, cash-wise, and also made sense with regards to our ability to go and live there straight away, rather than rent it out, or try and renovate it from 500 miles away.
These are the standout properties from these searches....
Kirkbride House, Gelston - offers over £495,000
'Attractive and well-presented steading conversion in rural Galloway offering spacious and light family accommodation throughout. The property enjoys a secluded position six miles north of the harbour town of Kirkcudbright and only three miles from the market town of Castle Douglas. It is in excellent condition and benefits from large characterful public rooms. Kirkbride is set within delightful garden grounds which are a haven for wildlife and birds.'
And, of course, that all important view wasn't too bad either.
The Dumfries and Galloway Region is renowned for its beautiful countryside with rolling pastures broken by stone dykes and amenity woodland with a rugged coastline. The Gulf Stream here means the general climate is mild and there are consequently many beautiful open gardens nearby. 'The front garden is mainly laid to lawn which leads down to approximately ¾ of an acre of mature deciduous woodland. This lovely private woodland area is haven for birds and becomes a carpet of bluebells each spring!'
But, the above photo is why John loved this house - the huge windows, the light flooding in, panoramic views from the sofa. He also favours the modern, clean feel of it, the high ceilings and the fact that it doesn't need any work doing to it. Oddly though, it is still for sale after 3 months, whereas most properties we have been watching have gone under offer with in 2-4 weeks. So, what is about this house that is putting people off? Or is it that 'offers over' hasn't delivered an offer that the owner will settle for? Certainly, compared to other houses we've viewed it seems to be good value for money for the size, condition and location. We can certainly imagine ourselves snuggled on the sofa with a cup of coffee watching the sun go down over the hills..
Nutwood House & Nutwood Cottage, Castle Douglas - offers over £500,000
'Four bedroom Nutwood House, comes with the next door two bedroom Nutwood Cottage. All the main rooms overlook the sea and have excellent views over Auchencairn Bay. Small areas of lawn adjoin the house with beds of flowering shrubs and perennials and a path of cockle shells leads off into a woodland garden with wonderful beds of roses, flowering shrubs and perennials including azaleas, rhododendrons, and honeysuckle. The path leads onto the shore at various points, and he gardens and woodland walks extend to approximately 450m along the shore. There is a slip way located between Nutwood House and Nutwood Cottage.'
One of the things we liked about this house, and that we have been mindful of in all the other properties, is having a way to make a bit of money in retirement, and provide us with a way to keep busy and also to meet people. Nutwood Cottage here is a great bonus which could be let out on a long term or holiday let basis.
The surrounding locations sounds wonderful. The brochure described it as follows:
'Nutwood is located 1 mile from the coastal village of Auchencairn. There are beaches and lovely walks in and around the village, and also along the two mile single track road from Auchencairn to Balcary Bay, with coastal views and stunning cliff walks.'
Again, this property took a little longer to sell, but this is more understandable as the listing was very clear about it's issues, so the buyers attracted to this house had been narrowed down to cash buyers who would accept these flaws in return for the lovely views:
* Nutwood has Contaminated Land *
* Nutwood requires some Foundation Underpinning *
* Nutwood is unmortgageable *
Nutwood went under offer about 2 months after going on the market and hopefully someone will love it.
So what do you think? If you double the budget do you get twice the house? Would you be like us, thinking of going early and cheaper with a second mortgage, or wait until your budget would be higher and things simpler?
So, we continue to look. John believes this looking is all added value because it tells you what is out there, how quickly it changes hands, how the prices are changing over time and helps you narrow down exactly what you want by raising the bar with every amazing property that comes up. He doesn't get frustrated that it has so far gone nowhere - there's no urgency and house prices are more likely to stabilise and fall than rise further in the next 12-24 months. Liz on the other hand is impatient and wants to 'get going' particularly if a project house comes along.
We have started writing this blog a little late on, so we need to catch you up to speed, and there is loads to tell you, including two bits of very exciting news that will be revealed in due course. Keep reading....
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