Bungalows

[Will!]

Where I live on the Sussex coast there are lots of bungalows, which are popular with old people who want or need to live on a single level.  Their sold prices are usually higher than houses comparable in terms of floor space with no sign of falling prices, which I suppose reflects that old people are often at the top of the housing pyramid with the most equity.

Recently though I've seen lots of bungalows coming back on the market from Sold SSTC and prices being reduced.  I wonder whether this represents the chains behind them failing and is a sign that falling prices are working their way up the pyramid.

[winkie]

Know a number of people who have put in a lift into their property, much better than a chair lift....glass see through sides and fits in really well, not only people can go up and down but also heavy items such as luggage etc.....the thing with bungalows and older frail people are the gardens, they need lots of care and attention, fine if can do it yourself, otherwise gardeners are expensive, they have their own families and mortgages to pay......seen a number of times a bungalow demolished and a house put in its place......sometimes two!.

[fellow]

20 minutes ago, winkie said:

Know a number of people who have put in a lift into their property, much better than a chair lift....glass see through sides and fits in really well, not only people can go up and down but also heavy items such as luggage etc.....the thing with bungalows and older frail people are the gardens, they need lots of care and attention, fine if can do it yourself, otherwise gardeners are expensive, they have their own families and mortgages to pay......seen a number of times a bungalow demolished and a house put in its place......sometimes two!.

The problem with putting a lift in your house is it will ultimately devalue the property as that's another thing which needs to be maintained and serviced every year. The house will only appeal to other people who struggle with stairs and can't find a bungalow. Everyone else will just see it as a liability or waste of space which requires costly removal.

Edited September 9, 2023 by fellow

[Armus]

Bungalows are great.  It's a similar story near me, lots of bungalows seem to be on the market but not shifting and frequent reductions.

[winkie]

39 minutes ago, fellow said:

The problem with putting a lift in your house is it will ultimately devalue the property as that's another thing which needs to be maintained and serviced every year. The house will only appeal to other people who struggle with stairs and can't find a bungalow. Everyone else will just see it as a liability or waste of space which requires costly removal.

Actually depends on the house, some nowadays are built so that if at a latter date a lift is required there is a space for it......not intrusive at all, was quite surprised when saw a home with one in.....it makes a house more flexible for different people so imo would not devalue....if the lift is upstairs you wouldn't know a lift was there, can even operate in front of cupboards etc..much better than a stair lift if suitable, wouldn't need to remove it.

[MerchantNavy]

40 minutes ago, fellow said:

The problem with putting a lift in your house is it will ultimately devalue the property as that's another thing which needs to be maintained and serviced every year. The house will only appeal to other people who struggle with stairs and can't find a bungalow. Everyone else will just see it as a liability or waste of space which requires costly removal.

I'm sure it should be easily demountable. Obviously leaves a patch of plastering, decorating, isolating power and scrapping materials.

[Orb]

2 hours ago, fellow said:

The problem with putting a lift in your house is it will ultimately devalue the property as that's another thing which needs to be maintained and serviced every year. The house will only appeal to other people who struggle with stairs and can't find a bungalow. Everyone else will just see it as a liability or waste of space which requires costly removal.

A unique spare bedroom with breath-taking 360 views overlooking all floors.

[RentingForever]

1 hour ago, Orb said:

A unique spare bedroom with breath-taking 360 views overlooking all floors.

"Walk-in wardrobes on both floors".

[sta100]

8 hours ago, Will! said:

Where I live on the Sussex coast there are lots of bungalows, which are popular with old people who want or need to live on a single level.  Their sold prices are usually higher than houses comparable in terms of floor space with no sign of falling prices, which I suppose reflects that old people are often at the top of the housing pyramid with the most equity.

Recently though I've seen lots of bungalows coming back on the market from Sold SSTC and prices being reduced.  I wonder whether this represents the chains behind them failing and is a sign that falling prices are working their way up the pyramid.

Seaford, Peacehaven area? A lot of them need work doing and anything which needs work doing is sticky at the moment. Back in 2020/1/2 people would look at a run down bungalow and think they would add an extra floor/extension and turn it into a family home or even sell it on. It's not so appealing at the moment when people consider that they won't be getting their money back for doing the work.

The bottom of the chain has been decimated through the cladding crisis/btl restrictions also and there's a lot less money sloshing about to support the upwards chain.

Edited September 9, 2023 by sta100

[reddog]

A 3 bed detached bungalow is usually more expensive than a 3 bed detached house.  But with less floor space.

 

My suggestion would be, buy the house.  Then when the time comes just live downstairs and use the upstairs for storage.

[debtlessmanc]

20 minutes ago, reddog said:

A 3 bed detached bungalow is usually more expensive than a 3 bed detached house.  But with less floor space.

 

My suggestion would be, buy the house.  Then when the time comes just live downstairs and use the upstairs for storage.

We are getting to that stage, 8 years ago we bought a 5 bed new build (wifey’s idea- we did have her son living with us at the time and my daughter was threatening to move in but never did) now we have zero need for this much space, I am 58 and wife 63 - and I am fed up with the £200k remaining mortgage and would like to go part time in the next 3-4 years. But trying to downsize to a sensible eg bungalow mortgage free in the same area, no chance. As you say it makes more sense to close off upstairs and just use the ground floor. Insanity.

edit to add

My father died in 2014 and we tried to sell his bungalow ultimately for what he paid for it 2008 but not less (one of my brothers is painfully greedy). After no interest for 18 months and us getting pissed off with him. Some guy rocked up and paid in full cash for his mum who “needed a bungalow fast” it’s a strange market retirement places.

Edited September 9, 2023 by debtlessmanc

[PeanutButter]

Thread about bungalow prices dropping and winkie tries to sell us on the concept that installing elevators is a good idea 😂

You couldn’t make it up. 

 

A snip at £15,000! https://www.lifton.co.uk/domestic-lifts-prices-how-much-do-home-lifts-in-the-uk-cost/#:~:text=Home Lift Prices 2023%3A How,And times have changed too.

[Dames]

Generally tho it's a bigger footprint and more land with a bungalow , hence higher price?

 

 

D

[ftb_fml]

Maybe we're running out of boomers?

[Will!]

27 minutes ago, Dames said:

Generally tho it's a bigger footprint and more land with a bungalow , hence higher price?

 

 

D

There is that.

[hotblack42]

2 hours ago, sta100 said:

people would look at a run down bungalow and think they would add an extra floor

Cool.  Every time someone does that our Sussex Bungalow becomes even rarer💰

[anonguest]

2 hours ago, debtlessmanc said:

After no interest for 18 months and us getting pissed off with him. Some guy rocked up and paid in full cash for his mum who “needed a bungalow fast”

And, presumably, the worst bit of the episode would have been said greedy brother going in to endless "I told you so" (re: insisting on being able to get the at least the original price paid for the place)  😉 

[TenYearToGetMyMoneyBack]

Back in 2011 I bought a detached bungalow because I couldn't afford a detached house, especially as one of my requirements was to not go through the £25oK stamp duty threshold which back then would have cost an extra £5K (although stupid I am sure that system kept a lid on prices. However, I doubt if you get many two bed detached houses although there are semi and even terraced bungalows near here.

Until she recently moved to care home one of the neighbours was a lady in her 80s who explained that she bought her bungalow after falling down stairs "That's it I'm moving to a bungalow".

On the subject of stairlifts my recommendation would be to look at hiring one. We paid over £2500 for a new (straight run) one to be installed at my Mothers and got six months use out of it before she decided to go to a care home (so despite the short period it did save money). After one year the company who installed it rang to say it was due a service. When I said it wasn't being used they offered £75 to take it back. Reading around some people had been offered £75 for brand new stairlifts which had never been used because the intended users never made it out of hospital.

After leaving it there until the batteries eventually failed I put it on eBay and got £75 for it. At least the company who bought it weren't charging £2500 for new ones     

[PeanutButter]

The best type of house is one that caters to your needs across your lifespan.

Stairs do keep you fitter and more active (studies etc). So have them, but plan ahead and choose a house where you can eventually sleep and bathe downstairs, if needed. 

 

[Bruce Banner]

18 hours ago, debtlessmanc said:

We are getting to that stage, 8 years ago we bought a 5 bed new build (wifey’s idea- we did have her son living with us at the time and my daughter was threatening to move in but never did) now we have zero need for this much space, I am 58 and wife 63 - and I am fed up with the £200k remaining mortgage and would like to go part time in the next 3-4 years. But trying to downsize to a sensible eg bungalow mortgage free in the same area, no chance. As you say it makes more sense to close off upstairs and just use the ground floor. Insanity.

edit to add

My father died in 2014 and we tried to sell his bungalow ultimately for what he paid for it 2008 but not less (one of my brothers is painfully greedy). After no interest for 18 months and us getting pissed off with him. Some guy rocked up and paid in full cash for his mum who “needed a bungalow fast” it’s a strange market retirement places.

Some people have everything they own for sale, at an inflated price, in the hope that some mug will buy it. Personally, I couldn't live like that, having to keep everything in showroom condition in the hope of making a fast buck, but each to their own.

[jiltedjen]

bungalows probably have a fair amount of selling pressure, being that they are often sold due to deaths. 

Meaning regardless of a slow market, plenty of inheritors will want to get rid without being too concerned about dropping price 10k every 2 months 

equally they have been soo inflated for so long, it probably has fed into most cost effective solutions like lifts and stair-lifts.

most modern houses don’t have a straight run like the 1930’s houses, but awkward  folded 3 flights, with little structure just plasterboard and wooden batten construction. 

I think bungalows appealed more to more sensible generations - like the silent generation than they do for boomers. 

My own semi elderly boomer parents struggle with stairs, but could not bring themselves to live in a bungalow, as that’s for ‘old people’, and didn’t have the fancy image of status they liked. think they see themselves as ‘hip’ 40 somethings and cool, but they are more ‘replacement hip’ than cool. 

I think generationally people find it hard to let go of status when it comes to houses, more so with boomers than previous generations. House is tied to self worth, as many didn’t achieve anything other than being wealthy (by robbing their own kids)

hence why the ‘posh’ bungalows with sea views are sought after, but the practical bungalow in an ‘old people’ area is much less sought after. Doesn’t have the right image. 

as others have said I think it’s fairly rapid the time between the loss of mobility and death anyway. 

I think with boomers it’s the first generation who refuses to admit they are as old as they are, when life has been soo easy and wealthy, it’s hard to let go. I think it’s also why soo many are poor with estate planning, and sharing the wealth, it’s hard to come to terms with failing health, loss of status, loss of respect. 

same thing happens in the boating community. The amount of boomers who bought boats to ‘do up’ and sails round the world, many get as far as buying a project boat, maybe doing a weeks worth of work on it, then fizzles out, they get ill, or think they are just temporarily tired. inevitably they never return, but also never sell, the boat sits rotting in it’s mooring, sinks, becomes a hazard, but in the owners mind, they will come back to it, they can’t admit they themselves are too far gone. Didn’t a 75 year old glider pilot die in France recently also?, or the oldies flying jets in air shows, jets designed for fit healthy 19 year olds being flown by 70 year olds (only ones who can afford them) trying to show off - passing out due to age, killing crowd members? It’s grotesque. 

seen the same thing with bikes, ‘why don’t you throw out the bikes?’ ‘Well in case we want to go on a bike ride!’ (Meanwhile they can barely walk). It’s the admitting time has passed, and the ‘last time’ they do stuff has already passed, often years ago. I think it’s sad when people refuse to come to terms with their own mortality, it prevents people from thinking about legacy, or passing on wealth. It’s selfish. 

it also has other effects, if your say 70 and your keeping money back ‘just in case the roof needs doing’ but you bought a new roof when you were 60, that roof will see you out easily, then being head in sand with your own mortality means your just making bad choices, especially against a back-drop of knowing your kids are struggling. 

it’s a bit like the king should step down if he really cared about the image of the royal family. it’s killing the marketing of the royal family having some old codger in the role. It’s also bad for society to venerate the old like that. 

or American politics, having semi senile people running, it’s also partly what brought down the Soviet Union, eventually the large decision making party was all ancient oldies. 
 

perhaps what society needs is a return to some ageism, to go back to having younger presenters, a return to people ‘knowing their value’ and how it decreases over time. it would be better for older people to actually realise they are old, to plan accordingly. Same goes for work places, I’m seeing this at the moment where older management only want to employ someone who looks like the guy who just retired at 65 for a role, but ignore younger people (as the person making the decision sees people younger than themselves as super young - just due to personal perception). Should force people to retire, especially in governmental roles. 

the oldies shouldn’t be fed constant re-enforcement about ‘active lives’ and seeing a few fit oldies on TV all the time. It creates the wrong perception that ‘old’ is no longer ‘old’, it prevents correct longer term planning. it prevents looking toward the future of caring about younger generations.

seems society has lost a view of ‘old’, perhaps it’s due to the fact many are unfairly retiring absolutely loaded, where in the olden days people were poorer and more modest. Much more aware of their own mortality, more society minded. more rooted in lifestyle and means closer to their own kids than the gaping chasm between themselves being loaded and their kids being in relative poverty. 
 

I think bungalows are currently suffering from a generational issue where the next set of buyers (which would be boomers) can’t bring themselves to buy old peoples homes.

 

Edited September 11, 2023 by jiltedjen

[papag]

We purchased a bungalow after i had a issue with my knee, turned out to be the best move of our lives so easy living on one floor lovely area as well.We have  neighbors who speak and respect  each other,  cant believe how we survived the inner city even tho it was considered a sought after area. My good lady walks to the shops now without fear of feral youths the  streets sides covered in those small gas cylinders  dog mess everywhere and  barking constantly etc etc ,our whole living standard really has gone up so much , maybe that's why they are holding up in price or going up as in the main they are built in areas away fro the City's 

[Will!]

1 hour ago, papag said:

…feral youths the  streets sides covered in those small gas cylinders  dog mess everywhere and  barking constantly etc etc

…

in the main they are built in areas away fro the City's 

Those things have come to Worving!

[winkie]

On 09/09/2023 at 16:14, PeanutButter said:

Thread about bungalow prices dropping and winkie tries to sell us on the concept that installing elevators is a good idea 😂

You couldn’t make it up. 

 

A snip at £15,000! https://www.lifton.co.uk/domestic-lifts-prices-how-much-do-home-lifts-in-the-uk-cost/#:~:text=Home Lift Prices 2023%3A How,And times have changed too.

Selling and buying costs and taxes would cost rather more than that......all I am saying is worth considering for those who prefer not to move or can't move upstairs.......or make a self contained flat upstairs for another to use and put the stairs on the outside of the house to the new front door on the first floor.

[Money Frugality]

3 hours ago, jiltedjen said:

bungalows probably have a fair amount of selling pressure, being that they are often sold due to deaths. 

Meaning regardless of a slow market, plenty of inheritors will want to get rid without being too concerned about dropping price 10k every 2 months 

equally they have been soo inflated for so long, it probably has fed into most cost effective solutions like lifts and stair-lifts.

most modern houses don’t have a straight run like the 1930’s houses, but awkward  folded 3 flights, with little structure just plasterboard and wooden batten construction. 

I think bungalows appealed more to more sensible generations - like the silent generation than they do for boomers. 

My own semi elderly boomer parents struggle with stairs, but could not bring themselves to live in a bungalow, as that’s for ‘old people’, and didn’t have the fancy image of status they liked. think they see themselves as ‘hip’ 40 somethings and cool, but they are more ‘replacement hip’ than cool. 

I think generationally people find it hard to let go of status when it comes to houses, more so with boomers than previous generations. House is tied to self worth, as many didn’t achieve anything other than being wealthy (by robbing their own kids)

hence why the ‘posh’ bungalows with sea views are sought after, but the practical bungalow in an ‘old people’ area is much less sought after. Doesn’t have the right image. 

as others have said I think it’s fairly rapid the time between the loss of mobility and death anyway. 

I think with boomers it’s the first generation who refuses to admit they are as old as they are, when life has been soo easy and wealthy, it’s hard to let go. I think it’s also why soo many are poor with estate planning, and sharing the wealth, it’s hard to come to terms with failing health, loss of status, loss of respect. 

same thing happens in the boating community. The amount of boomers who bought boats to ‘do up’ and sails round the world, many get as far as buying a project boat, maybe doing a weeks worth of work on it, then fizzles out, they get ill, or think they are just temporarily tired. inevitably they never return, but also never sell, the boat sits rotting in it’s mooring, sinks, becomes a hazard, but in the owners mind, they will come back to it, they can’t admit they themselves are too far gone. Didn’t a 75 year old glider pilot die in France recently also?, or the oldies flying jets in air shows, jets designed for fit healthy 19 year olds being flown by 70 year olds (only ones who can afford them) trying to show off - passing out due to age, killing crowd members? It’s grotesque. 

seen the same thing with bikes, ‘why don’t you throw out the bikes?’ ‘Well in case we want to go on a bike ride!’ (Meanwhile they can barely walk). It’s the admitting time has passed, and the ‘last time’ they do stuff has already passed, often years ago. I think it’s sad when people refuse to come to terms with their own mortality, it prevents people from thinking about legacy, or passing on wealth. It’s selfish. 

it also has other effects, if your say 70 and your keeping money back ‘just in case the roof needs doing’ but you bought a new roof when you were 60, that roof will see you out easily, then being head in sand with your own mortality means your just making bad choices, especially against a back-drop of knowing your kids are struggling. 

it’s a bit like the king should step down if he really cared about the image of the royal family. it’s killing the marketing of the royal family having some old codger in the role. It’s also bad for society to venerate the old like that. 

or American politics, having semi senile people running, it’s also partly what brought down the Soviet Union, eventually the large decision making party was all ancient oldies. 
 

perhaps what society needs is a return to some ageism, to go back to having younger presenters, a return to people ‘knowing their value’ and how it decreases over time. it would be better for older people to actually realise they are old, to plan accordingly. Same goes for work places, I’m seeing this at the moment where older management only want to employ someone who looks like the guy who just retired at 65 for a role, but ignore younger people (as the person making the decision sees people younger than themselves as super young - just due to personal perception). Should force people to retire, especially in governmental roles. 

the oldies shouldn’t be fed constant re-enforcement about ‘active lives’ and seeing a few fit oldies on TV all the time. It creates the wrong perception that ‘old’ is no longer ‘old’, it prevents correct longer term planning. it prevents looking toward the future of caring about younger generations.

seems society has lost a view of ‘old’, perhaps it’s due to the fact many are unfairly retiring absolutely loaded, where in the olden days people were poorer and more modest. Much more aware of their own mortality, more society minded. more rooted in lifestyle and means closer to their own kids than the gaping chasm between themselves being loaded and their kids being in relative poverty. 
 

I think bungalows are currently suffering from a generational issue where the next set of buyers (which would be boomers) can’t bring themselves to buy old peoples homes.

 

This is the most based boomer post on here and comes at it from an angle I never thought of. Bravo!