Harlea Homes - House advice please

TheMagicPirate · 27 Mar 2011 at 13:53

Afternoon all.

I'm currently looking a buying a house for the first time.

One of the options I have is a New Build ground floor flat from Harlea Homes on a Shared Equity Scheme (80/20).

Has anyone dealt with Harlea Homes before? What were your experiences?

They are a family owned business who seem to have a large portfolio of residential and commercial builds under their belt.

Some background for those interested

The idea of going shared equity means that me and my girlfriend can move into a nice new build 2 bed flat on my salary alone. This is partly because she graduates this summer so only has a small income from a part time job which wouldn't be overly helpful, but mainly because we have only been together for just over a year and living together for the first time will be a bit 'make or break'. If things do go sour then not having her on the mortgage will save a certain degree of hassle. She totally agrees and is happy with this.

The idea is that in 2 - 3 years when we know we can live together and she has her £30k graduate job

rolleyes

we can remortgage/use savings to pay off the extra 20%.

I am currently selling everything I have to clear my old credit card debt before buying so look out for a Members Market thread coming soon

EDIT: ANY other advice people have to offer regarding buying a house I would really appreciate.

Windle · 27 Mar 2011 at 18:27

Don't do ground floor flat. After 6 years living in one it truly is the worst floor to have a flat on.

Ahleckz · 27 Mar 2011 at 18:30

Windle said:
Don't do ground floor flat. After 3 years living in one it truly is the worst floor to have a flat on.

JBuk · 27 Mar 2011 at 18:58

Windle said:
Don't do ground floor flat. After 6 years living in one it truly is the worst floor to have a flat on.

what makes it so bad?

SideWinder · 27 Mar 2011 at 19:02

JBuk said:
what makes it so bad?

Less security, people being noisy when they enter/exit the property and i personally get annoyed with noises above me.

V4NT0M · 27 Mar 2011 at 19:31

Ground floor is fine, for one, they're a lot easier to get in and out of, plus it's nice to have a bit of greenery outside my window. I've lived on 1st, 2nd, 8th and ground, they all have their bonuses and bad points. I guess if you're on a bit of a tight spring noise might put you off.

Tummy · 27 Mar 2011 at 19:32

Ground floor flates are ace :cool:

I maybe wouldn't have one in this country though

Windle · 27 Mar 2011 at 19:39

JBuk said:
what makes it so bad?

Less secure, burglars can access your windows.

Noise as everyone who enters the building passes you.

You tend to get the problems, such as if there's a sewage problem. You have windows/manholes etc whereas other people on the upper floors don't therefore it'll tend to come down to you to get it sorted.

Depending on location, passers-by walking past your windows is off putting!

SpeedFreak · 27 Mar 2011 at 19:44

Windle said:
Less secure, burglars can access your windows.

so just like a house then...

Windle · 27 Mar 2011 at 20:01

SpeedFreak said:
so just like a house then...

Yes but considering it's a problem that the flats on all the other floors don't have your comparison doesn't really hold any ground.

SpeedFreak · 27 Mar 2011 at 21:15

Not meaning to split hairs but it is more that the upper floors have an advantage rather than ground floors being automatically bad. I am biased as I live in a ground floor flat, however I would under no circumstances swap to the upper floors.

loopylou · 27 Mar 2011 at 21:34

My favourite thing about living in a top floor flat (with no adjoining flats) was leaving the windows open all the time in summer, even if we went out. Nice cool rooms

SpeedFreak · 27 Mar 2011 at 21:40

My favorite thing about living on a ground floor flat is being able to have a barbecue on my patio in the summer