Are you a spreadsheet purchaser?

Do you buy with your heart or your head? Are you a jump straight in if the feelings right or are you a spreadsheet and pros & cons list sort of person?

I have a property available that will test even the most ardent spreadsheet warrior.

The property is in The Gardens, Leigh on Sea. On the face of it it is a relatively small 3 bedroom house that can only be accessed by foot with no prospect of off street parking ever and to top it off it faces directly on to the railway line.

But the reality! Oh the reality is very different and I promise you that if you are anything like me you will be trying to find ways of having your children adopted, will be selling your cars, basically doing anything and everything to make this property fit in with your lifestyle.

First of all the property itself. It has been painstakingly refurbished over the last 18 months. No expense has been spared on the fixtures & fittings with luxury kitchen, family bathroom, en suite & ground floor cloakroom, gorgeous wooden sliding timber Sash windows, French doors, new flooring & decoration throughout.

Together with this though is all the stuff you cant see. Brand new heating, electrics, replastered throughout, ceilings replaced, damp proofed, external render, roof strengthened, structurally braced. Basically everything! This property will not need any work doing for many, many years to come and if you are anything like me with a paint brush or any form of DIY then that is very, very attractive.

Outside is where the heart really takes over though, the head doesn’t stand a chance! The views, oh my gosh, THE VIEWS!!!! From the newly landscaped garden you can just imagine stepping out of your French doors from your lounge with your glass of wine and a book to sit on your south facing sun terrace with truly stunning 180’ degree estuary views from Southend Pier to Leigh Old Town.

Who needs a telly or radio when your soundtrack is the gently lapping of the waves on the shore together with the noise of the boats tied up at the yacht club and the sound of children playing on Leigh beach.

But I hear your head crying its not always sunny (it is in Leigh actually!). I have sold enough properties on the seafront to know that anyone who lives there turns in to a complete nerd. Say goodbye to your street cred because you will become obsessed with the weather and watching it rolling over from Kent or up the coast. You will regale your friends with stories of spectacular storms that raged out in the estuary or call them to warn them of impending rain squalls that are on the way.

If that’s not enough you will also become an expert on every type of ship, boat, yacht, dinghy, catamaran, tug, basically anything that floats going up and down the Thames. You will never be without your binoculars or telescope looking at what is going past your window from enormous container ships going to new terminal to mega yachts on their way to berth in central London for their oligarch owners.

This is enough to win over even the hardest of head purchasers surely! No….? OK then, lets talk about the practicalities.

Does anyone realistically still go to the shops for their big shop ( as Peter Kay calls it)? Surely everyone now gets it delivered? And when you have quite a few steps to navigate surely that few pounds delivery charge is worth every penny rather than you lugging the 4 pint of milk carton down or a bag of potatoes.

What about the train though?

Well if you want a view of the sea (did I mention?? WHAT A VIEW!!) then unfortunately you are going to have to put up with some sort of noise I am afraid. Think of the roads that have got views. Marine Parade, Cliff Parade, Grand Parade, Chalkwell Esplanade. They are all very busy roads and as we all know the traffic on these roads is pretty constant. Realistically would you sit out on a balcony or in your front garden on Marine Parade or Grand Parade?

The trains are less constant, less intrusive, and an awful lot quieter than the roads. For me there is no choice. I would much rather have the train line than the road. That therefore limits me to The Gardens or Undercliff Gardens. Having just sold a property in Undercliff Gardens that is more of a development project for just shy of £800,000, needing at least £200,000 or £300,000 spending on it the house I have in The Gardens for £695,000 is starting to look good value?

Truthfully though you should always think about the practicalities of buying a house for what is undoubtedly an awful lot of money but if it is one of those that you are going to think about and kick yourself for not going for, years later then take the plunge and go for it.