House with a Model Railway

[Chrisjh]

I am thinking of moving, however I have a wonderful modern image layout which fills most of the garage.

 

Is there a market for selling a house with a model railway ?

 

I am based in the West Midlands.

 

If so how would one advertise?

 

Many thanks and best Wishes,

Chris 

[Wheatley]

No, in short.

 

Even most railway modellers would clear it out and replace it with something to their own taste (maybe not straight away), most 'normal' buyers will insist that it's cleared before vacating. 

 

Advertising it as a house with room for a model railway might be an option, or a hobby room/gym/studio/workshop. It depends whether you made the garage into a practical space beforehand or just left it as a garage and put the railway in it. 

[melmerby]

The problem as far as I can see it is persuading someone else your model railway is wonderful.

Everybody would have a different idea about what they would want and would be seeing it from a different perspective.

Sorry to sound pessimistic, but that's how I see it.

 

What is Modern Image?

To me MI is anything after steam but some might think of specific periods from 1st generation diesels through to privatisation and on to class 800s etc.

 

 

 

 

 

[PMP]

It’s not uncommon to see house and railway adverts in the Railway Modeller classified section. No idea if they’re successful or not.

[Neil]

When I scrapped Morfa before our last house move there was a lot of sentiment expressed about saving the layout but absolutely no takers for my tongue in cheek suggestion that I'd sell it with the chapel it was housed in. I salvaged buildings and bits, anything that was combustible went in our log boiler and the rest to the council skips.

[TT-Pete]

It's heartbreaking seeing the remains of a beloved layout you spent months/years of your life on going up in flames on a bonfire at the end of the garden, kind of like a Viking funeral pyre. As my Dad said when he had to break up (literally) his over 100 model aircraft collection when moving house; "It's like drowning kittens".

 

 

Edited September 8, 2020 by TT-Pete

[Chrisjh]

Many thanks Gents and thanks for the very helpful comments above.

 

I will try Railway Modeller and if not revert to ebay.

 

Best,

Chris 

[lmsforever]

Try the online house sales domains they reach a very large base  think the modeler adverts work not many are in the next issue so must work. 

[Graham108]

4 hours ago, Chrisjh said:

Many thanks Gents and thanks for the very helpful comments above.

 

I will try Railway Modeller and if not revert to ebay.

 

Best,

Chris 

As ebay's maximum commission is £250 (?) that's a lot cheaper than using a traditional estate agent.

 

Paypal might reduce your total by a few quid though.

[chris p bacon]

5 hours ago, lmsforever said:

Try the online house sales domains they reach a very large base 

 

Rightmove etc are only accessible by Estate agents as they pay a fee for them.

[hayfield]

On 07/09/2020 at 20:11, Chrisjh said:

I am thinking of moving, however I have a wonderful modern image layout which fills most of the garage.

 

Is there a market for selling a house with a model railway ?

 

I am based in the West Midlands.

 

If so how would one advertise?

 

Many thanks and best Wishes,

Chris 

 

 

Chris

 

When buying a house  would an in built model railway (especially if the gauge is not what you model in) tip the balance, the space it uses might. But I guess not the railway

 

If you only want to entice model railway folk, you are seriously limiting your potential buyers thus devaluing its worth

 

I sold my last house, the buyers saw my model railway room and said it would make a good music room for their children. Bonus but not because of the railway

 

Some friends in the village bought a house which has a large scenic N gauge layout in the loft. He bought some stock but never really got interested in it. Its just gathering dust, must have cost several thousands to build, but is scrap in reality

[Chrisjh]

Many thanks Gents much appreciated great comments and very helpful.

 

Best,

Chris

[njee20]

If you succeed I'll eat my hat!

 

That's the intersection on the venn diagram of:

 

- people wanting your house

- people who model railways

- people who want to commit that space to a layout

- people who model modern image

- people who want your specific layout

 

FWIW we moved in March, we did try one of the online agents (Emoov - since defunct and relaunched), and they were absolutely rubbish. It seems that people still buy houses through traditional high street agents. No harm in leaving the layout in place until you sell - as above people will probably think "that's a good space for a playroom/gym/workshop) but I'd be amazed if anyone even wanted you to leave it in situ, let alone bought the house because of it. 

[hayfield]

Totally agree with njee20, my little workroom (converted garage) was crammed full of work bench and layout. Buyers still saw the opportunity of a music room for their girls. Surprising how large it looked when it was emptied.

 

Sell the house to the highest bidder, sell the railway separately (in full or bit by bit) You will end up with more money

Edited September 13, 2020 by hayfield

[njee20]

Yep, indeed the feedback from our agent on was that the eventual buyers said "they really liked the railway", but that's in the context of 'oh what a bit of fun', not 'we'll give you extra because of that'.

 

The other thing to consider is how much do you really think the railway is worth? £5,000? In the context of a house price that's tiny.

 

 

[hayfield]

7 minutes ago, njee20 said:

Yep, indeed the feedback from our agent on was that the eventual buyers said "they really liked the railway", but that's in the context of 'oh what a bit of fun', not 'we'll give you extra because of that'.

 

The other thing to consider is how much do you really think the railway is worth? £5,000? In the context of a house price that's tiny.

 

 

 

 

Depends where you live !!!

[njee20]

Well the OP's in the West Midlands, and has a garage sized railway, so I'm guessing it's not a 2-up 2-down in the Valleys ;-)

 

Perhaps "small" would be fairer, even 5% is probably generous.

[hayfield]

Just having a laugh, the amount of cheap houses in deprive areas are rare, and houses in the midlands and north can be very expensive, and in the south not as dear as anticipated 

 

Getting £5K for a layout is a modelers dream, easily spent though.

[njee20]

Aye, just look at eBay for the number of "exhibition layouts" at ludicrous prices!

[MrWolf]

Just my 2 cents worth, our own house is fairly small (it didn't start off as a house) and the garage / workshop, which is basically the downstairs is what I use to make a part of my living, it being full of tools and ancient motorcycles amongst other things. What used to be the second bedroom has become the railway room/music room/art studio. A garage full of railway, whilst interesting, would have had to go unfortunately and wouldn't have been a reason to buy or an incentive to pay any extra.

[AndyB]

OT, but if you weren't a model railway enthusiast and saw a property with a substantial garden railway you'd probably think it was a right pain to get rid of; possibly reducing the value and putting  people off.

And with online being where many people see a house first you'd quite possibly never know how many simply "swiped left"!

 

My advice wold new to clear it out and give prospective buyers a blank canvas so they can easily imarine what they could do with the space.

 

Finally, by putting a model railway in the garage - along with electricity  (insulation, too?) you may have changed the rateable value of the property. Unless this has been reassessed you may be advertising a property with inacurate details. Something which could come back and bite you.

Edited September 14, 2020 by AndyB

[hayfield]

I think most people get a feeling about a house as soon as they walk in, which is confirmed as they walk around.

 

Our last 2 houses we bought with the benefit we had a choice of houses in our price range/area we wanted to move to. The first of the two knowing we could live in it for some time without a need to either replace items or the need to expand the size of the property. The second house was bought for its development potential and location

 

Simply both times the house stood out head and shoulders above what else was available in our price bracket. The first no regrets in 26 years, the second despite a 2 year period of redevelopment upheaval and a dodgy builder. (major issues lasted between 3 & 6 months). The last 3 houses we bought turned out to be homes, which is the real aim. People do buy properties to where possible be compatible with their hobbies/pastimes. but it is extremely rare to find a buyer with the same interests. What your hobby may do is to show how the buyers interests can be accommodated in the same space  

[Chrisjh]

Many thanks everyone this has been really useful advice so thank you.

 

Best,

Chris

[D-A-T]

As a full time estate agent I can assure you your model railway will not be seen as a benefit but more of a hindrance. It is taking up valuable utility space and, if left, would require time and effort to remove with a possible cost if making good is required.

The mantra is clean, tidy and presentable. Add to that declutter. Anything that makes your property look spacious helps the sale. A garage dominated by large baseboards will make the garage seem or feel smaller. And if you add to that the possible additional clutter of storage boxes and the paraphernalia of railway modelling you are in double whammy territory.

If you have adapted the garage by adding insulation, semi permanently sealing up the door etc there is a minor advantage to mentioning it as a hobby room/gym etc but all the while stressing how easy it would be to revert to being a garage.

PS Good luck in your sale!