STOP PRESS This page, originally written in 2011 is true. The proof? Please check out…
http://uniquepropertybulletin.org/for-sale-lighthouse-building/
As we wrote last year, “if you watch for it, it will come” (sorry to Kevin Costner!) – Strathy Point Lighthouse has parts that have come back up for sale.
Not just the old Strathy Point Lighthouse Engine Rooms which have now been converted into a lovely house, including splendid seaviews.
As also predicted (with over a year’s advance notice for our readers) Starthy Point Lighthouse TOWER, and Tod Head Lighthouse TOWER have also come up for sale. However we digress. The whole point of this page is to emphasise that within this website you, our beloved reader, have a research facility of depth. Many of the several hundred unusual homes listed here coming back up for sale from time to time. Hence the Back To The Future reference.
Over the years, regular readers of the paper edition of Unique Property Bulletin will be aware of the importance of the Back To The Future theme. In our first online edition here in the Autumn of 2011 we need to make the point clear for the understanding and benefit of our new readers. Repeating this initiative time and time again as it is vital to your success.
The principle is fairly simple. From time to time, we will deliberately feature items that have been sold. Redundant news some say. What is the point? The answer? It may be the key to a windfall of tens of thousands of pounds saved. It may be the difference between you achieving your dream home or not.
To mix the movie metaphor from Michael J. Fox’s Back To The Future – to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s quote – you should keep “Detailed Files”. Sometimes for years. A significant amount of property comes back up for sale over time. Information, background detail, research, local knowledge all come in useful and are powerful factors in making informed decisions should a specific property return to the sale market.
With the tools described in the Unique Property Manual it is relatively easy to locate property and owners. Then take the initiative and contact them. No don’t stalk them. Consider perhaps a Christmas card with a self adhesive self addressed label for the owner of the unusual building that you are curious about. So they might stick this into their address book should they ever consider selling. Even a self addressed envelope. This is unusual, but think about it from the perspective of the seller? Whether you are selling or not, wouldn’t you keep the details of someone who expressed a gentle interest in buying your house at some point should the occasion arise? Even after a few years! This isn’t idle theory. Two example properties shown here are absolute golden nuggets, and were bought by ourselves on the basis of Back To The Future. That is, when we missed the whole lighthouse complex first time round, we kept detailed records and in touch with the owner. Strathy Point Lighthouse Complex came round again when the first buyer fell through. Many months after the buildings had apparently “sold” we approached the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB). Discovered that the sale had indeed gone pear-shaped, and in 1999 bought the WHOLE complex (excluding the tower – normally retained by the NLB) for £20,000 less than the original price. That is FOUR homes: The Principal Lighthouse Keepers Dwelling; The First Assistant Lighthouse Keepers Dwelling; The Second Assistant Lighthouse Keepers Dwelling; and the The Occasional (visiting/relief) Lighthouse Keepers Dwelling. Plus the Engine Room and related buildings. A whole lot of lighthouse fun. Now imagine yourself enjoying that adventure!
A second experience, when we thought all was lost, is a fabulous Art Deco hotel on Sir Paul McCartney’s Mull of Kintyre. Around 1990 we offered £130,000. But because of negative equity the sellers couldn’t strike the deal. Ten years later we bought this stunner after the bank repossessed it for a meagre £24,000 (twenty four thousand pounds). A third example is that the Back To The Future theme even worked for a modest ordinary house we bought near to London – saving several thousand pounds in the process. So you can see why we are keen to share with our readers, the principle that we have termed ‘Back to The Future’ ! That of occasionally including some ‘sold’ property within our regular Unique Property Bulletins.
If something has been bought by someone else at some point, it is still very worthwhile having the heads up that it exists and may come up for sale in the future. If, after reading this, you have any lingering doubts, just look at the photos.
These are some actual BACK TO THE FUTURE properties! If these don’t give you proof, ilustration and an appetite, then please let us know what does? We will check our thousands of detailed files built up over the past 25 years and do our best to come up with a solution that accommodates you!