FTB looking at a renovation project. Advice needed
Discussion
I have found a house that is within budget. But it needs quite a bit of work doing. I’m after some advice from surveyors etc to give their honest feedback.
The house is £175k I have £42k in savings and I’m planning on a 10-15% deposit. A Mortage Advisor has said that I can afford it based on my salary and deposit.
The house is £175k I have £42k in savings and I’m planning on a 10-15% deposit. A Mortage Advisor has said that I can afford it based on my salary and deposit.
Justadreamer said:
But it needs quite a bit of work doing.
What sort of work? Renovation can mean anything from redecoration through to very substantial works.Are you planning on doing it yourself?
Are you prepared to live in a building site for a while?
£42k can do a fair bit if you're able to DIY, or very little indeed if you have to pay for everything.
PLAN PLAN PLAN PLAN
and plan again
It'll take months to complete, spend that time planning in great detail what you need to do. There are some excellent books on this - self build bible, might apply, DIY etc. If you've not offered yet (or the seller is agreeable) Go and look around the property again, take lots of pictures, notes, think about what you want
Understand your goals: quick and cheap to flip? Long term project to make a "forever home" - because at every stage that's a crucial factor.
Don't underestimate the time and effort required - and money, material costs have gone crazy. You will need professionals for some things - I'm a pretty competent amateur but a team of three for a week does what I can achieve in 3 months of evenings and weekend!
Focus on need not want - especially if it's a wreck - structural items first roof, windows, etc then heating (because of the disruption), kitchen, bathroom, at least one clean room so you don't go mad.
And if you ARE doing a big reno and staying - use the opportunity to do/provision for things that will save big time in the long run, lots of extra insulation, heat pump heating, solar panels - it's all far cheaper to do to a shell, and often not a big difference (eg if you need a new heating system, size for a heat pump in future - little to no additional cost now - but later you can swap etc, cable up for PV, battery, EV charge points - cost of some wire will save a lot of labour later )
Ballpark full renovation figures sound crazy but you soon get there - £500-1000 / m2 - it's easy to drop 50k renovating a modest 3 bed semi
..and if your Mrs is about to have a baby, stop now!
and plan again
It'll take months to complete, spend that time planning in great detail what you need to do. There are some excellent books on this - self build bible, might apply, DIY etc. If you've not offered yet (or the seller is agreeable) Go and look around the property again, take lots of pictures, notes, think about what you want
Understand your goals: quick and cheap to flip? Long term project to make a "forever home" - because at every stage that's a crucial factor.
Don't underestimate the time and effort required - and money, material costs have gone crazy. You will need professionals for some things - I'm a pretty competent amateur but a team of three for a week does what I can achieve in 3 months of evenings and weekend!
Focus on need not want - especially if it's a wreck - structural items first roof, windows, etc then heating (because of the disruption), kitchen, bathroom, at least one clean room so you don't go mad.
And if you ARE doing a big reno and staying - use the opportunity to do/provision for things that will save big time in the long run, lots of extra insulation, heat pump heating, solar panels - it's all far cheaper to do to a shell, and often not a big difference (eg if you need a new heating system, size for a heat pump in future - little to no additional cost now - but later you can swap etc, cable up for PV, battery, EV charge points - cost of some wire will save a lot of labour later )
Ballpark full renovation figures sound crazy but you soon get there - £500-1000 / m2 - it's easy to drop 50k renovating a modest 3 bed semi
..and if your Mrs is about to have a baby, stop now!
In your situation personally unless its in a liveable condition I would pass.
If its got a very dated but functional kitchen/bathroom/heating system etc you can work around everything else and do the big jobs as and when you can afford it.
If its a proper wreck it will suck up all that money and then some, and you will also be paying the mortgage.
If its got a very dated but functional kitchen/bathroom/heating system etc you can work around everything else and do the big jobs as and when you can afford it.
If its a proper wreck it will suck up all that money and then some, and you will also be paying the mortgage.
High level
1) What is the value of the same house but not needing the works?
2) would answer to 1) mean that it would be a second step instead of FTB property for you?
If answer to 2 is yes, go for it ( assuming affordable / not borrowed to hilt/ undertake works yourself etc)
I did such, meh 6 years on still not finished, but we would have had to move to a bigger place if hadn’t done it this way.
1) What is the value of the same house but not needing the works?
2) would answer to 1) mean that it would be a second step instead of FTB property for you?
If answer to 2 is yes, go for it ( assuming affordable / not borrowed to hilt/ undertake works yourself etc)
I did such, meh 6 years on still not finished, but we would have had to move to a bigger place if hadn’t done it this way.
In the old days, mortgage lenders tended to put conditions on lending, requiring some work to be done in a short time frame.
You need to be sure where you will stand.
If you have a good relationship with a builder and you can do most of the work DIY, it can work out well.
At the other extreme, it can be an expensive failure.
As with old cars, problems can turn out to be more serious when you start taking things apart.
You need to be sure where you will stand.
If you have a good relationship with a builder and you can do most of the work DIY, it can work out well.
At the other extreme, it can be an expensive failure.
As with old cars, problems can turn out to be more serious when you start taking things apart.
I've seen a lot worse.
But for instance that bathroom floor might just need £300 spent on ply and lino, or it might be rotten. I'd guess manky carpet has been ripped out, but that's the thing, over the interweb, we can only guess.
Looks like it's been rented to a couple of big smelly dogs?
If you don't have a friendly knowledgeable person like a builder handyman or similar, you risk losing the cost of whatever survey/valuation you need/want.
Bad taste and things that need severe cleaning, repainting etc don't scare me, but once you start needing professional work, costs soon escalate.
Plumbing, wiring, roof and windows can be costly.
But for instance that bathroom floor might just need £300 spent on ply and lino, or it might be rotten. I'd guess manky carpet has been ripped out, but that's the thing, over the interweb, we can only guess.
Looks like it's been rented to a couple of big smelly dogs?
If you don't have a friendly knowledgeable person like a builder handyman or similar, you risk losing the cost of whatever survey/valuation you need/want.
Bad taste and things that need severe cleaning, repainting etc don't scare me, but once you start needing professional work, costs soon escalate.
Plumbing, wiring, roof and windows can be costly.
Justadreamer said:
Thanks for the advice. The same house that was sold that was in a liveable condition sold for £290k. But then it needs modernisation to bring it up to standard. I have attached some photos.
I would be taking a closer look at that (missing) wall.... Does it look like someone has removed the wall to open the room up? What are the walls made of, brick or plasterboard?
Apart from that it doesn't look too bad.
Unless there is stuff lurking beneath the surface, that looks ideal as a first time / value addable property. Not bad enough to be impossible to get a mortgage but not good enough that the vendor can’t see that it’d benefit from improving.
Kitchens are dead easy as a first time DIY project. Yes, you’ll need a plumber to deal with any gas and a sparky for electrics but the rest of it is paint and bolting things together. That said, that kitchen looks huge? You might consider a stud wall at the end to add a utility room/downstairs toilet if it doesn’t have one already?
Painting, changing radiators, refreshing faceplates on sockets etc are really easy jobs and it looks like it’s large enough to tackle a room at a time.
One of the things people lack with property is imagination. Bit of paint, a rug, mirror/art above the fireplace, and that sitting room would look a whole lot better.
There are two ways to look at a place like that when you’re are FTB: somewhere to get how you want it with a plan to stay a while, or somewhere to do up and then flip. Figure that out up front and it becomes much easier to target where to focus the spend.
Kitchens are dead easy as a first time DIY project. Yes, you’ll need a plumber to deal with any gas and a sparky for electrics but the rest of it is paint and bolting things together. That said, that kitchen looks huge? You might consider a stud wall at the end to add a utility room/downstairs toilet if it doesn’t have one already?
Painting, changing radiators, refreshing faceplates on sockets etc are really easy jobs and it looks like it’s large enough to tackle a room at a time.
One of the things people lack with property is imagination. Bit of paint, a rug, mirror/art above the fireplace, and that sitting room would look a whole lot better.
There are two ways to look at a place like that when you’re are FTB: somewhere to get how you want it with a plan to stay a while, or somewhere to do up and then flip. Figure that out up front and it becomes much easier to target where to focus the spend.
As others have said, it all looks perfectly livable though it does flooring doing in some rooms, so unless you have a design in mind, just move in first than figure what to do, or even if you want to do anything given you are almost certainly going to be moving again at some point.
£42k is alot of money, but it isn't if you are using trades to do renovations. Your £42k can easily disappear on a kitchen and bathroom refurb!! You will save a considerable amount if you DIY it, but than you need to make the time/get tools and learn the skills needed. The other risk of DIY is it will almost certainly take you longer than getting the trades in, as suggested above you might end up living in a half finished project for years.
If you need ideas on what to do try AI, I've AI alot to help me visualise what might work or not in our house. It's getting really scary accurate!! But just be warned AI visualisations are like an architect drawings.....so easy to produce a vision that looks amazing, building it IRL is a totally different matter
£42k is alot of money, but it isn't if you are using trades to do renovations. Your £42k can easily disappear on a kitchen and bathroom refurb!! You will save a considerable amount if you DIY it, but than you need to make the time/get tools and learn the skills needed. The other risk of DIY is it will almost certainly take you longer than getting the trades in, as suggested above you might end up living in a half finished project for years.
If you need ideas on what to do try AI, I've AI alot to help me visualise what might work or not in our house. It's getting really scary accurate!! But just be warned AI visualisations are like an architect drawings.....so easy to produce a vision that looks amazing, building it IRL is a totally different matter
Edited by gangzoom on Saturday 20th June 06:40
I'm currently renovating a small 2 bedroom house.
It's been a while since I've undertaken such a project.
The cost of materials came as a shock. Just about everything seems to have increased in price considerably over the last few years and way in excess of the general rate of inflation.
It's been a while since I've undertaken such a project.
The cost of materials came as a shock. Just about everything seems to have increased in price considerably over the last few years and way in excess of the general rate of inflation.
gangzoom said:
Your £42k can easily disappear on a kitchen and bathroom refurb!! You will save a considerable amount if you DIY it, but than you need to make the time/get tools and learn the skills needed. The other risk of DIY is it will almost certainly take you longer than getting the trades in, as suggested above you might end up living in a half finished project for years.
On a DIY basis, new kitchen and bathroom could easily be done for £7500 combined, especially if the layout were unchanged. Last two kitchens I bought, exc appliances, were well under £2500 for the cabinets and worktops.The exposed boards on the top floor, easy to sand, especially with a proper floor sander. Hell, I did both bedrooms using a handheld sander in my first house...
Trickiest part to improve looks to be the wall covering on the corridor. Depending on what it is, it'll either need removing or skimming.
There are loads of ways to save money on a refurb. Outlet places for tiles, bathrooms, appliances in particular (and sometimes even cheaper around bank holidays). Just takes a little time to find them.
LooneyTunes said:
There are loads of ways to save money on a refurb. Outlet places for tiles, bathrooms, appliances in particular (and sometimes even cheaper around bank holidays). Just takes a little time to find them.
The key bit is time and than convincing the rest of the family the 'Design' bit isn't all that important versus finding what's available at the cheapest price .Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff