having seriously cold feet about the house we are buying (not just due to snow!)

[Thandeka]

Help!

We found what seemed like a perfect stopgap house for a few years- 3 bed victorian terrace. Needs GCH putting in, new kitchen, new bathroom and completely redecorating. Survey has come back mainly okay although slightly worried about load on roof (those goddam cement tiles) but thinks it is structurally sound just heavy!

Downsides:
Downstairs bathroom (and post DD I wee once or twice a night! I always said downstairs bathroom was a deal breaker- but maybe a chamber pot will be okay!? Then again we want another baby soon and I really can't see me being pregnant in that house!)
Backs onto an industrial estate distribution centre (but isn't really noisy just not the nicest view and security issues?)
Small galley kitchen
Apparently partition walls are v.thin so may hear too much of neighbours- or they hear too much of us!
Its a lot of work and gas board have told us they cant connect gas til march meaning we cant get on with as much as work as we would like (so everything will get delayed) Has electric storage heaters in meantime.
Flat roof extension at back (I hate them as do many people- affects resale?).
Think will be a nightmare to live there with 1year old and doing it up (as were going to stay elsewhere while work was done but since gas cant be connected til March this isnt an option)

Plus sides:
Its v.cheap- we can be mortgage free and have money to do it up
It would solve a problem- currently DH and I are living apart in the week while he lives in town with new job and I live an hour away.
It has great rental potential
Its chain free- we can be in in Jan.
Its below stamp duty threshold for first time buyers- which we are so no stamp duty!

But am seriously worried about it. We defo won't make any money on it but so long as we spend carefully on it we should be able to break even and have a place to live for a few years while trying to find a forever house (have been looking since august and lost out on a few :( ) I am worried we will lose money on it which obviously wouldn't be good but we may do it up to rent out and then buy somewhere else.

DH is v.keen on it, I am getting colder feet by the day- we have already shelled out £1000 on survey and solicitors but I think better lose that than lose £1000's more on it- but I really don't know.

Help wise mumsnetters!

[frostyfingers]

Can you go and have another look at it - we saw a house we liked ages ago, but having not seen it for a while I'm having doubts. We plan to go again early next year and that will be make or break for us.

Write down each of the pros and cons next to each other and have a long hard look at them.

[lalalonglegs]

Re the bathroom/flat roof - am assuming that flat roof is single storey so build an extension on top of it and put in upstairs bathroom then knock through into the kitchen to make it larger (am assuming this is Victorian-style house with kitchen and bathroom tacked on at the back). Build shelves and cupboards along party walls to deaden noise from neighbours. Industrial estate is the thing that would worry me, tbh.

[Thandeka]

Went to look at it for 3rd time today. Still cold feet! Exchange/Completion due in Jan!

Can't have a second story extension as odd layout so would lose a bedroom as would need to be "corridoor" to extension)
Small possibility of putting upstairs loo in (not bathroom) in a cupboard but need to look at house which has done similar in street to see how they did it!

Is a random pocket of victorian terraces in with a load of industrial buildings- hence is £100k cheaper than similar houses across main road (well they have upstairs bathrooms and slighty bigger rooms too).

[lalalonglegs]

My feeling is that you have to make compromises to get on the housing ladder - I know that there are people who will disagree with me and say don't buy it but, to me, living somewhere mortgage- and rent-free and not being separated from my husband while I had small children would mean a lot more than whether or not it had a downstairs bathroom.

Very, very few people can afford their forever house as their first time purchase - I'm onto my 4th and reckon I still have at least a couple to go.

Ask your husband why he is keen on it (apart from the price) and perhaps he can see potential that you can't at the moment.

[LadyBiscuit]

Completely agree with lalala. I didn't really want to live in the area where I bought my first flat but it was all I could afford. I did loads of improvements (but nothing massively expensive as I didn't have the cash) but being able to change things I didn't like was blissful. I'm now on place three and think we are in our forever house (I hope). I'm so glad I bought that first place (even though when I got the keys and went round to drop off the phone and answerphone, I burst into tears as it looked so awful) and have very fond memories now :)

[Thandeka]

Thats very helpful thankyou lalalonglegs and ladybiscuit.

I guess once it is stripped and finished to our taste we will probably have a nice home for a couple of years- its just sooooooooo scary in meantime!

[LadyBiscuit]

It is bloody scary buying your first place although I had a mortgage and being in that much debt scared the pants off me! You might want to take out a small mortgage by the way as a contingency - in my experience, doing up houses costs at least 10% more than you have budgeted for so if you won't have any cash left over, give yourselves a bit of wiggle room.