Would you buy a house if it took you a while to save to get it sorted to your standard?

[chickenriceorspud]

If I can ask your advice please? Would you buy a house if it was in your perfect location for schools and close to parents etc in a lovely area but would likely take a few years to get it how you want it?

My dp seems to think you only buy either a house that's ready in showroom condition or one that you can afford to and have the cash ready to get started on anything you wish to do. I on the other hand think it takes time to get any house the way you want it.

I'm like your DP as I can't bear living in a shithole. I've just done that - bought a house that I had enough money to do work to. I hated it when we moved in 4 months ago. Now I absolutely love it.

Oh, and I couldn't bear the thought of taking my children from a lovely childhood home to a shit tip that didn't have what we needed or wanted for years. They'd be grown up before it was what I wanted for them.

I would buy and save- ideas change over time and you need to look at light or how you use space.

I wouldn’t mind saving - it also means I get to choose what I want and when

Depends how liveable it is for you - if it’s just decor and small things to get it “how you want it” then fine, if its majorly inconvenient as it is as in it needs layout changing to suit your lifestyle/household needs or eg bathroom or kitchen are falling apart then maybe not

Buy the worst house in the best road!
Once it has potential to develop, redeiracts2, reconfigure you'll be onto a winner.

I think you need to live in a house for a while to truly get a feel for how you want the place to work, including decorating.
I have no qualms about living somewhere with an avocado bathroom and a dated kitchen if it meant I could save and really make the space work for me.
And I absolutely would not buy somewhere newly decorated in 50 shades of grey and cladded as is the current fad, hate it.

Yes. This is what I think. Plus Saving for something makes it exciting.

My parents are constantly doing/ changing things and they are in their 80s

I feel if you get the house you like, the rest you can mold into shape

Aa long as I knew it would be my forever home, I would buy it and save up.

I did, and six months in I'm wishing I'd bought somewhere that was ready to just walk into.

I did. Twice.
The one we are in now is almost done, we’ve been here 6 years, just the driveway needs doing now. But, we moved in to a kitchen that was so old and dilapidated a couple of doors fell off in the first few weeks and we didn’t have a working cooker until we had one hastily delivered.
It was 3 years before we got a new kitchen!
It had 80’s decor with painted stencils, threadbare carpets, old draughty doors and windows and a leak in the roof.
We have put in new windows/doors, new bathroom, decorated with new flooring throughout, new roof & kitchen. We didn’t have a bean when we moved in but I’m so glad we live here.
I love our house.

We did a bit of both. We bought a house that was in bad condition and had the cash to make it liveable (new windows, new wiring, new carpets, new bathroom, re plaster, new heating) and then we saved up to extend and put new kitchen in. The first phase does sound like a list of nice to haves but honestly this place was a wreck.
it was hard going and I don’t think I’d buy a place that wasn’t liveable unless I had the money ready, but the slower improving it over time has been great and we have everything just how we like it now. I don’t think a house is ever perfect and I didn’t want to pay a premium for other peoples choices and tastes.

Oh no! What work have you undertaken

Love this!!!

You both have reasonable and valid opinions. There’ll be a compromise.

Yes I would and we did. We knew we'd be in this house for at least 20 years and have been here 9 so far. We did one major bit of work after a year and then the second major bit after six years, once we'd saved up again. House was under budget to start with so we didn't have to wait long for the first project.

You're right, your DP is wrong. Snap up a long term bargain, and take your time getting to know it and making it your own at your own pace.

I'm assuming it's habitable and can be made to look reasonably presentable (if not immediately impressive) for guests. If we're talking "camping out on a building site for the first year", then I'd be more reluctant. Avocado bathroom - no problem!

The OP didn't say it was a shit tip.

As long as it’s liveable, I’m absolutely on the side of a doer-upper over time. Location, space and being not terribly inefficient to heat are much more important than current state of the decor. Even if it’s nice, you’re always going to want to do it up to your own specific tastes in time anyway.

I've done it twice. In the current house, I'm a year in and are just about to launch into the first phase of works. In this year, we have learnt what works for us and what doesn't, and have agreed a plan which takes all our needs and what we have learnt about the place into consideration.

If I'd launched straight into works on day 1 I would have done things differently, and I think I would have regretted some of them (I couldn't have anyway as it took an age for the planning permission to come through!)

I think lots of people buy a house that's livable but then save to do up one room at a time. I've done this with most of the houses I've bought. I pick the worst room to.do first. Whatever you do don't start lots of rooms at once or it will drive you mad.

The only thing I've been able to afford to do is get the dodgy electrics sorted! The whole place needs redecorated from top to bottom and the conservatory needs knocked down a new roof. It will literally take me years to get it all looking nice. It's perfectly liveable though, and I shouldn't moan.

Yes, I’ve always done this and so does everyone I know. I’d hate to buy a showhome finished type of place, that means you’ve paid for someone else’s new carpets and kitchen and paint etc but didn’t get to choose any of it.

I wouldn’t buy a place with damp or dodgy electrics/plumbing but crap old interior absolutely sign me up

I'm with you. We did buy a house that was liveable but also bits falling off (think dodgy electrics, roof sagging), and more than 4 years down the line, still living with frilly curtains, carpets and wallpaper from the 1990s, a half finished bathroom, unplastered bedrooms and since having our windows done, walls with the bare brick showing through as they did not make good when the windows were installed. To be fair, two years were during lockdowns, but as we've lived in the house for a while, we know what we want and don't want. We've now got a fantastic kitchen with glass roof, downstairs wet room and will look to getting the rest done as soon as possible.

We've bought 2 homes and they were both liveable - not showhome standard as the fittings were around 10 years old by the time we moved in. But still in good condition and functional. It meant we haven't got the cheapest bargain but we value our time more than money I guess. We moved into our current house with an 8 month old baby and there's no way I would have wanted to spend my days renovating or decorating with a baby/toddler in tow, or having DH do it at weekends instead of us spending time together as a family. I'll start redecorating when I get some child free time once she has some nursery hours.