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.

In my favorite house the kitchen was the least disruptive but that's because I didn't move anything and it was just ripping it out and putting a new one in. It took 3 days. 3 days in which I ate either takeaways or out!

The killer was the bathroom. Hence why here I am having 2 so I've got one done whilst the other is being done!

We bought an ugly duckling house 25 years ago, and didn't get around to replacing the kitchen until 2019! But it is perfect now; it just needs redecoration again before we sell to downsize. There's always work needed on every house.

We bought a wreck in a lovely area and have been living in it while slowly doing things to it including knocking down part of the house and building on another part. This is three years after we bought it, and we've just paused for probably a couple of years, because we need major money to do the next bit. It's still pretty primitive very cold, and a temporary kitchen.

It depends on how much needs doing, whether it's structural or cosmetic, and whether you can live in the house while you renovate it.

I know, this is why I think my DP is being a dick lol

It doesn't sound like it needs that much doing to it and I'd go for it, but in general my answer to the question would be "it depends".

The first house my husband and I bought needed a lot doing to it and it took us about 6 years. The second one was ready to move in.

The difference was that when we bought the first we had no children. When we bought the second we had a toddler and I was pregnant.

I think it's pretty normal for a first house to need some fixing up. That was also true 2-3 decades ago when they were cheaper. Location is more important.

Been here over 25 years and still not finished doing the bathroom. It functions, Don't care how it looks. One day when we have time we may finish it.

Depends what needs doing and how long it will take and if you have a solid plan of what you're doing. My mum ran out of money doing up her house- ask me if I enjoyed having no heating or hot water for long periods as a child/ teen 😕
If it's mostly cosmetic and things you can live with for a bit then go for it.

I’ve done it twice, moved into a house that needs work which we’ve had to save and do. I was younger then, next move, downsizing, DH fancies a move into a doer upper one last time, I want to move into one that’s basically been done but might need a tweak here and there.

I’m with you. We did the same, we bought and did it over a number of years.

to be fair it wasn’t financial, we could afford it. But the house was liveable and I just didn’t have the band width to be dealing with more than one big thing a year.

so that’s what we did. Kitchen one year, bathroom the next, flooring the year after, decorating the year after, hard landscaping the year after, external painting the year after and so on. Took us nine years,

I also think you need to live in a house a year or two before you start doing anything major, so you can get a feel for the place.

thr only caution is, will you be able to save up? Without it impacting your life too severely? because if thr answer is maybe not, its best to not do it, or you will be living in it as is for ever more.

Isn't the saying "buy the worst house on the best road"?

Having said that I couldn't bear the thought of living in a shit hole for a few years while trying to afford to get work done

Equally buying a ready made perfect house is way out of our financial powers!

SE London so you're looking at at least £600,000 for a 3 bed semi in a crappy condition

It would depend on how much work it needed. Generally the advice is buy the worst house on a nice street. Area is more important to me than how close it is to show house standard. If however it is unliveable with no functioning kitchen or bathroom I might think twice if we had young kids. Decor doesn't matter and can be lived with for a while.