Could this e made liveable for £30k

[Zoosie]

this
I’ve seen it from the outside.

The conservary is a very amateur job, looks like it’s aboutbto fall down.

I think it needs an extension to kitchen to make more use of space.

Estate agents have done the annoyin stretching of photosi it’s not as big in real life.

It was obv meant to be a 4 bed so I’ve no idea why they’ve stuck the awful conservatory on.

Location is fab though!

Is there hope within our budget?

@mumto2babyboys I don't see any proof of damp...I don't think the house is ancient, either.

That's a perfectly liveable house, if you don't mind a bit of bungalow blight! I actually like the conservatory, and that's a sentence you won't hear me say often.

And btw if that house is ancient mine is prehistoric.

Mine too, mine's 400 years old! It looks perfectly OK to me, it's liveable as it is. Anything I'd do to it would be cosmetic but i'm not a fan do spending money for the hell of it.

Of, not do!

Liveable? Are you kidding me? I thought it was going to be a tumble down wreck the way you describes it! £165k wouldn't buy a studio flat where I live, and a crappy, run down one at that! Count your blessings!

I think mumto2 is bidding on the house and trying to discourage competition! 😂

Ii think you must be right, Unicorn! I can't think of any other reason to be so harshly negative about this perfectly pleasant house.

Honestly, though, I live in NI, and there seems to be a bit of a strange attitude to houses here. Loads of people would rather buy a small, boxy new build with little in the way of personality, so they can be like "ooh, look at my shiny new house" to all their friends. It's almost like a status symbol. Whether or not you actually like the house is almost irrelevant, as long as it has a glossy kitchen with soft-close drawers.

DH and recently bought a 12-year-old townhouse overlooking a river, and our families couldn't understand why we didn't go for the similarly-priced new builds nearby. They were smaller and worse value for money in every way.

firstborn I totally agree, it's a strange attitude. People want brand new, bland and characterless boxes with no garden and a shiny new kitchen. The irony is that those types of houses are poorly built and completely overlooked by other houses and they soon lose their sheen.

To me an solidly built older house with a bigger garden and a nice aspect has far more appeal. My own house is almost 70 years old and has a beautiful view, loads of space around it and total privacy. The kitchen is 20 years old but is really well built with solid oak. I know people who wouldn't consider a house like this, or if they did would feel they had to rip out the kitchen and bathroom immediately. Whereas I'm quite happy if not everything is brand new.

Honestly, though, I live in NI, and there seems to be a bit of a strange attitude to houses here.

I agree. I have friends who live in a beautiful period property (and there are very few of those to start with) and I couldn't count the number of people who have said 'why did they spend that money on that house when they could have bought a site and built a bungalow?'. And another fairly wealthy realtive who lives in a (nicely renovated) farmhouse and all the older relatives torture her about when she is going to knock the house down and build a new 'proper' house, because it's not fair to make her kids live in an old house when she can afford a new one.

The blight of enormous ugly grey bungalows across the countryside is a sight to behold.

I don’t think there is going to be a bidding war on a bungalow in the middle of nowhere

I live in England now, my house here costs an insane amount more almost triple that but I purchased it with my ex.
I think it looks damp also.. I travel back to ni 5/6 times a year. All my family own property there and that will never increase in value much because so few want to buy a bungalow and they are prone to damp.

Fair enough original poster says it’s close to her work but most people do not stay in the same job for life anymore and I genuinely think spending 30k on a bungalow will not add value to the house as most thinks like kitchens/bathrooms and flooring go out of style so in 10 years it would all have to get redone to sell it

I have also owned a few different properties in Belfast. No one wants to commute with the traffic on ormeau being so bad, in my experience

Just not getting a lot for what is an somewhat expensive house in ni but would hardly buy you a flat in England and then what about brexit. If there is a border etc and house prices drop again and never rise and original poster has spent 30k on a bungalow that looks like it will be difficult to resell.

That’s why I said bring an estate agent from a diffent firm when/if this is even genuine!!! And the estate can give an expert opinion on the damp looking extenal walls and if it’s worth spending 30k when the actually house may never be worth 30k more than it is listed atm.

Sorry for the rant lol but some people on here!!! It’s not even a nice house is it as someone else said it’s an eyesore

Why not extend into the garage then make a new garage to the side? A garage conversion and new build garage would be much cheaper.

That said you wouldn't have any living areas backing on to the grass garden. But you could open up the back with the lovely view and add it on to the main garden instead of it being paved. You've already got plenty of driveway.

I would love to say that people would never dream of the disposable fashion attitude to buying houses here in England but I have met people who would never dream of living in a house that other people have lived in. It's a bizarre attitude. All the more lovely solid houses full of mould character for the rest of us, though.

We're not blessed with warm, dry air, here in the NE and I've seen houses of all ages showing signs of damp or condensation, including houses that are less than 10 years old.

mum the house looks fine, I don't see signs of damp. Nowhere is in 'the middle of nowhere' in NI really, it's a small province. Your attitude of 'itll be difficult to resell' seems strange. Are you suggesting that bungalows that are not new builds are pretty much worthless? What's the solution to that - just build more? More bungalow blight? Or renovate and maintain the ones we have, ugly or not. (they can be made to look much prettier with eg new windows)

As for Brexit, people will still live and work in NI and need somewhere to live. Like the OP needs somewhere to live.

It's also less than 30 mins to Belfast, which is handy.
There are various routes you can take which cut out the traffic if you're going at rush hour.
But it's not like it's far from other towns either. I think it would be a handy enough location.

......to make it liveable........seriously???????

Do you need some sort of reality check? I really don't want to be rude, but I clicked on the link expecting to see a half-burnt hovel.

BMW, unfortunately it is a common enough attitude among middle class people in NI that houses are not 'liveable' if they are not new and modern. and bland and tasteless

Great house op. I would knock the kitchen into the garage and rebuild a new garage to the side of the old one.
The conservatory I would make slightly larger and brick built or more of a garden room and extend the family room at the same time so a hallway could go direct to the conservatory and make the family room a guest bedroom/family room as needed.

I would swap the window and the front door around. So the front door is at the front and a window where the door is right now, it would make the front look nicer.

The rooms look great and if people where you live have such a funny attitude then get yourself a bargain and have a lovely house.

Let us know what happens.