Shitty homes

[madcatladyforever]

AIBU to think that if you have bought a huge investment i.e a house you should take take care of it?
I've moved 300 miles from home with work and I'm renting a bedsit while I look for a house to buy.
Every single one I've looked at is a shit hole. Dirty, not decorated in years, a mess and overgrown garden. I feel so despondent.
I don't want to buy a house I'm going to have to do tons of work on and start from scratch in the garden
My own house was modest but it was nicely painted by me, the garden with a bit of hard work was lovely and it sold in 2 weeks after going on the market. The buyers said it was the nicest house in the price range.
I really don't want to buy some shit hole and spend the next 5 years doing it up and having to deep clean it at my age.
Houses here are much cheaper but just so run down and dirty.
If you had an expensive investment would you not want to maintain and look after it inside and out? I just cannot understand the mentality.
I had a look at what should have been a lovely bungalow today in an area of oupstanding natural beauty owned by a sinice bloke and it would have taken several big skips to remove all the crap from the house and Garden before even starting to refurbish and he wanted top dollar for it.

Just take off what you think the renovations would cost and offer that and stay in a B&B whilst the work is being done.

Puzzledbyart
You must have looked at my house grin
Expensive on the paper, but a proper tip inside. Just don't have any time at all to maintain it, and no good eye / talent to create comfort.
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Same here. I was thinking I might put the house on the market and buy a flat but I don't really want estate agents and potential buyers coming round. Where does it all end?

Ignore asking prices. They are fiction. Guesstimate the amount you would need to pay builders to do necessary renovations and make an offer based on asking price minus this. Then, if offer refused walk away and wait. A house is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. And if your low offer is accepted then it wasn't low enough, get a survey and find an reason to reduce it further. And always check local sold prices online, they may differ a lot from asking prices.

My mum's house is a shit hole. It would be worth a lot of money if it was in a decent state as it's in a very desirable part of the south east but as it is it needs a lot of work. Rewiring, windows need replacing as they are the original Edwardian sashes, needs recarpeting throughout, new bathroom suite, horrible fitted wardrobes need to be ripped out.
She has plenty of money, she just can't be bothered 🙄

I agree OP. If the average wage in the UK is 27k then most people can afford a couple of cans of white paint, a pot plant and nice rug. Ikea has simple, clean and cheap furniture. Or you can buy very cheap in second hand and charity shops and paint. You don't have to spend 10k + on a new kitchen. My kitchen cost 4k and looks amazing. Having a neat and tidy garden costs virtually nothing, just time and effort. And if you lack inspiration or taste then you can easily get ideas from websites like Pinterest, which is free. Some of the nicest décor is the cheapest and most natural - a branch as a curtain pole, simple homemade art, painted floorboards and a pile of books. Most people have too much clutter, mismatched furniture (which they could paint), awful carpets and scruffy dated stuff that belongs in the tip. It's better to have 10 nice quality items than 1000 awful things.

It’s having the cash to do it & also the interest. Some have neither.

Our ndn has a lawn maintanance service & a huge fuck off patio set but the rest of the gardens a shit hole. Baffling.

Buy a run-down property at a knock down price...a lot of them are in probate and the sellers will be eager to settle an inheritance matter, especially if the council tax discount has expired and they are paying empty homes insurance. Use the money saved to employ cleaners, builders, painters etc to make it your home, if you don't wish to do it yourself. I bought our current home for £100k less than it is worth done-up. It has taken me a year to sort out the damp, and tear out the 1970's vinyl floors. green bathroom suite, rubbish left etc. It is far from a show home now, but work-in-progress that will yield a good profit when complete. I cannot say that living in a building site with home-schooled kids is much fun or for the faint-hearted, but I do get huge satisfaction from finishing the jobs room-by-room. With the uncertainty of Brexit, there are some good bargains to be had on the property market right now if you are prepared to do some work or see beyond the mess. In reality a lot of people selling run-down houses are elderly, in financial distress/ evicted, ex-buy to let landlord stock etc and these sellers could not do the work to bring them up to modern standards if they wanted due to the cost.

Ignore asking prices. They are fiction. Guesstimate the amount you would need to pay builders to do necessary renovations and make an offer based on
asking price minus this. Then, if offer refused walk away and wait.

Then the OP will be doing a lot of waiting!

Houses that need work and cheaper than ones in walk in condition. The cost of the work needed doing is reflected in the asking price already.

Even if you do strike lucky then I’m presuming the house will be mortgaged so it’s not like getting the house for £X cheaper = £X in your hand for improvements.

Seriously you all think it's OK to expect top price for a filthy unkempt home?

Shorty homes don't actually achieve top prices. The seller may ask for top price but they don't often get it.

How about a new build?

Then you won't have to go round deep cleaning, chucking crap out?

And surely the pics on rightmove give some indication of what the interior and exterior of the house is like?

Reject every single one that looks messy/dirty in that case and only choose the pristine ones. Then do a drive-by before you set up a viewing. If the house/garden look like crap then you don't need to bother going to view the inside.

But if you do settle on something that is dirty and needs decorating, well you can get people in to do a deep clean and get someone to redecorate from top to bottom before you move in. Being in rented is an advantage as you can continue living in the bedsit until all the work is done. This costs money of course, but might be worth it to you.

Don't give up. You'll get there.

What's your budget though?

When I look at expensive houses that nobody bothers with my heart sinks. I imagine all the things I would love to do given half a chance. I live in a cheap house but I've made it look really good, even with a tiny budget.

“I appreciate what people say about how expensive paint is etc, but if you can’t afford paint, you can’t afford to move house either”

Of course you can! You’ll have the money from the sale to pay for it

Not brain science

Your expectations as to what your budget can achieve is simply but realistic

@Perunatop I have friends who’ve been doing that for 2 years and miss out everytime. They offer £50k less because they’ll need a £50k extension to make it work. They don’t seem to understand that’s not how it works in house selling

Some people can' ,be bothered, some people can't afford to. You, my dear, do you.

Op perhaps tellus your budget and area and we'll find you something nice!

In reality a lot of people selling run-down houses are elderly, in financial distress/ evicted

Yes, it's best to take advantage of these suckers and grab a knock-down, bargain price. Remember when the survey comes to insist on lowering your offer further, best wait until just before exchange to pile the pressure on.

Remember, the oldies will only waste it on care home fees! Better profit in your pocket, after all.

Budget mate. If you want a posh gaff it costs a lot more.

I have a friend who runs a small cleaning business. She does a lot of end of tenancy cleans. Some people’s homes are filthy and the occupiers just don’t see it.
Grease caked on the sides of the units by the cooker, limescale thick around sinks, baths and taps, loos that are so brown and discoloured you would never know it was once white.
Some people are just oblivious to their own dirt or to lazy to clean it so it becomes their normal.

I can't imagine a branch being anything more than fucking annoying if you need curtains that open and close.

Where is all the paint that costs 'almost nothing'? It's about £15/litre and you need brushes, rollers. And have you ever tried to cover up a strong colour like red? It takes layers and layers and layers.

The thing is, OP, if you live in a place with lowish prices, a lot of times it's a place full of old people. What happens is a lot of times they haven't maintained their house but they have no mortgage and so can just sit in it and not sell it if the price doesn't agree with them.

I'm so exhausted with fulltime work and bringing up a child with SEN that I treasure any free time I get. Housework and decorating is way down the list of priorities. Some people live differently to you OP. You sound snobbish and judgemental.
Tough luck you can't find a house suitable for your high standards. Lower them ir fork out more cash.

Most people don’t have the time!