To even consider putting an offer in?

[Sunnyfootlands]

I went to view a house on Saturday. It's a 1920's 4 bed semi, but it has 2700 square feet of space indoors over 2 floors so it's absolutely massive but needs a lot of work. ON the market for £350k, ceiling value £400k max if it was totally renovated.

This is the list of work it needs:

12 big, non standard timber framed single pane windows updating to double glazed UPVC

2 glass patio doors replacing

Loft insulating

New kitchen (including a partition wall removing and new flooring and tiling plus possibly removal of a fireplace but not the whole chimney breast)

New bathroom (tiled, bath, toilet, sink and shower + enclosure)

New floors throughout downstairs (probably engineered wood for most, about 1000sqft not including kitchen to be tiled)

An unexplained damp patch fixing, it's localised to one wall, at ground level and actively wet. No other damp other than due to guttering anywhere in the house.

Then after that is general renovation like painting, carpets and decorating in the rest of the house.

It is my absolute dream property, but the amount of work scares me. Do you think it's possible to do that work for £50k (midlands), and if so would you consider doing it when you also own a toddler?

Very good question - it's in a beautiful spot opposite a lovely park area on a leafy avenue that I drive up on my way to work most days. The houses are the type of house I have always thought are beautiful and it's one of those places I'd always comment to DH and say 'gosh these houses are so lovely' - he saw it had gone up for sale and his comment to me was 'one of the day dream houses has gone up for sale shall we go and have a look?' so i've obviously mentioned them a lot! I have lived in the area for 20 years and never known one go up for sale, confirmed by the neighbor who said that all 6 of the houses on the row are owned by either the second purchaser, or the children of the original purchaser who bought the house as a new build, so in 100 years they've only changed hands once which I thought was extraordinary. For the house we're looking at, the previous owners parents bought it as a new build and he died still owning it aged 98! The neighbors we spoke to are in their late 80's, have lived there 59 years and next door to them are a similar age.

We would be planning to stay put until we die or had to move for practical reasons in old age, although you could treat downstairs like a bungalow which s what the previous owner I think did and how they remained independent for such a long time. Sadly, they outlived their children and only grandchild which is why the house is with a property company.

Great advice! We have some connections that could help us do it slightly cheaper but I'd rather budget with quotes at market prices and then it's a bonus if we get it cheaper rather than plan to get everything cheaper if that makes sense? When you say rewire, what did it involve?

@Sunnyfootlands if this is your perfect day-dream house then it seems silly to let it slip away because of worries over a theoretical ceiling price. If your plans are to stay until you die then why will it’s value matter to you? But it’s easy for me to tell you to buy it, it’s not my cash.

No it’s a valid point - I guess it’s in case something happens to mean we had to sell it? We’re a single income household (mine) so I’m always a bit worried about losing my job and what that would mean, it’s an irrational fear - I’ve been promoted twice in 2 years so I’m well thought of (I think!), but you never know. I don’t want to spend more than we could realistically recover if we HAD to sell if that makes sense?

@MisguidedGhosts i got the end of rolls from the warehouse though, so they were discounted even more than usual.

@Sunnyfootlands the rewire was a complete rewire of a 3 bed house. I didn’t have anything ridiculously fancy done (outdoor lights, spotlights in the kitchen and normal lights elsewhere, plus lots of plug sockets, electric shower, timer for the boiler etc.) it cost 3.5k which is what I’d priced it at based on online estimates. If you pm me I will pass on the details of the electrician who did it incase it’s within distance for you as he was great and didn’t rip me off at all. I expect prices will be higher now than when I renovated a few years ago, but if you have a good idea of costs then that’s a good start.

I don't think you can do what is needed within your budget. We have been doing a similar level of renovation work on our property. We set a budget of £50k and now it sits at around £70k with another £20k ish worth of work.... this is with my husband doing the majority of the work himself!

I can understand why you are interested in the house from what you describe, but I would never entertain that amount of work myself.

If you do decide and buy, good luck, hope it brings you all the happiness you hope for there.

Don’t worry about the attic insulation, unless there’s some sort of complicated access issue? It’s a supremely DIY-able job, once you understand the rules - you essentially need to buy the right rolls of insulation, and roll them out to the correct thickness.

Being able to do a lot work yourself is a real bonus. We've built a downstairs shower room extension, knocked down the conservatory and rebuilt as a garden room, installed central heating, new kitchen and bathroom (both back to plaster), new plumbing and electrics, replaced the upstairs ceiling, joists, re-felted roof and replaced tiles, new flooring, decorating. Few other bits. We've spent 42k so far but have done it little by little and everything we can do ourselves, we do. We use an electrician where necessary, builders to first fix and everything else we do ourselves. The right house is worth it and it's a marathon, not a sprint.

This! Please don’t do this to the poor house, it will look hideous

OP with all you've said about the house I would personally say 100% go for it if you can afford it. But don't rush the reno, take your time to make sure you love every aspect that you upgrade...a real labour of love for a dream house.

Really? the house that’s the same but opposite to it on the street is all UPVC and looks fine? What’s the alternative? Double glazed timber frames?

Yes, UPVC is awful. Double glazed timber looks so much better.

I dont think your £50k budget sounds enough. However, it sounds like your dream house and you would live there long term so could spread some of the work out. I would say go for it.
We are partway through a massive renovation of a house on a road where I wanted to live for 15 years before we managed to buy. Even surrounded by dust and chaos I'm really happy to be here. It's home and it's worth putting up with the mess for a while imo.
Our large kitchen and utility - back to brick, including moving water and gas supply and drainage and all new appliances has just cost £22k including fitting. It could have been a few thousand cheaper with cheaper worktops and appliances.
Our bathroom cost £4.5k last year including fitting.
Don't forget plastering and decorating if you need to rewire.
Windows and front and back doors cost about £18k so about £1k/window average. No patio doors included in that.
We're not midlands but another less expensive part of the country for trades.