To buy a bomb site for £1.1 million?

[Losingmyusername]

Just that really. 17th century, listed, 6 bedrooms and a self contained annex with 3 bedrooms (no bathroom or kitchen fitted and no floors).
It was occupied by squatters who have smashed all the windows. Significant damp issues in one room. Horrible interior fittings, and needs bathroom and kitchen fully remodelling, as its previous use was a hostel.
Asking price is £1.4, but I think the work is very substantial and I suspect the survey may show additional issues.
Would need planning permission/LBC for the refit and ideally would want to add a door to the garden.
I think we probably couldn't live in it for six months.
Can afford it if our current place sells for 650 and we get rental income from the annex and have my sister move in as well.
It would give space for all the kids and potential for then to live in the house when they're grown up and we live in the annex.
Only reason I'm even thinking about is because I realised the sums just add up if survey is ok and obviously if I keep my job. I picture being able to restore this local house to its former glory and am carried away with the idea of sweeping staircases and decorated ceilings (right now it has a shitty cheap staircase, no decor and that horrible chip wallpaper). I'm not great at DIY but my husband is and loves it. I already live in a listed building so have some idea what would typically be granted/refused and how to apply.
Am I an idiot to even think about putting an offer in?

You are probably being massively unreasonable. But I say go for it , sounds wonderful.

Do you have another million or so?

Getting work done on a listed building is a ball ache .

I'm personally finding getting the work done very stressful. Asking for quotes, getting stood up by contractors, anxiety around being scammed as I have no idea about stuff.
Are you ready to handle all this stress on top of everything else?

Are you capable of managing stress, kids and contractors all at the same time?

Then go for it and post some pics. Id love to see the results!

You sound very naive and whilst sometimes it's lovely to take a leap and do something spontaneous this sounds like a huge money pit and a massive millstone!

sounds like a massive project. if it wasn't listed, I would say break it down and build a new house in its place. being listed you have the headache of preserving original features as well. and anything you think needs doing, the expected cost, the time that you expect will be needed.... multiply by 3. Will need full gut out, damp sorting, probably rewiring, heating full update etc. definitely not something to tackle without professional help. I purchased a medium 1970s property in relatively good condition in 2021... took me 18 months to move in - although I had other issues. what started off as a little bit of redecoration and new kitchen+bathrooms turned into full refurbishment. 😳

Whatever you are quoted for building work, you should double it - both the cost and the time taken. Only go ahead if you could still afford that. You may get lucky, but every building project I’ve been involved in has had significant overruns.

Also budget for much higher long term maintenance and utilities costs, big old buildings are just much more costly to live in. So if it’s a stretch, it’s not affordable.

If you’ve got 500k spare to spend on it, sure.

I wouldn't renovate now. Tradesmen are charging insane rates. I was told they had doubled since Covid. This was from a property search company who advised me to buy a home with minimal work.

That's not going to change any time soon though is it tbf

Yes, these are all reasons which are putting me off. We are trying to work out the affordability of the must have work that would enable us to then slowly fix up the rest. No, we would not do it all ourselves as I'm aware of the specialist needs of a listed building and the extra costs. I guess in my head I'm thinking 300k that could be mortgaged and then stop any further work until my mother's house is sold, but there are certainly a lot of obstacles! Not least the basic question of plumbing pipe arrangements. I think I'm being carried away with my DHs view of how great it could be! But...he's abysmal at dealing with contractors, that has always been me on every project we've done.

Would you be able to get a mortgage on the property as it stands at the moment?

if you can get it for say 950k, I would say its more reasonable. but honestly the headache will be relentless. and the prices are crazy, even the reputable builders need very close supervision. and the planning permissions required will likely drive you round the bend if you are still sane after dealing with the contractors. better and easier to buy a piece of land on auction and build a brand new house. Will be cheaper as well.

@WhiteFire it's got residential use as of last week , I can get a mortgage in theory (checked online), obviously if survey says there are structural issues I'd have just lost the survey fees. Hmm yeah I don't think they'd accept 950 but maybe a lower offer is a lot less to lose...I just don't know who would take all these risks if I wouldnt. It'll probably get chopped up into some shitty HMO by a developer.

What's the location like? If it's the only way to get a house you love in the perfect location for you then....maybe. But the location would have to be perfect.

Apart from the massive costs, how are you going to get rental income from the annex in the state it’s in? (Even if you did that up first, no tenant will want to live on a building site).

It sounds more like a project for a professional investor/company tbh. It will be hugely expensive to renovate - I was just quoted £1.5m to renovate a 5 bedroom apartment for example. Not to mention the time, stress and chaos!

I reckon as an interim step offer 850 and see what happens. If they went ahead at that price the numbers would stack up for sure.

If they don’t then their counter offer will tell you a lot about what they think they can get. If it’s selling through an agent rather than an auction I don’t think they’re looking for a developer at this stage.

Are you cash buyers? I think it’s hard to get a mortgage if there’s no kitchen.

£300K? You are having a laugh and being very naive I'm afraid.

Our not substantial in the slightest kitchen extension was not that far off £100k 18 months ago (including top end appliances to be fair but still looking at over £90k).

You're looking at a huge house (well 2 really) in a state of disrepair that's also listed! The pp who asked if you'd got a spare million was probably closer to the mark than anyone else.

Once you get to more than one 'and' you are in tricky territory.
So far you have rent out the annexe and your sister moves in and you keep your job.

Only if you have a contingency of costs times 2 available. I'd love a property like that but after renovating a mid 20th century property with no listing issues in an area where tradesmen are still just about available it dragged on for a significant amount of time and for extra expense over and above what had been quoted.

Building work is insanely expensive at the moment. Actually I don’t think it will come down.

We spent £350k a year ago on upgrades (new floors, windows, kitchen, bathrooms) and some structural changes (not significant changes). We didn’t gain anymore space. I reckon the same work would be £400k today.

The property is currently worth the purchase price and the money we spent on the work… it probably would have increased by £250k anyway over the 4 years we’ve owned the house. So in real terms it’s been expensive. With hindsight, I wouldn’t have done the work we did.

Be very wary. Also, entirely disregard the estimates from the surveyor and the architect. They were so wrong by hundreds of thousands in our case!!

I would say no as you need your sister to move in & rent the annex.