To ask what the real costs are of doing up a house?

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House hunting for our second home together with DH. I always wanted to get somewhere we could do up but now I'm in the mix of it and looking at houses I realise there is SO much to do. DH advises me that as long as it's structurally sound, we can do things bit by bit but I've made a list of a recent house we've seen and it would need new windows, a new boiler, new roof on the extension, a tree surgeon. It's a bargain and in the nicest area we have seen with a lot of nostalgia for me as grandparents used to live nearby but I'm wondering is it really a bargain or shall we just get a new build? I love DIY but this feels mammoth compared to our lovely little bungalow we are moving on from.

For those who have done or had involvement in a renovation or walked away from the opportunity to do one, why? What was the costs? Share your knowledge with me!

So not to drip feed the house in question is 150k lower than others we have looked at but I don't know how much the work would cost.

How long is a piece of string?

What you’ve listed sounds like a lot less than £150k. What else does it need?

Windows - budget 600-900 per window fitted

boiler - 2-3k?

roof no idea!

Can you get some estimates for the big jobs eg: roof, boiler, possibly re-wiring etc. Then the rest is just re-decorating, possibly a new kitchen/bathroom but can be done over time. Sounds like a good buy at 150k less than comparable but already done.

Gutted the entire house (3 bed semi)
involved restructuring the roof due to condemned loft conversation, new roof, new insulation, rewiring, replastering, repointing, new kitchen bathroom etc cost 50k without labour

Windows - say between 500-900 per window for standard white upvc, depending on size

Boiler - just the boiler, or radiators as well? Just the boiler would be about 3k I think, assuming it's gas fired not oil.

Roof , sorry not sure on this, but you could get a couple of quotes to give you an idea.

Whaat about electrics, will a rewire be needed?

Tree surgeon - this won't be a lot depending on what work needs doing, would estimate around £250-350 per days work.

All in it sounds a lot less than £150k worth of work. But always, always include a buffer , renovation costs tend to spiral!

It always costs more and takes longer than you think it should/budget for - often by a significant factor. You also have to take into account the hidden/incidental costs - while on the face of it your house's work wouldn't necessarily mean you need to redecorate or recarpet (for example) it's surprising how these jobs snowball. Eg a tree surgeon - if you reduce trees they will regrow and need work every few years; if you remove them what's going to go in their place?

That said, if you have the appetite for it and a reasonably elastic budget and plan to stay for a while it can be great fun and give you a home you really will love.

I have no idea tbh lol we are complete amateurs. Sorry just to be clearer though we aren't cash buyers or anything so the 150k saving is just less than the absolute max from our mortgage in principle appointment. I am terrified of a money pit but also don't want to walk away from so much potential. We viewed yesterday and the estate agent said she would give us a couple of days and call tomorrow anyway for feedback. Others were interested too as it was an open house type viewing so we may not stand a chance but can't make our minds up. The pros are it's in a nice, safe area near to parents on both sides. The rooms are huge compared to other houses we have seen but the stairs need repairs, the boiler is not even on as the house is empty and needs removing...oh I forgot also my mum highlighted there could be asbestos which would need removing due to the era the house was built in. I hadn't even thought about that as its never been a thing that's come up anywhere I've lived before. I wouldn't know how to tell? The estate agent didn't know but said she could find out from the grand daughter selling the house. Then there's all the other bits such as knocking through rooms, bathrooms would need doing. I'd add an en suite as it's from an era where they didn't seem to be a thing. Endless lists really! Thanks for all your replies so far.

My windows are £100k. Wooden sashes
It depends on what type and size
My boiler was about £7k-large boiler with new pipework
Big-medium trees about £500 each to take down

Ie need more information to be bad to answer. Age and size of house.

Way less than £150k! For that you could get a double storey extension.

Thanks so much for your replies so far, to save tagging you all would anyone who has done it reccomend a second viewing with DH's best mate who is a builder? We would likely use him. Not sure if you can do this but can't see why not.

can you post a link? it would give us more of an idea. Always remember what might appear to be a simple job often leads to you uncovering problems you did not know even existed.

Also depends on your standard of renovations, Homes under the Hammer (cheap and not very cheerful) or Grand Designs?

My boiler was £1300 fitted 3 years ago. When the plumber came to service it just after Christmas, he said it would cost £1700 now. Having the bathroom refitted and tiled was £5k 2 years ago, and it's not a very big bathroom.

I worked out the other day that so far we have spent about £50k on our two bedroom flat - the top half of a Victorian semi, including having all the wooden sash windows renovated and draught proofing fitted, a new circuit board and some of the wiring redone, a new cold water tank in the attic and new hot water tank, tree surgeon to take a tree out, turf laid in the garden new bathroom and new kitchen (and the kitchen included moving it from the front to the back of the house) and decorators in to decorate some of the rooms. We're not handy at all, so have paid others to do it but we've done it bit by bit over the last 8 years starting with the most important bits (for us that was the wiring, water tanks and windows) and have been very lucky to find good tradesmen who charge fair prices (never the cheapest, and we've always avoided anyone that we didn't feel comfortable with).

I would take it on but I love a fixer upper!!

Definitely. Do that! You need to think about the roof, electrics (sometimes the whole house needs re-wiring), whether it needs plastering etc. Not needing actual building work (e.g. an extension) sounds very promising though.

It depends what you want.
I've just had a new boiler installed using existing pipework, was about 2.5k
New double glazed windows for the front of a 3 bed terrace, not wooden but reasonably architecturally sympathetic was about 8k, so same again to do the back. You could probably get it done cheaper.
The house is unlikely to have asbestos but check the roof of any shed or outbuilding - your survey report should flag it up. It's costly to get it removed - I think my relative was quoted 2-3k to get a garage roof removed .
I think a new bathroom would cost in the region of 10k.
Knocking through and putting in an ensuite once you've bought are a personal choice, and it depends on things like whether the walls being removed are supporting walls.
Have you got a friendly builder you could ask (pay ) to go round with you and give you an idea of costs?

But do bear in mind. Saving £150k on the purchase price doesn’t leave you with £150k. As most of that, presumably, would be on your mortgage. And you can’t borrow initially to fund renovations unless you get a bank loan. We were able to do some work (rewire, plaster, new floors) before moving in; it made it so much easier than living there. I would never ever do a project house again. The costs are endless. And you will rarely make your money back nowadays. I’d buy somewhere in good condition and enjoy your life.

We've just reroofed our house and an outbuilding, and it was £75k

Can you do any work yourself? It’s the labour that will cost you more anything. Weve just renovated a large 3 bed semi

A few ideas of costings:

boiler- £2.2k (no radiators)
kitchen £6.5k (fitted ourselves)
bathrooms £6k (fitted
Gardeners £1k
patio doors £2k (large, fully fitted)
UPVC front door (standard) £1.7k

Then add in soft furnishings, flooring, decoration etc. Things you think you can live with ie: carpets you realise stink.

Building material costs have rocketed. Do you have equity? I’d say we are very livable now but lots to still be done- spent around £23k.

Definitely do this. He will be able to spot potential pitfalls that a layman won't, and will have a good idea of what materials are likely to cost and how much labour is involved.

Bear in mind that the amount of work it seems to need will increase in cost, as you won't be able to do it all at once and the cost of materials and labour will have risen by the time you get round to doing a lot of it.

100% second view. We took my Dad to talk through what we wanted to do. Second viewing you must view with your head not your heart. It’s really not for the faint hearted 😂

We bought a virtually worthless house on a huge block of land because it was a great price and we were prepared to do the work ourselves. The price meant we paid cash (100 000 euro), so we own it outright and anything we earn now, we keep.

The work that needs doing is pretty much everything you have to, and we asked ourselves the same question. New build or this house? Renovations we price to be maybe around 100 000 euros, spread over the next 5 to 10 years. Main deciding factor was having to pay to knock it down for the new build, which works out a lot more.

Really, if we outsourced the renovation work (you can get online guesstimate about how much a new roof will cost), it would easily cost double that, but it would also be done a lot quicker and much more professionally.

The last thing to consider, if you both want to renovate, are you prepared to put the next few years aside to do that and live in a place in chronic disrepair? These were questions we had to be comfortable with before we bought, if that helps.

To clarify my dad did the work with us which is why we took him