buying house the needs work

[pikosan]

Hi everyone,
(sorry, I am new here and by mistake i think I posted my thread into someone else's topic at first. )
I would like some opinions or advise please. Me and my husband are looking for our first family home to buy and as FTB we don't have that much money therefore really posh locations would be out of our league. But we found a house in the best location possible (i was told at work that if we could afford the house in that area we would be sorted for life). Now, the house is about 100K cheaper than the usual price in that area. I asked the agent and he said that the surveyor of the previuous buyer who'd withdrawn his application found that the house needs roof fising and the dump work. On the pictures from the Zoopla you would never say that! The questons is does it worth even going for this house? If we could fix it (hopefully it is not urgent jobs) we could sell in the future if we like for 230K. What are the chances that we are going to get the mortgage on the house that requires so much work?

Is this house habitable in its present state? I would think it unlikely you’d get a mortgage if it isn’t; unlikely, but probably not impossible.

Hi Knittedfairies ,
when I saw the pictures I would never even think that it needs so much work I am not from this area and do not know many places and prices. But know that I know that the houses in that area are within 230-250k margin I really wonder if its worth it. I am vewing it tomorrow though anyway.

We bought a house that needed a lot of work, albeit not structural but a lot of messy jobs like plastering and refitting the kitchen etc. It's hard work constantly lugging stuff from one room to another and I wouldn't do it again, we are a year in and only about half way done because it's bloody expensive.

Could you live in the house whilst the work is being done? Or would it be a caravan situation?

I don't want to put you off because it is great having a house designed exactly how you like it, but it does become very exhausting at times!!!

thank you beeefcake for the advice. I start to think that it is a bad idea now probably. Although I still would like to view it (no harm in that i suppose).

We are living in a house requiring work. We bought it because we were quite specific about the village we wanted to live in.

You have to ask yourself can you live with the mess of work being done? Do you have a budget (and more) to get the work done? Would you be happy waiting a long time before house is perfect? Does your work and lifestyle allow you to spend time on projects?
Do you like dust

Yes defo go and view it as pictures can be deceiving. I learned this with our house but went ahead anyway because the location was perfect and it was habitable. I'm not saying don't do it, it has been enjoyable but not an experience I would want to repeat IYSWIM

yes I understand absolutely
but I just keep askng myself what do I want more: perfect condition in a not very good location or house that is not perfect but in the best location possible. and I lean towards second. I got beautiful daughter almost 5yo, we want some more children in the future, so location is the priority i guess. But as I said houses in good places are so expensive!! (obviously)

When you go to look round, rely a lot on your sense of smell. a building that is damp smells. If there are air-fresheners in every room, wonder what smell they are trying to cover up.

Look in the corners of rooms for black spots or staining, most of the time that's only due to poor ventilation. Look for wallpaper peeling off and signs of loose plaster. If it's empty, tap the walls lightly, a hollow sound suggests loose plaster.
Go outside, look at the top of the roof, (ridge) is it straight. Is there grass or plants growing out of the guttering?
At ground level can you see a damp proof course, are there salts coming through the mortar and bricks, what sort of windows are they and are the frames fitted properly. Is it rendered, if so are there any cracks.
Is the drive flat or are there puddles when it rains, does it slope towards the house?

How old is the property? If you do decide to make an offer, be sure to get a full structural survey done so you know whether something's cosmetic like condensation, or if it's going to cost a lot to fix like damp. Some damp proofing smells so bad you need to not sleep in the property for a few days.

Where are the boundaries, which are the owner's responsibility, which are joint, which are neighbours'. Is it private or do neighbours have rights over it?

Nothing's insurmountable, but you do need to know initially if you can take it on as it's easily manageable, or whether it's a massive 20 year renovation project where you'll need to live in temp accommodation for weeks at a time while the work's being done which will eat up all of your spare cash.

There are a lot of rules and regs now on DIY restorations and future buyers will want to know if there are certificates of competent installation e.g. for electricity and gas and any guarantees on things like damp proofing, double-glazing, DIY extensions etc.

It is fun to do up an old place but it costs at least twice as much as you think because you want to do Job A, but you have to do Jobs B, C. D, E and F before you can do Job A. And it always takes much longer than you'd estimated.

Enjoy looking round, then if you're drawn to it, look around with a bit of knowledge about renovating property and see what you think.

Yes I would lean toward second option to be honest, location is most important.

When I was your DDs age my parents bought a house that needed so much work it was a building site for 6 months. Parts of the house had fresh concrete needing to be laid, we lived in it the whole time so it is doable with DC.

Thank you all for advice and fresh ideas. I am going to see the house today after 2 and hopefully will have more ideas whether it will worth it. Thank you BlankTimes for useful reomendations. I surely will use them once I am at the property. Anyway, once I have more info I will come back here and see what people that came through similar experience say.

beeefcake, I am sorry what is DC?

i have visited the house, it does require a lot of work. It has leaking roof signs from one side ( i can tell by some wet stains marks going from the 1st floor down to the ground). Some walls have the signs of the rising damp. windows need to be changed but could stay like that for couple years easily. The house didn't smell bad and i didn't feel any freshing odour. overall it is a very good house. I wonder if i will be able to buy it £20-15k cheaper then asking price... could somebody give me the rough figure on how much would that cost to change the roof and a damp proof course. Thank you all for help btw

The reason that house is priced at £100K lower than the usual price is that's likely to be the cost of fixing all the defects.
It may in practise cost more or less depending on how much you can do yourselves.

If it was an amazing bargain, builders would have snapped it up. That rings alarm bells because that suggests it's not got the scope for a quick refit and sell at a profit.

Also, the amount of repairs it needs have already caused someone to drop out of buying it, so for your own protection, get a full structural survey.
The costings you've asked for are in the how long is a piece of string category, sorry. New roof, are you including all roof timbers and new ceilings, or just roof tiles on top of existing structure?
Damp-proofing, is it brick, cavity wall, stone, breeze block? There are lots of different treatments, some are chemical injection, some need underpinning first. Also size of property is a big factor in costings. 2 bed mid terrace has a small roof and exterior wall size compared to a 6 bed detached.

Estate agents are not your friend, they want your money so they are likely to be economical with the truth.

First see if you could get a mortgage on it, and secondly have a full structural survey that you pay for yourself, done by someone with RICS after their name, (very rough cost £300 to £500 but do ask first.)
Their report should be thorough. Then get costs from reputable builders.

Despite all that, some properties just need the right owners who can take their time doing a full refurb because that's their long-term home.