I am so very tempted by a house, please slap me very hard and tell me it's not worth it

[BranIsLonelyThisChristmas]

It's this house.

Here's the back story. When we moved back to Ireland in summer 2010 the house in the link is in one of the areas I was hoping to live in, but there wasn't anything for sale that suited our needs. We chose not to rent for a while because I didn't want to have to move again within a year, and we accepted that we would almost certainly pay more for doing this as Dubin has a very rapidly plummeting property market. The house we have is fine, but is has lots and lots of compromises like the layout not quite suiting us and the garden being a little too small, location not quite what we wanted, also there are only two bathrooms for five bedrooms. Just niggly things, and I am aware that I am being totally annoying and princessey when so many families are in such dire straits at the moment.

So, anyway, here is this house. We could afford to buy it, but it would cost at least as much again to renovate and it would be trickier to raise the money for that as the Irish banks are simply not lending at the moment. We would have to live in the house we are currently in while the new house is being renovated and if we were to put this one on the market now it would probably have lost about 10-15% since we bought it last year. Anyway I'm very reluctant to move into rented while we're renovating and then move again.

One possibility would be to buy it but not start renovations for another 4 years, this would give us time to raise the money and would also suit us better to move there when DS goes to secondary school as it is close to where he will be going. I suppose the house is in such a bad state that it can't get significantly worse, but I still think that might be madness.

Lastly, DH has no time at all so I would be in charge of all the work and I'm not really sure that I'm the type to cope with so much stress. On the other hand we could get exactly the house that we want, plus we could put a little bungalow where the out buildings currently are. I don't think my father will live that much longer as he is very ill, and my mother will be left alone in a semi-rural location and it would be good if there was the option for her to be near us if needed. She doesn't live that far from this location, but just up a difficult access mountain road, so if she had to live in this location for a while it would be fine as lots of her friends are close by.

Right, do what you can to talk me out of it please.

I didn't start a thread about it Chipping. It was quite a while ago that DH booked the flights so I was just ignoring the issue at first, with the vague thought that I might book a flight to go with them. Then my parents were both ill (Dad has dementia and Mum had a knee replacement) so it was clear that it was better for me to stay anyway.

It seemed a bit whingey to start a thread when not actually needing advice. Plus I didn't want to hear the more robust opinions (you know what I mean ). My real life friends are being lovely and meeting me for coffees and stuff. My Mum keeps finding little jobs for me to do. I am getting lots and lots of lovely sleep. All in all it's not dire, it's just a bit quiet and lonely.

DH only took a few small presents with him for the DC so there will be all the fun of seeing them open their presents when they get back.

If it was done up to its true potential what is it worth - allowing for another 20% fall in the Irish housing market

personally I can see potential oozing out of every graffitti covered wall and would never talk anybody out of a project like that

I would say that it would be worth approx ?1.5 once it's done. It would be quite unusual to have such a large garden in that area.

and how long would you stay there?
as in schools, work, shops, restaurants, guests
you are going to have 2 years of hell getting it fab
you need to expect at least 8 years of fab times in it afterwards

3 years ago I went though a years of hell making this house where I want to stay for another 5 years from now
I'll be ready to move then but am not yet.

it has just SO MUCH potential to be amazing - silly question : why has it been empty so long?

Is that area going to remain recession proof? If you can get it at a bargain price then I would go for it. It will give you something to do once your youngest has started school

no area is recession proof
but if OP can get the house for 1/3 market value
and spend another 1/6 market value doing it up
they are pretty recession proof

the bing maps pictures predate the arson
that is ONE HECK of a house

Have you bought it yet? I love it. That window on the stairwell, and the archway over the stairs in the hallway...buy it and blog all about the renovations, so I can salivate, please!

I haven't even seen it yet BreakOut. The estate agency office is closed until Wednesday. I'll let you know.

My Mum is getting quite excited about it, she keeps finding little positives. She was suggesting that I put it on About the House (Irish property-type show), but I would find the lack of privacy weird. I suppose I could do it anonymously. DS's godfather's house was on it, his architect did the interview bit and only referred to him as 'my client' or 'the owner'.

Wow Bran! A project and a half!!!

Would be stunning when finished. And worth a fortune.

I would go for it if it wasn't on the wrong side of town!

And if I could persuade DH to move to Ireland.

Love that house in Carlow too.

Sorry you are lonely this Christmas. You are very good to let DH take the DCs away for Xmas. 'Let' is not quite the word I want but you know what I mean! When are they back?

We have just renovated a house in Somerset from afar. Were still living in Budapest while everything was being done. DH was very hands on on the planning and we had a fab builder/project manager.

I think you would be buying yourselves years of stress and hell, personally, but I am quite a lazy person.

And it gives me the creeps. In an Amityville kind of way.

They're back on Wednesday afternoon Buda. I'm looking forward to it, but I should really get my arse into gear and go through all their toys and clothes while they're away. So far I have filled one bin bag with broken and incomplete toys and one medium sized box with things to be given away, and I'm only half-way through the sitting room. I haven't even started on their bedrooms yet.

I think the house could be stunning when finished, although I can appreciate that it gives off a very creepy vibe now. If you have Google streetview, there is a house on Stoney Road on the corner with Upper Kilmacud Road (about 100m from this house) which is the same period and design but with a brick facade rather than a painted plaster one. It looks so warm and welcoming, and I think this house could look the same.

Bran - hope your Christmas & New Year wasn't too bad without DH & the kids.

Keep us posted :)

They are back tonight Chipping. They had a fab time there and were all bouncy and cheery when we Skyped. I will be changing my name back to bran later on, or possibly to BranIsFedUpWithJetLaggedDC.

There is a YouTube video which is a bit scary but does give a good idea of the layout and the garden.

Also, the agent said that they have had a lot of interest and a couple of offers already. The offers were too low and were rejected by the receivers.

LOL @ BranIsFedUpWithJetLaggedDC

I don't suppose he told you or could be cajoled into hinting at what they offered??

Have you made an appointment to view it?

How is your Mum's knee now? Sorry to hear about your Dad, dementia is really really hard on everyone :( Sorry I didn't reply to that post earlier, I completely missed it!!

Are you making the most of the last few quiet hours???

I'm probably going to see it this week, or early next week.

Yes, I am making the most of my last day by lounging around in my nightie until shockingly late in the day (I'm sort of thinking about going for a shower and getting dressed sometime in the next hour).

Mum's knee is fab, she is driving and the surgeon and the physio are both very impressed with how quickly she is progressing. Dad is having bad days and better days, he was pretty good over Christmas and was following conversations and managing to sequence tasks correctly. Unfortunately just before Christmas he found out that his bladder cancer may have spread to his prostate and he is likely to need an operation and radiotherapy. We are a bit worried as he doesn't do well in hospital, and it will be worse if he's confused.

Don't rush getting ready

Great news about your Mum's knee! Some people do really well and some suffer for ages - good to hear she's one of the 'doing really well' lot!

Is your Dad on any medication for his dementia. We recently had a family friend suffering really badly and he's reacted so so so well to the medication. He went from not recognising his wife at times to being 99% back on track. but it does depend on a lot of factors whether the meds are any use or not. I've been through dementia & altzheimers with quite a few people, it's very difficult. It's good that he did well over Christmas :) The hospital wont be good for his dementia either - they may decide not to operate on the prostate cancer at all. I know a few older men who have had it and the Drs said that it was very very slow growing so no point in doing the OP as basically they would die of old age before they died of the cancer - I guess it depends how old your Dad is and how fast growing it is. I'll keep my fingers crossed that they decide it's so very slow growing they wont operate. Well, first of all I'll keep my fingers crossed that is hasn't spread!! x

Its wonderful
You'd be utterly nuts to take it on
doit doit doit!

Could you sell the small part of the garden on the other side of the out buildings as a separate plot?

Looked at that video which wsa indeed quite scary but fascinating too.
In some ways it could be hugely satisfying to breathe new life into an old derelict house and garden, but I can imagine it would be very expensive and stressful.
Do you have amazing builders in mind bran?
I agree about trying to find out about previous offers.
Do go and see it and let us all know how you get on....

Wow - could be amazing. Bit scary as it is! A lot of fire damage by the looks of it - you'd need specialist advice I'd think about that.

I'm looking forward to hearing how the viewing goes too.

I think it could be absolutely amazing, I remember reading about it on UrbanExploration

You would need pots of money, vision and guts though.

View it at least. We've bought a money pit but it had such a lovely feel when we viewed it, I couldn't resist it. I'm not sure you're going to get the same lovely feel judging from that video though!!!

DCs home safe Bran? Must be lovely to have them home.

Have you viewed it yet?

wow, that's one amazing house. You won't get any talking out from me, I would absolutely love love love a project like that - couldnt' do it if I was working full time though. However, I do know Kevin McCloud's PR if you want to do a Grand Designs :o