Has Anyone bought a house that needed renovating completely?

[AngelWreakinHavoc]

We are looking at buying a property and are going for a second viewing over the weekend.

We currently run our business from home but the property we are looking at has a shop attached to it. The whole house is going to need to be stripped back to brick no bathroom no kitchen etc and the shop attached is going to need knocking down and completely rebuilt.
All the planning permission is in place to do the work etc.

We have never done anything like this before and I know it is going to be completely life changing for us.

I am quite excited but also apprehensive as I know we will probably have to live (and work) in a caravan for a while whilst work is being done.

I know once it is done it will be very rewarding but I also know the stress and hard work which will go alongside that could be damaging to a family.

I just really want to know if other mnetters have done big renovation projects before and if it was worth the hassle?

Would You do it again?

Doing it at the moment - sitting here in the static caravan on the front garden. It is our home for life (once done). So will be worth it. I am enjoying it and the static life is OK - . It is exciting However I would probably never do it again only because
a) I have no interior design flair whatsoever
b) I am rubbish at making decisions
so the myriad (?sp) of decisions which are looming (paint colours, blinds, paint finished, door knobs, choosing a front door, tile design etc etc just fills be with horror. I have had weeks of agonising over kitchen flooring (tiles? wood? which wood?_). Some decisions I am finding easier than others. Others Dh has opinions on.
We are lucky we have a fab builder we trust (family friend) - couldn't do it otherwise.

If you have the flair/vision go for it though. Even if you don't still go for it..Once in a lifetime. I still spend alot of my time grinning as I feel i am living a life someone else should Exciting shitt like this for me? Fab.

Yup. We did it. Only had one functional room plus bathroom when DD was born. Would do it again. We didn't stay in a caravan but can see how that could be "fun" provided it was the right time of year and that it was for a short-ish time only.

It was fine with a newborn, but can well imagine it could be a nightmare with toddlers - how old are your DCs?

Also, don't underestimate the time it might take to get external areas sorted. The back garden is only really a usable space now, 2.5 years later, and the drive and front garden will definitely have to wait for another burst of enthusiasm!

I haven't but would love to.

Although it would probaly kill me as I have chronic allergic rhinitis. So can't do dusty places.

Yes we have. If you have the cash then life is much, much easier as you can just engage the builders and tell them what you want. It is certainly much harder if you are always struggling to balance the finances as decisions and compromises are so challenging.

Good builders are essential, ours were fine but not so good at finishing so we ended up with so many outstanding jobs which becomes annoying.
As others say - if you have design flair that really helps however it can take ages to source utility items like windows as there really as so many choices.
Agree about outside areas, driveways and gardens can be destroyed due to building rubble so you need to factor that into costs and often it's very expensive. We had to live with rubble in our garden until we could afford to redo the patio.

I agree with all of the above. We did it but moved out for a few months and moved back in when it was carpeted.

It was very stressful. We moved back in 8 months ago and I'm still stressed!

I wouldn't have done it if we couldn't have afforded to move out.

Yes - once when newly married, house was uninhabitable so we live with my parents for 6 months. Architect frustrating and no good at sorting out on-site problems. We did loads of the finishing off ourselves, tiling etc paint stripping . Worth it.

Then when we had a toddler and a bump we changed a house that had been flats back into a house. Great architect, great builder, enjoyed all of it. Even learning how to use spreadsheets to work out how we could afford it. Definitely worth it.

And now just about to start again on a holiday house which turns out to need A LOT more doing to it than we anticipated. Great design , turning out to be very expensive, so very concerned about the costs. Hope it will be worth it.

As long as you're not planning to move on straight away, I think you definitely get a return on your investment. It is extremely time consuming - a million things to consider. Don't underestimate that.

Yes. Not sure I'd have the energy to do it again but it was worth it to get the size and location we wanted.

Yes, just about ready to move in , in fact we're moving on Monday or Tuesday. Yes, we will be on mattresses on the floor, but we'll be in.

Yes, I would do it again, absolutely. I now have a house that is exactly like I want it.

Do go on recommendations for builders from friends and family, there are a lot of cowboys out there. And the same advice that everyone will tell you who's done this...you must have quite a bit in an 'extra' fund, as the build will always go over-budget. Have at least an extra 10% if you can, but you may need more. Things crop up that you don't expect, and no matter how well you think of everything, there will always be something extra.

Good luck, it is SO worth it

In the last few weeks of our whole house renovation/major extension and living on site at the same time with primary aged DC. We've reglazed, rewired, replumbed, replastered, repainted the entire house as well as built a large 2 storey extension and restructured the layout i.e knocked down multiple walls, changed doorways - the whole hog. A good architect is key - followed by a good builder so ask around for recommendations. I would advise a minimum of 20% contingency. The costs of the basic build/shell is surprisingly reasonable, it's the finish that will cost you money since you will inevitably desire something beyond your budget. e.g when you are kitting out 3 bathrooms/showers, you won't be buying Laufen/Matki. Digging the drainage in a concrete floor for an island sink isn't a big deal nor does it costs alot; not - when you are gutting a house and then putting it back together. We were really picky wrt to location/plot so our house was no bargain despite needing a lot of work (no chain buyer paying asking price to secure) so Good Luck!

Thank you all so much for your advice.
we sold our house last year so we have cash to buy with no chain.

My dc are 15, 10 and 6. dss is 4.
I only have my 15yr old ds living with us full time and my other 2 live with their Dad, dss with his Mum, We have the 3 younger ones at weekends. I dont think I would do it if we had all dc with us permanently. My ex has offered to have my 15 yr old during the week to make things easier for him getting to school which will also be a great help.

We have been recommended a Builder and architect by a few friends who have had new builds recently.

I now have to draw some plans up for a pre app as there is a couple of changes to the existing plans we would like to make, We spoke to the council yesterday who were great at explaining what we need to do, although we havnt put an offer in yet we need to see if our plans will be accepted.
We shall be having another viewing of the property this week sometime.

We viewed so many houses last year and not once did either myself or dp have the 'gut' feeling we have with this property. We have always said we will know it when we find it and it seem like we have found it :)

It's wonderful when you find 'the one' isn't it? I just knew when I walked into my do-er upper that it was the one. 4 months later, and it's exactly how I want it, all that's left is the decorating.

Very good luck with your venture, enjoy it, hope you have as much fun as I did

I did.

Didn't live in it for the about the first 3 months while the kitchen, main bathroom, plumbing and re-wiring and roof were done.

Before we started we sent very polite, hand-written notes to all the neighbours with a home made cake apologising for the noise and inconvenience that was coming their way, giving our phone number if they had any problems/ complaints and promising to try and get the worst done as quickly as possible.

lots of our neighbours have said since how grateful they were for that.

My advice would be to try and do the major work in the summer months - living in a dusty, bare house is far more bearable in the light, warm months.

If you can't be around to supervise all the work then look into employing a project manager.

Expect everything to take longer than you planned for and to cost about 15% more.

We're on a third one, so suckers for punishment!

My best tips are:

• spend absolute ages on the plans to make sure you have them 100% right. If you change your mind later, it will cost you! Think of all the details, e.g. where will I place the bed so where will I need sockets for bedside tables, if the door opens to the right the light switch should be to the left, etc.

• employ the best professionals you can afford for every stage.

• be around to oversee, make decisions, solve problems, etc. Loads can go wrong if you leave the builders to it and fixing it costs money again.

• you can save a lot of money by buying materials direct BUT it's a full time job and you need to be super organised. You can get bargains online, buy at wholesale prices and avoid the builder's markup BUT (again, sorry!) it is a lot of hard work and it cannot be done along side a full time job.

• it will take longer than you plan, it will cost more than you expect and you will fall out with some of your builders so you need to be the kind of person who stays patient under pressure and can handle confrontation.

in a caravan - bloody freezing and miserable in the winter, boiling hot in summer. Done once 2.5yrs and never again. Pipes freeze in winter. You need a big shed to store freezer and loads of stuff. I moved in on my due date of DS1 and brought home a newborn.

It stunk in the end and was nearly falling apart. We burnt it out the other day. So buy cheap and jazz up.

Whatever figure you estimate x 50% for basic or double it for worst case senario - 20% is for realistic new build not renovation and only by luck can you get away with this. Old houses have hidden secrets and even with fixed priced this wouldnt count as its a variation and additional cost is legally binding.

Buy quality not B&Q, poor investments have poor returns, get an account with the family run builders merchants and push the price.

Offer cash to one man bands, avoid companies pricing up. Groundworks are pricey (we run one), builders have a high opinion of themselves and watch you get x1 builder and x1 labourer otherwise you are paying for a builder (at high rate) to mix concrete and clean up and I have seen many a builder here packing up half hour before finishing and starting late. they start at 8am prompt and finish 4pm not productive day at 9 - 12 and 2 - 3.30.

E bay!!!! fantastic buys - but think twice not cos its cheap.

It is great but make sure you have the money and back up in place.