Crap. Fallen in love with an old Scotish castle that is fecked. Am i crazy?

[plumviolet]

Living in Scotland with dh and 2 dds, been here for around 10 years and love it.

I left my job to have the kids and am planning on going back to work in the next few months. Whilst searching for a job online, i got sidetracked and started searching for hotels and b&b's for sale. No experience with that kind of thing, but its always been a bit of a dream of mine and although i know it's majorly hard work and difficult to get right, I feel like it is just the kind of project for me to get my teeth stuck into.

Well....near where we got married (an area we know and absolutely adore) an old Scottish lairds mansion has come on the market at the top of our budget and hour away from my husbands work. It has been a hotel before and it has 12 bedrooms. Its not been one for a few years now though. It was built in the 1800's and has some nice history that comes along with it.

It is in the most gorgeous area, think of the movie Brave and that's basically it. Major tourist area, loch side, cute local village you name it.

Roof is fecked. Lots of damp, turrets and towers to deal with too. Wet rot for sure, possibly worse (no survey yet). Sizable tree growing out of one of the chimneys. Guess that is why it is in our price range. We won't have much money to initially plow in and will have to do a lot of the work ourselves over time. We're both fairly hands on so that's ok, me and dh don't mind getting our hands dirty and would look on it as a long term project and a house for our kids to grow up in. Husband would still have to work, well, until it started to make money. Would run it as a b&b kind of thing and possibly hold weddings there in the future.

Oh, its also grade II listed.

I am totally crazy to even consider this aren't I? 

[expatinscotland]

Is it on mains gas? I doubt it, but could be. If not, then REALLY run.

Still, on national park land, hasn't been used as commercial lodging for some time = licenses expired, roof fucked/listed and on national park land, at least wet rot.

Look, these properties are a dime a dozen here for very good reason.

Highly possible to get an established B&B with current licenses for the same price or cheaper.

Watch the Beeny with Rise Hall, which they're trying to sell (duh!), Country House Rescue or Castle in Crisis and honestly, you need some serious dosh.

The days of boom and being able to borrow a lot for this sort of thing are over unless you have an investor.

[CelineMcBean]

Call Kevin.

[pictish]

Honestly....it doesn't shout out at me or make me swoon. I dunno - it looks like a LOT of work.

I know the area well, and agree it is a lovely place...but I'm going to vote no. I think you are totally underestimating the enormity of this task. It will drain every penny you ever had and every penny you'll ever have away from you.
It might well kill your marriage.

This is a job for people that can afford to pay for a team. Of experts.

[seb1]

Go and buy and watch this then think about it

[Devora]

Oh my god! [weeps bitter tears]. Do you know what that money would buy you round here? A run-of-the-mill 3 bed flat, that's what.

It is so lovely and I can see why you'd be tempted. But it's a money pit. And you don't have the money. Save it for daydreams.

[CelineMcBean]

3 bed flat? I bought my 1.5 bed shoebox for more than that a few years ago

[expatinscotland]

Offers over and price to reflect that means they really do mean offers over.

Request details. 5 photos. Hasn't be used as commercial lodging lately. Within national park.

Seriously, there's a reason it's still on the market.

You cannot DIY the roof or the rot, and these will be the most expensive things, as well as heating the place with those original windows you won't be able to replace but for 'like for like'.

Let's put that into perspective. We lived in a 1880's bungalow with secondary glazing and the original, lovely, leaded stained glass on top sash windows. Two boxed windows, one for each reception room.

The house was due to fall into conversation area, so our landlord replaced those windows with double-glazed ones.

It cost him £21,000. For a three-bed bungalow. The windows are not a standard size.

The house has original, red-tiled roof. One time there was a gale. He had to file a claim, those tiles had to be custom-made and the one gale did £6000 worth of damage.

He had the downpipes replaced before the area when conservation because then it would have been all cast iron and those must be custom made.

The drains, oh, god, the drains!

That place is still a money pit.

He has a very good pension and worked for VSO two years following his retirement as a head teacher in his mid-60s to pay for those windows and a new heating system in the place, a forced air one, as they run off LPG and I can't tell you how expensive it was.

It is a BEAUTIFUL house. Original features out the wazoo. Oh, it is amazing.

But the upkeep on even that, well, he has a comfortable pension and they still have to watch their pennies.

[Devora]

Ah, you're a Zone 1er...

[CelineMcBean]

I wish. Zone 4. Technically Surrey too.

[Devora]

How can Zone 4 be Surrey? Even Croydon is Zone 6, isn't it?

You're NOT in Croydon, are you?

[CelineMcBean]

God no!

Same borough as you I think. I lurk more than I post but sure I've seen you on local board.

[CelineMcBean]

Croydon??!

[Devora]

Ah, I see [taps nose]. Yes, you're right, down our hood we pay stupid money to live in Farrow & Balled shoeboxes. Though as I moved here from Kensington, where £1m shoeboxes are entirely normal, I was kind of innoculated against the shock.

[expatinscotland]

We loved living there, it was the happiest time of our life, but really, we were glad we didn't have to pay for the upkeep.

Oh, god, those fecking chimneys had to be inspected and serviced, even with a gas fire in them.

There was damp in one room, it had come from a sealed up fireplace.

[expatinscotland]

Oh, believe you me, you'd be paying out the wazoo on this place, and your take wouldn't be high afer you'd sunk what needs to sunk into the place.

[1605]

I'm in the trade, and I'd run a mile.

This house is a vanity project for a multi-millionaire. If you don't have a vast liquid inheritance or a lottery win behind you, it will break you, and may take your health and your marriage with it.

It won't even be interesting to a professional, because there's no money in it. As others have said, there is no shortage of holiday accommodation in that area.

[gregssausageroll]

The loafers over comment is not necessarily true in Scotland anymore.

[gregssausageroll]

Offers. FFS iPad.

[MoreBeta]

We are looking to buy our 'forever' house at the moment and DS came running through from hsi PC excitedly telling us he had found just thing for us.

It turned out to be this one and he was deeply disapointed when we said no. He is only 10 but I can see we are going to have problems with him when he gets older.

Mind you, if the Euro collapsed.too 10% of its curent value. I might think about it. DW loves Paris after all.

[Pufflemum]

Buy it then blog about it, then make a television program about restoring it. It would be an amazing experience and we will all support you. Did you ever see the program Chaos in the Castle about a family who bought a similiar project in France?That could be you.

[MaryZed]

4.5 million euro looks quite good value for that one MoreBeta .

[pootlebug]

The reason it is so cheap for the size of property is because it will cost several times that to get up to standard, a fortune in maintenance, and wouldn't make enough money to pay it all back. Run away!

[TunipTheVegemal]

I'm lucky MoreBeta. My dd is always finding houses for us to buy but generally she goes for the ones with a lot of flowers in the front garden and a swing.

[OliviaPeaceAndLoveMumsnet]

Sorry for those looking for a nosey now as OP has asked us to withdraw the link so we have
Thanks and good luck whatever you decide OP
MNHQ

[snigger]

We'll come and stay for a weekend, if that helps? Looks lush but the fact that one of the five pics is of the view has me wobbling on your behalf.