how do you feel about buying a family house that needs work? have you done this? how was it for you?

[Honesttodog]

I think I'd like to buy a house I can improve myself. We are planning to rent until we find the right house and have been looking at "finished" houses and houses that need some modernising.

Friends who have worked on houses seem to have found the experience pretty frustrating, but i am really keen to design my own kitchen, do bathrooms the way I want them, take time to choose the fittings that I like etc.

However i can be pretty indecisive. If we do take on a bit of work I'll get support (re: planning, project managing, not financial!) from my parents but my husband is the opposite end of the spectrum, he is the type to just want to go to one shop and choose, I like to do a bit of research and then once I find the right thing, I like to look for a really good price.

Would it be crazy to take on renovations? How did you cope with all the decision making? How did you pick yr builder? Did you use an architect as well? How much time did you spend plannign work??

ARe there any websites you can recommend to look at before I start?

Our renovation is still progressing. FIL is laying oak flooring in the hall and downstairs reception rooms. Not the front room though, because we need to have the radiator moved before we can do anything there. And we have no money at the moment because DH miscalculated . We had to have 2 floorboards replaced in the back reception room because 30 or so years of condensation on the old sliding doors had rotten through the original ones. Once we have some money, that'll have to be replaced.

The floor looks lovely now though. Even DS2 (3) seems impressed with it.