House that needs work or finished house?

[Squiffy01]

Hi all,

First time buyer here and we just don't know what to do. We have found two houses that we like.

1.3 bedroom. Finished and to a nice standard couple of things we would like to change but nice. Top of budget (if we can get them down slightly which we think we can). Garden backs on to train tracks lots of trees can't decide if this is good or bad. They have cut the third bedroom out on first floor to do stairs and gone in the loft so can't get any bigger.

2nd house is ok but would want to change a lot, we liked position and that it has potential and just the feel. It is cheaper which means we wouldn't have to use all our deposit money and could keep some back to extend downstairs and do kitchen. Bigger garden (even when extended). No time in the near future as we couldn't afford it - we could do a loft extension.

So does anyone know what it is like extending in London? Is it more hassle than it's worth? How do you even go about finding a good builder ( no one we know have ever used one).
We won't need more than three beds just like that we could have more add more value when we eventually sell.

So my question is are we being silly thinking about taking on a project for first house buy when we have no idea about anything can't even decide what we would want to do we are not designers AT ALL.
Should we just go with the really nice house and live a stress free life?

Sorry for the novel. Any thoughts greatly welcome.

It's impossible to predict what will happen with costs during the renovation, but we've been warned to add another 20% on whatever we expect to spend. If you pay for a full structural survey you'll have a much clearer idea of what needs to be done and can then do a rough guesstimate of what you'll need to spend. I found this Property/DIY forum invaluable during that process, especially when it came to costing the kitchen refurb.

Also, I want to pick up on something Lonecat has just said. Like her and her DP, we are SO excited about doing our project. I cannot wait to get stuck in. If you don't feel that same giddiness and feel trepidation instead, it's probably a good sign that it's not the right move for you.

If the trees aren't on your land, find out whose land they're on.
Would it be possible to grow dense evergreen shrubs on your land? They'd further muffle noise and views and if trees were cut down, you'd still have screening.

I've may have left out something extremely crucial. It didn't even occur to mention it as we don't mind in the slightest. But just pondering why this cheaper one hasn't sold and has only had 1 offer in the months it has been on. It is across the road from a school. Is this why no one has wanted it?
Is small. Not a private school.

The cheaper one might not have sold because people were put off by the amount of work needed doing or couldn't raise the financing to do it. Might've been off by the size if they wanted a family home. What happened with the other offer? Did they get as far as having a survey done and then withdrew? That would obviously raise alarm bells.

Are you sure you could get planning permission to extend the second house?

Usually , well always, when a house doesn't sell it's because it's over priced.

The agent said, which might not be true obviously. The last offer fell through because of finance. When they went for official mortgage couldn't get as much as they thought so came back with cheeky offer which agent advices the seller not to take as it had already been reduced for them.
Agent has been quite honest with pointing out faults with other houses we have been looking at with him so don't think he would just be making things up.

So across the road from a school wouldn't bother you?

bluntness not positive no as I guess you can't say for sure until you have signed papers. But agent is confident we would get it, and obviously since he could just be saying what we want to hear we contact a company that does extensions and building work who sent us to council website and a lot of people on the street have already extended out and he said although nothing is ever 100% the fact other people have done it and done it recently (in the last 12 months) he wouldn't see why we wouldn't get approved.

It sounds like the house is overpriced. If the bank wouldn't lend enough to buy it, the bank that's because they valued it at less. That could also be the reason why it hasn't sold for ages. To work your numbers out, the extension + lift conversion + doing everything up inside will probably cost 150-200k. That means the house should cost 300k less than a done up and extended house in the same road.

Actoss the road from a school is a big fat NO. Bells (some can be very loud indeed) and entitled parents in Chelsea tractors buggering up access and parking would test my patience no end.

People massively derestimate the time, cost and stress of 'projects' and it often doesn't work out cheaper overall as people over pay for projects.

I'd never go for a project unless I had somewhere else to live whilst the work was being done. I hate living in the midst of upheaval and dust and mess and half finished work. I like moving in and unpacking my things and enjoying life in the new place.

A school wouldn't put me off. Neither would a train track unless the trains run overnight. Nobody will build houses at the end of your garden if there is a track there. I once really wanted a house with a track at the end of a lovely long garden. It was very pretty and quiet. London tracks are probably quite busy in comparison.

Maybe neither house is the one for you.

We live opposite a school now, a primary. There's a bit of traffic in the morning and afternoon at drop offs/pick ups, but apart from that it's absolutely fine. Bell goes once or twice a day but not so loud it's an issue. In fact, we'll miss it when we've moved because aside from having the quickest walk to school ever with my DC, having the playground opposite means we're not overlooked by other houses and at weekends and evenings when the school's shut it's gloriously quiet.

You need to visit at school chucking out time to see just how bad it is.

Re school there will be loads of traffic at 8 and 3. Would this bother you? It wouldn't put me off as I leave earlier/get back later

Exactly how finished is the finished house? We bought a house that looked beautiful and expected to just move in and live. When they took out all of their gorgeous furniture and rugs we found walls & floors covered in marks. The shower hadn’t been sealed properly so as well as cosmetic work in every room we are now ripping out a leaking upstairs bathroom.
I feel like we ended up with a project but paid over the odd for the finished article.

We had a similar situation about a year ago but with a 1 and 3 year old in the mix. A house near a busy road and railway that was all done vs a project house that had a bigger garden and a quieter location. We actually didn't get the first one so ended up with the second by default but we're still glad we did. It will take a while but we will have exactly the house we want and everything we do will add value (because it was so dreadful to start with!). There is also room to expand either for us or for the next owner which is a big thing round here as there are a lot of listed buildings or modern houses with tiny gardens and no attic space.

I've never gone over budget. Down to a few things really:
• make sure the quote from builders is detailed and you know what they've quoted for (don't assume anything). Miscommunication about what's included in the price is a common problem.
• allow for contingencies as it's not possible to predict everything. For example, your quote is for removing wallpaper and painting the room. As the wallpaper is taken off, the plaster is crumbling so the room needs re-plastering before it can be painted.
• be realistic about what needs doing. For example, if buying a dated house, I'd expect to re-wire as it's unlikely to have been done in the last 20 years.
• stick to your budget. For example, you realise that in your kitchen you can only afford laminate worktops and Bosch appliances. Don't buy quartz and Miele. That where a lot of people fail. They say it's their forever home and start splashing out on fancy kitchens, bathrooms or aluminium bi-folds instead of PVC French doors etc.

I think this depends on you. We can all tell you what we would do in your shoes, but we're different people.

Different families have very different lifestyles and attitudes to building work. If you're manically busy, hate DIY, hate disruption, and hate thinking and working on ideas for the house, a project is not for you. If, however, you like doing detail, making decisions, hunting around for bargains, and don't mind going through a bit of pain for long term gain, a project makes sense.

Also, much depends how 'standard' your use of space is. If you have fairly normal requirements of your space, and a finished house can give you everything you need, it may be worth paying for that. If, however, you have non-standard requirements, such as a big collection of something that needs housing, or a professional room you need for work (e.g. counselling), or an art studio or something, the chances of finding an existing house with a place that suits your precise needs are slightly lower. Bear in mind, though, that a non-standard house may also be harder to sell precisely because it's not your bog standard product.

Finally, make sure that your definition of finished really is finished. A house can look great, but have all sorts of heating/electrical/plumbing problems. If, for example, you will have to rewire at some point, you might as well buy a place in a state at a discount and do the work yourself.