Would you pay more for a house that was 'done?'

[TokyoSushi]

Cutting a long story short, our house was sold, new house (House 1) was offered on and all going through. DH loved the new house, I 'liked' it.

All fallen through yesterday and we have re-marketed our house for a quick sale, £5K less than it was before. At old price, we got 1 viewing which was the person who bought it (and then didn't) At the new price, we have one viewing yesterday who say they loved it and are coming back for a second viewing, plus 4 more lined up between this evening and tomorrow evening. So it was obviously the price as we have just now gone into a new and lower bracket. To be fair, the house is nice and will sell, but we'll have less money at the end of it.

Since yesterday's news, I've been looking at other properties and went to an open house last night (House 2). I loved the new house! DH liked it too. It's £10K more. It's all done and decorated beautifully whereas house 1 needs loads of work, all cosmetic and possibly double glazing. They're the same size, 4 bed detached, and in the same area. House 2 a nicer street, but all streets nice.

Now we've gone so far down the road with house 1, should we continue? Or should we start again with house 2? The mortgage broker tells me we'll have to pay a new valuation fee (£340) and the solicitor says it'll cost about £200 fo the 'aborted purchase.'

I don't know what I'm asking really, I'm just stressed! Would somebody mind talking it through with me?

I think if it was me I'd got for the nicely decorated one if it's only 10k more and you can afford it but only so long as it's done exactly the way you would like it.
There is obviously a premium on well decorated places with new kitchens/bathrooms etc but I would only pay it if everything was exactly to my taste. Otherwise I'd rather pay to do somewhere exactly the way I like it so long as it was liveable in the meantime .

It's not so much that you pay more for it to be "done", houses that need work should be marketed as the market price minus the cost of the work.

Wi dies are expensive to replace. It is also often the case if things like wi dies aren't well maintained that tgere will be other problems. Nicer street is a hide bonus too.

You say house 1 "possibly" needs double glazing. If house 1 isn't double glazed and house 2 is, I'd say that alone may make house 2 worth £10K. That said, house 2 may end up more than £10K more than house 1 - open days are, I think, often used to market well presented houses and create a bit of competition between buyers to get the maximum sale price.

Do house 1 know that your buyer fell through? Could you have a discussion with them about sharing the reduction in money you'll have, i.e. they agree to lower their house price by £2.5K, to keep the chain together - and you'll then have £2.5K to spend on getting it to look more like house 2?

You'll spend more than 10-12k on refurbishing H1 if it needs double glazing. Cosmetic work also costs for materials and labour, or materials and your time, sweat etc if doing yourselves. Even with solicitors costs etc, it seems like it would even out.

I like your thinking! I agree, MLB's to house 2, it's done, and carry on with our lives!

House 1 has double glazing, but it's shabby and looks not far off needing replacing. They do know it's all fallen through so there might be a chance to negotiate, but I think my heart says house 2 and it's almost like house 1 fell through to get me to look at it...

Move, not MLB!

I wouldnt understimatethe hassle of renovations. We viewed a lot of houses like the one we bought last year, 2 in the same street. We paid 40k more for the one that had been newly done up (including garden) but importantly it was just as we would want. We've just had to do some tweaks but could move in and get on. The others were all previously elderly persons' homes needing full renovation. The surveyor thought we were paying over the odds but it was worth it for a simple life!

OP- I can tell the way you are talking you are in love with House 2 and trying to simply convince yourself of your interest about House1. Go with the house that excites you and makes you happiest- think its def House 2.

I'd pay more if it was to my taste. If not I'd rather pay less and make it how I want.

I'm really shocked at prices of renovations - eg couple of thousand just to replace a bathroom suite in exactly the same place?!

A done house is going to be more expensive though! Taste doesn't come in to it.

A house with a knackered kitchen and avocado bathroom will be less than one with a new kitchen and white suite.

I just bought the knackered kitchen house! It needed every room decorating, every carpet and light fitting replacing. The garden needs an overhall involving a digger. We are putting in a woodburning stove. We have put in a new boiler and the new kitchen will go in in January.

We will have spent around £45k by the end of it. So I bloody hope a done house is worth more than a not done one!

If house 2 is all done and house 1 needs a lot of renovating, plus they are otherwise very similar houses then I would say going for house 2 is a no brainer. Especially as it is on a nicer street too. It will save you a lot of money and hassle but that’s if it goes for that price, could well go to sealed bids.
It could def be a good chance to negotiate on house 1 though if you don’t get house 2.

After our current (still ongoing) extension/refurb nightmare I absolutely would. (If I liked the decor.)

Yes, definitely. My current house was/is a bit of a project - nothing awful but it was rented out for years before I bought it and just had a really tired decor and small things to fix and add to it as well as redecorating completely. The hassle of getting work done is worse than the cost for sure and £10k is not much at all in the context.

To me it would matter more about the location, layout and the technical stuff rather than decor as the latter can hide a myriad of disasters.
Do either houses need rewiring, a new roof, dampcourse, plumbing, heating, drainage?

I’d say go with house 2. Even just “a lick of paint” (I hate that phrase as it belies all the costs, hassle, time involved!) on all the rooms in house 1 would cost £10k.