Releasing Equity in a newly bought House to Renovate / Modernise

[NewHorizons2020]

Soon to be divorced with two small children. I am looking to move to an area close to my Family. Fingers crossed I will have enough to buy outright a nice enough house. However, there are quite a few properties in the area that, if modernised / slightly reconfigured inside, could be amazing. If I were to go for the latter option, it would mean buying the house outright and then remortgaging approx. a third of its current value to invest in improvements. Can anyone share any similar experiences ? Is it worth it ? Id get an architect and a good builder to ensure that the renovation is done in 3 - 4 months and to a high standard. Kids and I would move in with my Parents in that time.

Worth it, but why not just hold back a third of your cash to spend on the renovation and get a mortgage for the rest? Remortgaging will be a headache if the value dips in the coming recession

Sounds a great idea to me, IF you're confident in your finances and income situation

Just get a mortgage on the house and keep your cash for renovation. Be very careful about prices though. Most people find hidden costs ramp up very quickly and problems arise. 3-4 months would be ambitious too. You need to be realistic and get a full structural survey on anything you buy.

You have assumed good builders are available quickly and often they are not. Architectural plans can take weeks too.

I think you would be ambitious even getting builders and architect on board in 3-4 month period, I imagine you will be still be getting quotes back in that time frame. Good builders are unlikely to be able to start immediately. I found them to be booked for 6 months minimum, most a year or more. I think you would be better moving in and getting things done slowly once your settled x