Can we take on a project house? Any positive stories?

[outonyourtoytrainagain]

Want to buy in our local area but the market seems very hot and house of the type we could have afforded with ease before lockdown are now on at 10% more and going for asking price or more.

We might strike lucky by offering the top of our budget on something that we only need to convert the loft on (and that won't be urgent) but we are also considering houses that are in budget but need a LOT of work, some urgent. Eg new kitchen because the cupboards have no doors, new bathroom because of mould, new windows because of rot and mouldy sealant, new flooring as carpet is shredded or tiling/laminate cracking and gappy, removal of the concrete in the garden. And that's before you look at the work we want to do, like a side return extension to make a big kitchen diner and a loft conversion for extra bedroom.

We won't have any capital beyond maybe £5k once we purchase one of these houses. Can probably at a stretch put £1k a month towards it post-move. Is it ridiculous to be considering this? Anyone done it?

Both early 30s, one toddler. Planning another baby at some point not soon.

@outonyourtoytrainagain The nursery fees are a killer! If we'd bought pre-baby, we could have had the whole house done in a year or two, I reckon, just on nursery fees alone. In fairness, you're unlikely to have our run of bad luck:

• Seller left all their junk in house and garden, cost us over £1k to be cleared
• Also left us their bed bugs – more unexpected costs, plus the stress, plus jettisoning possessions we now have to replace
• Both garden fences came down in a storm 2 weeks after we moved in; between that and the building rubble left there during lockdown, we couldn't access the garden at all and it's now so overgrown we're looking at a £2k clearance job for the fences and green waste – plus the cost of new fences
• Within the first month: kitchen pipes burst, entire kitchen written off, flood took the electrics out as well, none of it covered by insurance because it was technically pre-existing problems
• Pandemic and lockdown landing halfway through renovation so front and back gardens piled high with building waste, no use of garden, fuse box not fitted in time to power the new stuff so lived with portable hob and microwave til last week
• Family bereavement and other non-renovation disasters – remember real life continues to throw shit at you as well!

We're through the worst but we've still got to decorate everything ourselves - miles of new skirting to prime and paint - and do all the post-build DIY bits like curtain poles and curtains, alcove shelving, endless caulking, hooks and storage stuff, etc. Which all costs, too, even with eBay, Amazon, Freecycle (which all have a time cost as you sift through things). Sometimes I think my salary should just go directly to Screwfix.

And through all this remember you've got to deal with everyday life – cooking, washing, clearing up the snacks that have been hurled on the floor, go to the park, work, make time for each other where you're not both wielding paint brushes, etc. I would definitely hold off until the savings pot is bigger, and get the biggest mortgage you can comfortably stretch to that leaves you with more liquid cash for a renovation or just new-house emergencies. But I do secretly think a wreck is worth it if it gets you an amazing house in an amazing neighbourhood – eventually.

We're on our second property which we are mid renovating. I have a toddler and a newborn too! It's hugely stressful if you don't know what you're doing and don't underestimate how much cash you need. With old houses you tend to uncover unexpected problems that have to be resolved... eg, plumbing, windows, damp. All things which would be way over your current budget. I'd suggest building up your savings before taking on a project. We have lived in ours for three years and living with everything broken and shabby really starts to get you down. Not to mention living on a building site with constant noise and dirt! It is very satisfying to do at the end, bit it's not for the faint hearted or those without significant savings in my experience! (And even the. You will almost definitely go over budget and be scrabbling around for extra £££)

We have a fixer-upper and I'd never want a 'done' house again, as you pay for someone else's taste. This way we have chosen everything ourselves and have it at the beginning of its life (often under warranty too). Things like boilers and built in appliances are better from new. We paid about 25k less than other houses on the street, and have probably spent most of that over 5 years doing it up as we want it, but everything is new and as we want it.

We had a baby during that time, but it was fine. the worst house on the best street is a great way of summing it up (much as I dislike Kirstie Allsop).