FTB, how much to renovate this house?

[optimisticpessimist01]

DP and I have found a house we really love with lots of potential
We have enough for a deposit and some small savings but not enough to do everything in one go, it would be incremental over a couple of years.

How much do you think it would cost to renovate this house?

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-76793242.html

Could you get a couple of builders in to do quotes? There's no way anyone can really give you a decent figure just by looking at a few online pictures. (Sorry for being negative, but you need accurate numbers to be able to budget!)

@MaggieFS no need to apologise. We just are so unsure about the amount of work that needs doing and whether it'll be too much for us to take on. Such a predicament!

Most of the work is cosmetic by the looks of things - make diy your new hobby?. If it is structurally sound and in your price range go for it. I would absolutely get someone to do the bathroom first but from there I would just do living room and bedroom and go room by room thereafter.

That's the problem with house buying - it's so much head vs heart. Seriously though - the house obviously needs work so you'd be daft to buy it if you didn't know what you were getting into. Find a decent builder and get in there for a good long chat and get a thorough quote. If you don't know the builder, get a second quote too.

Ultimately your purchase decision will then come down to the numbers.

I’d get a proper survey done, It looks cosmetic to me too, likely just flooring, decorating, curtains/blinds etc, not sure you need a builder to be honest. A proper survey will say if the electrics gas etc is all ok.

It will need a new kitchen and bathroom at some point as they aren’t looking good. Depends if you can live with them

It looks mostly cosmetic to me too. Big rooms and garden, lots of potential.

I think a good clean will make a difference. It's really not that bad. As long as the survey is okay most of the work you could do yourselves. Lovely big garden. You could slap a bit of paint around to freshen it up and then just work on one room at a time. It looks like a really fun project without being too intimidating.
Of course if you do most of the work yourselves you could possibly go a bit more upmarket on the kitchen and bathroom, as you will be saving yourselves quite a bit of money on labour.

How long is a piece of string?!

It looks in good structural order. Roof looks newish and windows look ok. I would concentrate on the "technical" bits - plumbing, drainage, gas, electric.
The only thing I would do straight away is knock the upstairs toilet wall down to join it to the bathroom. You might be able to nick a bit of space from the landing and possibly fit in a 4 piece bathroom once one of the original doors is blocked up.
The best bit of advice I was given about renovation of a house was to live with the existing layout for a year to see how you use the space, work out what you need to change, see how the natural light fills the rooms over the season...and save up!

It seems quite expensive in comparison to other 4bed semis within a mile of it. The one after it when searching on RM is now sold, was on 5k cheaper and was in turnkey condition.

Might also be worth finding out if there's any asbestos lurking anywhere.

I would think the wiring is ok, so about £3.5k for new heating, £2K new bathroom, £3K new kitchen. There is bound to be some joinery and a bit of replastering (about £100 per wall). Decorating it depends on how much you'll do yourself. Carpets from £1-2K depending on choice. New fireplace and gas fire £1K. The garden would be anywhere from £2-5K.
Im in a more expensive area of the north but that roughly what I've paid for work materials and labour.

Define renovate? What do you want to do exactly? Nothing structural like extending or tearing down walls, right?

Don't know there but, in London, for a property of that size, you can easily pay at least:
£8k to decorate
£4k for carpets on the first floor (incl fitting)
£4k for a new floor on the ground floor (tiles and/or vynil)
£10k at the very least for a new kitchen, if you go Ikea (but the sjy's the limit)
£8k for a new bathroom (but the sky's the limit)

Fitters would probably be cheaper outside the M25, but I don't think the cost of materials would be very different

I'm in London and I'm not paying anything like that much for my bathroom!

We've got a labour only quote for £3.2k (three quotes, cheapest was £3.2k, most expensive was £4k), then you're looking at fittings and tiles. As you say, the sky can be the limit but it's really not necessary to go for Fired Earth tiles and Perrin and Rowe fittings; lots of DIY stores do perfectly serviceable and inoffensive (and even quite interesting) tiles and fittings for far, far less money.

It looks cosmetic, and you're more than capable (disabilities aside) of painting and decorating yourself when you're in. Get boiler information and an electrical test carried out, make sure you have a full structural survey done. Those things will drive your essentials and you can get quotes for anything that comes up.

If you want to do the bathroom and kitchen before you move in (or early on in living there), budget maybe £10k for the kitchen (not high end but perfectly nice, have a look at DIY kitchens) and £5k for the bathroom.

£3.5k for new heating, £2K new bathroom, £3K new kitchen

@fedupandlookingforchange I wish I could have had those prices in the past couple of years!

We've done all of the above, and it was was way higher than that!

Central Heating (boiler/rads) was in excess of £5k. Showeroom was £5k (got ex-display cabinet and sink so -£1k in discount). Kitchen 3 years ago was £10K inc appliances.

We're in a cheapish town in Scotland and I'm an ardent bargain hunter!

I can see why you like the potential of it! You could make it lovely cosmetically.

I’ve just bought my first house on my own. There are always things you don’t spot or isn’t accounted for on the survey. So I’ve been in six weeks and have had an issue with the heating system which will cost a bit.

My advice is always keep a bit aside for unforeseen issues in your calculations. If I hadn’t I would be screwed right now.

I’ve also found that everything I think will take an hour, takes three!

I haggled hard at the builders merchant where my parents have an account. They know if I don't get enough of a discount I'll go round the corner to the competition but as an extended family we have spent a lot there during the last 10 years as we've done 6 full renovations between us.
They knocked 50% off a good quality brand of kitchen that is fitted by house builders (and mentioned by brand name in sales materials as a good one). Choosing lots of drawers and pull out racks puts kitchen prices up.
With the bathroom suites there are the catalogues they like you to buy from as they make more profit and the cheaper catalogues which are just as good quality. If it was too expensive I just said I need it cheaper in price but not quality.
I always buy the materials myself as then I get the discount rather than the tradesman make extra profit. As a general rule they will get a 20-50% discount and its not always passed on. I do the running around for materials and extra bits that are needed so they are working not driving to the builders merchants and back on my time.
I don't ask for a quote for jobs as these tend to be more expensive than paying by the hour for tradesmen but you can be caught out if you find something unexpected and I only do it with tradesmen I trust and have used before. I saved a fortune on the rewire doing it this way.

I'd say you will probably end up spending £40k plus, the house needs a new bathroom and kitchen and it probably needs a new boiler and the electrics looking at. Decorating and flooring throughout but that can be done as and when you have saved money.

Mine wasn't as dated and we have spent best part of 40-45 k with about 7k more left to go.

@LBOCS2, lucky you, my experience (and that of every single person I know) has been radically different! The quotes we got for fitting and retiling a bathroom, parts excluded, have ranged from £6k to £9k.

It really is so variable. What I would say is that on some ways having a house prices for work is better than one that is 'ok' but where you'll end up doing a lot anyway. Kitchens and bathrooms are so variable depending on the spec and if you don't know a fitter then that can cost a lot too. Big unknowns are plumbing and electrics. Decorating depends on how much you want to do yourselves.

What ever the builders say add on another 50%. I renovated last year and not one single quote came in at what they quoted.

I spent £100k renovating/redecorating. Now I can never move. 😩

@fedupandlookingforchange even if you fitted them yourself how could you do it so cheap?

I'd allow at least £8k for a bathroom and £12 for the kitchen for something basic.

I agree with previous post about it being priced high compared to good condition 4 beds not that far away. I would do a little research.

@fedupandlookingforchange has it about right for quite basic but nice starter home.

Ignore pps saying you can't get a bathroom for under 8k of course you can.

Most things you can do yourself. At first look I'd be spending around 10-12k to renovate that

[quote TrickyKid]@fedupandlookingforchange even if you fitted them yourself how could you do it so cheap?

I'd allow at least £8k for a bathroom and £12 for the kitchen for something basic.[/quote]
Pretty easily , IKEA do 8 unit packages for about a grand . On to that you need fitting , worktop , appliances and tiles. That's not going to cost 11k .