To buy House which needs modernisation

[phon]

Hi, we are going to view a house which needs modernisation.
We are new to this and is there any tips that we have to look into when viewing and deciding purchase?

Our budget is 50-60K for total modernisation and I guess our budget is quite low.
for 3bed terraced house.
Is there anything I have to aware of in terms of saving the cost?

What kind of modernisation are we talking, mainly cosmetic i.e. new kitchen/bathroom/decoration, or structural e.g. walls knocked down to make open plan space, extension to make a kitchen diner, or total strip back and start again e.g. new wiring, plumbing, install central heating new roof? Makes a huge difference to the price! £50-60k is a fair budget for a new kitchen, 2 x new bathrooms, new flooring and redecorating throughout if you aren't going super high end but I think if you are getting into all the above plus major remedial work and you aren't super DIY competent to do some of it yourself you may be struggling somewhat...

Personally I think the best way to save money, assuming things like your electrics and plumbing are OK, is to try and not do the whole thing in one go and to live with some things a while first - we've been living with a functional but very ugly/battered 1980s kitchen for 2 years now while saving up because we want to do a kitchen/diner extension eventually and there's no point installing a new one just to rip it out again. I know a lot of people say they 'can't live with' things like outdated coloured bathroom suites and artex ceilings and woodchip wallpaper but IMO most people can't afford to completely refurb a whole house in one go so have to 'live with' some of these things for at least a while - maybe plan to spend your budget on the most pressing tasks first and/or make one room (master bedroom? sitting room?) really nice so you have somewhere that's comfortable to retreat to even if the rest of the house is a bit of a mess?

Doing as much as you can yourself can be a real money saver but do know your limits as it can also be a false economy. DH and I are quite handy and always do as much as we can ourselves, certainly anything along the lines of ripping things out or stripping wallpaper we do ourselves as how much damage can you do? . But then DH's one attempt at messing with the electrics did not end well so it's now strictly electrician only for that kind of task!

We took a builder round we knew who gave us an idea of costs. So replacing rotten windows, re plastering, knocking through, new hw cylinder, moving oil tank.

Put it all on a spreadsheet, with decorating costs and a contingency. Then sat down and had a large drink.

It adds up, so be realistic, work out what you can live with, be realistic about how much you can do yourselves and how much time you have. Do you really want to spend every weekend and evening for months stripping wall paper, sanding etc?

I agree with pp. I bought a property that needed modernising and have done it in phases. So first priority was electrics, heating, plumbing etc. Making sure the roof was replaced and changing the front door for safety. Then we simply redecorated and had ok flooring added.
We’ve since redone the kitchen (bathroom done in phase 1) and in future there’s plenty to do outside and potential to extend and add an extra bedroom and bathroom.
How long do you envisage staying in the property? We effectively skipped a ladder stage and bought this fixer upper as we would never have afforded it already finished, and we hope to stay here a long time. Good luck with what you decide.

If the house hasn't been modernised in several decades then make sure you get a full survey done or get a trusted builder round to check the house over before you make a final offer. You should try and get estimates for the work that needs doing before agreeing a price so you know how much the work is going to cost. Your budget seems reasonable for re-wiring, new plumbing, installing a CH system, new kitchen and bathroom - as long as you don't go over the top with fittings. The main thing is to be as informed as you can for how much work and the cost, before you commit to the purchase. Good Luck.

Thanks for all your advice! The roof of the house and floor looks ok externally, there is central heating but not sure about wiring, gas etc..carpet needs to change and bathroom, kitchen needs modernisation.
we have a viewing tomorrow so will ask these questions to agent.
It will be our residential property with limited budget so we want to make sure it won't cost too much.

@phon we completely renovated our 3bed semi last year. But it's by no means a big semi. As others have said, if you are going to have to replace windows , electrics, heating, plumbing etc then all the decorations & fittings on top, it is a serious task. Budget sounds just do-able but things always go over and it is the drain on your time etc also. Not to put you off but it was hands down the most stressful time in my life. It is a serious consideration so definitely think about it properly. if it it your dream house location etc that will make a difference as to whether it's worth it too. Good luck.

Ask to see the EPC report. It will give you an idea of current running costs and where improvements can be made.

We had our offer accepted and waiting for paperwork to come through on a house needing a great deal of modernisation! Its been left empty for 5yrs, needs ALL windows replaced with double glazing, new carpets, new kitchen and MUCH more! We had a builder friend go around and check things over. If you need to roof done, this can cost a great deal more. DH set up a spreadsheet of main costs. Once calculated, it came in at £50,000 more than we originally though!

Our original plan was to add a small extension asap. Many builders though have had work pushed back due to covid, and good ones seems to be booked up till next year at the earliest. Is the house livable at the moment? We plan to live in 1-2 rooms whilst doing the others up. I've bought DIY books as a start, and also reading up how to clear the garden of the massively overgrown brambles and ivy!

This maybe won’t help much but we’ve spent about £12k so far and have done a rewire, new boiler and three new radiators, 3 new windows, treatment for woodworm and damp, dug out our garden and purchased wood for the fence.

The house looks no different, in fact it looks 1000000 times worse but the next few thousand will be the ones that make the difference to how it looks thank goodness!!

I see.. it's all about how much of work the house would be required isn't it..
We have to consider carefully, we will list what to check at the viewing!!! thanks everyone;)

Just for personal interest, have you looked the house up on streetview? From the front of the house and above to get an idea of how it once looked and where the boundary fences are? You can see the date when the pics were taken too.

Hi thanks all;)
We went for a viewing yesterday, the internally, house looks not too bad though kitchen, bathroom, central heating, carpet, wall of one of the rooms is dumped and carpet need all changed.
I'm not sure how I can value the house if I want to make an offer, the house two doors away was also run down (actually needs more modernisation though roofs and walls look ok) and recently sold 40K lower than selling price for the house we went for a viewing.
I wonder if it's ok to make an offer 40-50K less than asking price??
The house has been on market for 2weeks now.

That offer seems reasonable, would the extra 50k+ renovation costs be cheaper than done up houses?
It will be a lot of stress and mess for a minimum 6 months, make sure its worth while for you

Apart from the cost OP, think carefully about whether you're willing to live with it like that. Not just doing the work, but living in it while you do. Ours lasted quite a long time as we didn't have the finances to throw at it all in one go. It can get you down when you can't invite friends / family over / have playdates for the children, there's dusts everywhere all. the. time and you don't feel like you can ever relax as there is always something else to do. Don't get me wrong, it was worth it in the end, but it took years for us (not months) and it was hard going.

Totally agree with Africa. We’ve never been able to have the kids friends over or any family because the house is just too awful. Makes you feel very lonely!

We have done our 3B house 6y ago. Complete refurbishment: re-wiring, changed from gas fires to gas central heating, opened all ground floor, changed position of a kitchen, knocked toilet and bathroom together upstairs, new carpets, all internal doors, 2 sets of external doors, all windows (pvc). No extension. Spent around 35k. This is for materials only, as my OH is a gas engineer with a background of a carpentry and did everything himself with the help of very capable family members, who came and helped for free.
It took us about 5 months and it was hard work. I do not want to repeat this ever again.

Thanks everyone for your comment. We haven't decided what we are going to do yet, still looking around the area and going for viewing other houses too.

Don't underestimate the difficulties of living in a house you're renovating; as upthread, there can be dust everywhere and it feels like camping even though you're not on holiday. It's no fun going out in the rain to cook dinner in the garage on a camping stove!

We have done everything to this house, 2 roofs, wiring, plumbing, kitchen, bathroom everything is new barring a few ceilings.
3 bed end terrace, spent probably £65k including the garden and garage.

We did not do it all at once however this took 7+ years of saving and doing a bit. We retired the house in stages, so we always had a few lovable rooms. If you don’t have kids it can be done. But I would say plan for it to be a long term project, rather than blitz in a few months.

Rewired the house, and liveable not lovable rooms