Buying a new build vs renovating a dump

[mimichou]

Hello everyone. Am new to hear. I will be relocating to London end 2021 and am in the process of selling my home in Paris. I’m looking at properties and found one new build near Child’s Hill. However I plan to do some major renovation as I do not like the existing kitchen and bathrooms.

Given the premium I am paying for a new property and that I have to renovate it eventually anyway, I was wondering if I shouldn’t buy a dump for way cheaper and spend 500k-600k on full renovation.

Eventually a dump plus renovation works out to be less pricey than a new build. The dump I’m looking at is in a complete state of ruin. Like walls are peeled off and the roof is sort of hole-y.

My husband thinks that it will be stressful and that the renovation will take a long time and that we may have to rent in the meanwhile. Also, he thinks that the dumps that I’m looking at may have a sort of sordid history because they were not in a good shape at all.

What do you guys think? Any advice ? Anyone had the experience on doing a full renovation on a dump? How much did it cost? How long did it take?

I could have asked the same question to the architects I’ve found off Houzz but I trust you guys more. Hehe.

It depends on your budget but in London you probably would stand to make more money renovating a dump if you wanted to go onto sell it later.

I definitely wouldn’t pay a new build premium and then renovate it, that way madness lies!

A full renovation is stressful, but you have a healthy budget and can probably afford someone to project manage the process for you. You would also be able to design the house much more to your specification than a new build and will hopefully have lots of character if the house is old. New builds are also more difficult to sell once the “newness” is gone. People often make losses if selling soonish after buying. I bought a wreck, no sordid history, just someone who’d lived here a very long time and hadn’t been able physically or financially to maintain or update it. It’s been a few years now and I would do it again.

Years ago we renovated two ‘dumps’ in London. I don’t think you get the same quality of dump cheaply these days. The mortgages were limited on LTV of about 50%. Most of the renovations were done by us out of salary month by month.
BUT it was fun, and a great experience even though we had a child by the time we did the second one. Also it was so bad we had live somewhere else for a while. I always say, go for the dump!

@TitusPullo

I definitely wouldn’t pay a new build premium and then renovate it, that way madness lies!

A full renovation is stressful, but you have a healthy budget and can probably afford someone to project manage the process for you. You would also be able to design the house much more to your specification than a new build and will hopefully have lots of character if the house is old. New builds are also more difficult to sell once the “newness” is gone. People often make losses if selling soonish after buying. I bought a wreck, no sordid history, just someone who’d lived here a very long time and hadn’t been able physically or financially to maintain or update it. It’s been a few years now and I would do it again.

How long did it take for you to renovate it?

@Beebumble2

Years ago we renovated two ‘dumps’ in London. I don’t think you get the same quality of dump cheaply these days. The mortgages were limited on LTV of about 50%. Most of the renovations were done by us out of salary month by month. BUT it was fun, and a great experience even though we had a child by the time we did the second one. Also it was so bad we had live somewhere else for a while. I always say, go for the dump!

That’s a rather low LTV. Was it difficult to negotiate?

@mimichou - 6 months, but it wasn’t London and the property isn’t huge, 3 bed, 2 reception rooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, garden. It was a back to brick job though. We also didn’t live there and had the cash upfront so this sped things up.

[quote TitusPullo]@mimichou - 6 months, but it wasn’t London and the property isn’t huge, 3 bed, 2 reception rooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, garden. It was a back to brick job though. We also didn’t live there and had the cash upfront so this sped things up.[/quote]
This is extremely helpful. Let me go convince my husband. I’m all of buying a dump and then renovating. I don’t want to pay a premium and then renovate a new build.

@mimichou - good luck! If possible get personal recommendations for builders. If using an architect then they should be able to help with this.

[quote TitusPullo]@mimichou - good luck! If possible get personal recommendations for builders. If using an architect then they should be able to help with this.[/quote]
Yeah I plan to use an architect. Saw a few on Houzz with good ratings. The house would be similar to your size. Fingers crossed six months !

mimicou hi, it was lovely a long time ago and there’s was no negotiation, that’s all they’d give. As I said the quality of dump was good/ bad, depends how you looked at it.
Fortunately they were house move 2 and 3 so we had just enough equity to buy. In fact house 2 done up was sold for the exact price to buying dump 3.
Years later, we actually did a 3rd, using builders. It was a complete roof to foundations strip out!
Sorry OP a bit off target. Doing your own refurbish is not without stress, but so rewarding.

Remember the advice: you can have a maximum of 2 out of: fast, cheap and good. Six months seems very fast!

As someone who’s done both, I would suggest the choice is more lifestyle than money. New builds are plug and play, no stress, no time, but often no personality and you’re unlikely to make money on them. Renovation is a massive time and energy and stress suck, but can be worth it financially and in terms of having a lovely place to live.

These do seem to be too ends of the spectrum - does it have to be literally a new build or a complete wreck? What about a home which just needs work and where you can add value, whilst living in it?

I should clarify it was 6 months of actual building work, the whole process took about 10 months with planning etc. (no planning permission needed, just planning the renovation). It’s to a high end but not super luxury London finish. We had a team of about 6-8 people here each day. We could have done it cheaper by doing more ourselves but didn’t want to basically. We did project manage it though and if I do it again would pay for a project manager.

Depends on your budget! Older properties often come with other advantages like bigger gardens, higher ceilings etc. But I've done a lot of renovating and it is stressful living through it over 5 years. I have fully renovated a 5 bed detached house (not London) including large extension for around £150k, you would need to add around 25% to take into account higher London prices for builders. Mine is to a high standard but I did do all the project management myself as I don't work and kids were at school. Doing the job over 6 months and living nearby in a rental might be a good option if your budget allows and remember when pricing that a kitchen can cost £5k or £100k - once installed nobody even can tell it was handbuilt!

You definitely won't make money on a new build and it is madness to spend even more money on changing one.... but you don't sound very experienced in terms of renovating so will probably need a project manager. You will definitely need to rent and a complete renovation in 6 months is if it goes well with no issues. A renovation costs around £1000 a square metre upwards depending on finish etc. Not sure about 'sordid' but I do think you both need to really be on board to renovate. There is always the halfway house of buying a 'tired' house/flat and just redecorating etc. rather than a full renovation.

@stockpilingallthecheese

These do seem to be too ends of the spectrum - does it have to be literally a new build or a complete wreck? What about a home which just needs work and where you can add value, whilst living in it?

Hello seen a couple in North London. Out of budget. And work needs to be done anyway.

@TitusPullo

I should clarify it was 6 months of actual building work, the whole process took about 10 months with planning etc. (no planning permission needed, just planning the renovation). It’s to a high end but not super luxury London finish. We had a team of about 6-8 people here each day. We could have done it cheaper by doing more ourselves but didn’t want to basically. We did project manage it though and if I do it again would pay for a project manager.

10 months is okay. It's February now.

@Primitivo1

You definitely won't make money on a new build and it is madness to spend even more money on changing one.... but you don't sound very experienced in terms of renovating so will probably need a project manager. You will definitely need to rent and a complete renovation in 6 months is if it goes well with no issues. A renovation costs around £1000 a square metre upwards depending on finish etc. Not sure about 'sordid' but I do think you both need to really be on board to renovate. There is always the halfway house of buying a 'tired' house/flat and just redecorating etc. rather than a full renovation.

Oh no. I plan to hire an architect.

Make sure you and the architect both agree what project management is. Ours visited once or twice a week, issued monthly certificates, and approved the schedule of works etc. but that’s not comparable to a full time on site project manager.

@FudgeSundae

Make sure you and the architect both agree what project management is. Ours visited once or twice a week, issued monthly certificates, and approved the schedule of works etc. but that’s not comparable to a full time on site project manager.

yep ◡̈ thank you fudge sundae ! this is super helpful :D