Should we buy a 'project'?

[ImaginaryCat]

We've come to the realisation that we've outgrown our home and want to upgrade. I'm confident we would sell ours no trouble, similar properties sell very quickly round here.

The problem is the type of house we're looking for doesn't come on the market very often. We're keen to stay in this village and there's maybe one suitable property every 4/5 months.

So I found a bungalow which we could renovate, add a floor of two bedrooms and a bathroom, turn the downstairs into our dream home. I don't think that planning permission would be a problem, both neighbours have done extensive building work very recently and lots of other houses on the street have done similar projects.

My concern is the project itself. DH and I both work full time, him from home most days, which will continue, I'm back in the office. Our 2 DCs go to school locally.

So tell me your stories... is this the only way to make our dream home or are we setting ourselves up for a living nightmare?

Can you live in it now and for the year or more you might have to wait to get the build started?

Is there space for a caravan or similar for you to move into when the work is happening?

Can you both work from home on a building site or will you need an office somewhere for the duration?

How do you both react under stress?
Can you live in chaos?

If you can afford to have the work all done at once and maybe live somewhere else whilst it's happening then yes, go for it.

If you can't and you don't cope with stress and chaos then maybe not.

Building costs seem to be particularly high at the moment. I have recently tried to get quotes for an extension. 3 out of the 4 companies told me their calendar is booked up for more than a year. One of those said for 2 years.

I'd investigate waiting times in your area. And cost, obviously.

Have you evaluated the amount of work - how much time and money would this take and can you afford it? Where will you live whilst the renovation is taking place? How do you handle disagreements? There are a lot of decisions to be made - and plenty of scope for arguments. Is there an option to take unpaid leave to reduce some of the stress? (Again, can you afford it?) Ultimately, if you throw a lot of money at it, it's all possible, so you just need to research the costs the best way you can - get three quotes from builders, three quotes from bathroom suppliers, calculate the rent and moving costs for living elsewhere when the work is taking place.

Not sure if living there whilst the work is happening is feasible at all, depends on the age of your children and your tolerance to noise and stress. Young children need to be taken outside and away from endless noise, teenagers less so but they have school work to do which will be disrupted - if you weren't working you could manage the kids through the renovation maybe, but it's a job in itself whilst you also have a job of managing the builders.

I have done a 4 months renovation in 2020 (two bathrooms, two new rooms, replastering, painting, electrics, various custom bits made by a joiner). It's nothing short of a miracle that I was able to keep my job in the meantime. I wouldn't choose to do it if I had another option but I couldn't afford a house that's already done up. The end result is good but when it was happening I didn't think I'd survive it, tbh.

Valid point about waiting times from @BrilliantBetty too. It's gone nuts after covid. It will settle eventually (I hope!) but right now I would only do renovation work if it were an emergency.

So with regards the moving into a caravan thing, is that always essential? The bathroom and kitchen on the ground floor would remain where they are, so I was thinking we could move into a local AirBnB for a couple of weeks while the plumbing for the upstairs is done (assuming that's when the house becomes completely inhabitable).

There's already a garden room which we'd turn into DH's office temporarily.

Stress, I think we can cope with quite well. And there's definitely no risk of the curse of Kevin McCloud and me getting pregnant mid-build 🤣

Caravan not essential, we have lived in our 3 renovations, 2 with children. I would worry that you're not excited about a project, it's hard work and we're halfway through our latest after 5 years so it's not something you can always just get over and done. You need to be motivated to do it or it can break you. Its also more expensive at the moment so be prepared for that, make sure you leave enough money for the project too.

Perfectly possible but a few things to think about..

Where will you live while it’s being done?

Finding a decent builder is hard and they have long lead in times. Prices have gone up a lot recently.

We aren’t diy people or particularly inventive but we are nearing the end of a big building project and it’s been mostly fine. But I’ll be glad when it’s over.

You won’t be able to wfh while there’s building work going on - you’ll either need a caravan with WiFi or a local friend who’s happy for you to work in their house.

Could you flyer in the local area to find a suitable property instead? I wouldn't do a project just because you can't find something suitable - so so much work and £ and time and hassle. You have to really want to do it.

OP, I think buying is a project is the only way to get what you really want when you have a list of restrictions such as location etc. I would say though, that you really need to find somewhere else to live while you do that amount of work on it. Yes builders are busy, yes prices are high, but they won’t be any less in a year’s time. Can you rent while work is being done. If you live there, it will take longer and be even more costly to renovate. Not to mention that it will drive you crazy. Good luck, your plan sounds doable.

I say go for it IF you can afford to live elsewhere for a while. Adding a floor to a bungalow is pretty major work and I can't imagine it'll be practical living there never mind WFH.

Also you will not get anything done quickly. Building projects are taking ages due to materials and labour shortages and builders are booked up for months. Also while you may get planning it takes longer than you think.

I don’t think you can do caravan living with 2 kids. It sounds very complex overall. We did a minor (kitchen) extension and that took a few months a few years ago. Yours sounds a lengthy project.

Been there, done it, twice.

If you're adding an upstairs to an average bungalow you'll need something like £120k+++. If you can't afford to pay someone else, be prepared to do 100hr weeks indefinitely.

It's not for the faint hearted.

We live in a 'project' house. 2 years in and have done a fair bit, but much of it ourselves apart from opening up a doorway between 2 reception rooms and plastering.

I feel like we spend 99.999% of our lives either DIY'ing or talking about DIY'ing..it's relentless.

My eye is on the prize however of a fabulous 4 bedroomed Edwardian house in one of the best streets in my area. 5 mins walk from DC's primary school and about 10 mins walks from an outstanding secondary that we are hoping to get DS into next year.

Because the house had been neglected for I'd say around 50 years, we are going back to brick and getting it how we want it, without the agony of deciding whether to rip out someone else's nicely done, but not to our taste decor.

We've had to navigate our way through many botch jobs with the plumbing and electrics, but I know that things are being done properly (although painfully slowly) as OH is a perfectionist.

The constant noise, dust, dirt and chaos does really get to me though, along with both of us working full time, and with 2 DC's, it's not for the faint hearted, but there is absolutely no way on earth we could have a house like this if it were not in a state!

Definitely not for the faint hearted I agree. You also need deep pockets and to be prepared for it to completely dominate your life. You also need to find the best contractors who will not let you down because with shite ones everything turns to shite. The end result can be worth it but only if you can do the above!

Will you definitely be able to add another floor onto the bungalow? Not that I know a lot about building, but I know the foundations need to be able to take the extra weight.

I wouldn’t just now. Cost of building materials has rocketed and cost of tradesmen etc is going up.

Also it causes major, major practical and emotional disruption.

I'm a serial renovator. My husband and I are both passionately interested in design, renovation and are keen DIY'ers. We just turned down a renovation opportunity in our 100% favourite location because getting tradespeople at the moment is almost impossible. Building materials have rocketed in price. Its just not doable at the moment unless you have massively deep pockets.
Unless you are absolutely keen to do it, just don't. Even if you get someone else to do all of the work, you still need to manage them, check the work, make hundreds of decisions etc. It really takes over your life. If you work full time, then expect to spend all evenings and weekends on the house.
If you want to live in it while renovating, then expect to have limited services, builders all over the house, radios on, loud voices, using your bathroom, and dust and dirt everywhere.
Good luck!