Buying an ugly house in a lovely location

[CordeliaBrideshead]

I'm getting divorced and need to buy a new home. Desperate for a fresh start. Have a son living with me (17) and my daughter isn't (16) but if I live in sane town may see more of her

I've got about a 450k deposit and can get a mortgage if about 200k but only due 15 yrs due to my age. I'm in rented.

I live in the SW and this house is in Stroud.

My dream is a Victorian semi but I can't afford/find one. Lost a gorgeous one recently in a road I love.

Saw another today advertised for 425k. It's 3 bedrooms and needs a complete overall. Plus a two story extension to add a 4th bedroom/2nd bathroom. Has the ugliest kitchen, a utility room under a lean too etc Prob Art Deco though all the original
Windows have been replaced with UPVC.

It's on the road I love with views to die for and is detached. It also has a home office in quite a big garden and a large art studio I could make a teenage Den/Airbnb accommodation. Garden has some gorgeous mature trees.

Estate agent wants offers by Tuesday. I'm undecided. Such a lot of work but I could add value.

Any ideas about what I need to think about re cost of extension.

Any advice?

@SpiderinaWingMirror

I think your post is an insult to those of us that really do live in ugly houses. We moved to a truly beautiful town in East Sussex. Only house for sale was a 2005 new build. With new brown double glazing. Luckily we live in it, not look at it!

Well that wasn't my intention and sorry to have caused any offence. I was just after opinions which I've got and appreciate.

Do it! Buy the worst house in the best location and you’ll be happy there

[quote HairyMuttttt]This is more Cotswold www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/122439395?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY[/quote]
I looked at house next door. It's a semi industrial location on a busy road with a marina being built in next few years. Gardens v steep. So not such a good location for me.

So much potential, and the garden & studio are amazing! I'd do it!

I absolutely love the house in the OP, so much character and potential. If you actually like the house then it does actually look liveable so probably worth an offer

You could change the whole look of that house with different windows and a different porch area. As far as the damp lean to utility is concerned, that would probably be a cheaper fix than an extension, could you add a shower in ?

When was the studio built ? any asbestos ?

‘So much potential’ is all very well if you have a large budget. Now even more than ever.

@SatinHeart

Wow my house is much uglier that on the outside!

FIL once said to me that you can't see the outside of your own house while you are in it, but you can see the view. Wise words.

This is it! I always say the same about my haircut: I can't see it I'm looking at other things, so why does it matter what it looks like. Love the views and love the light and large rooms.

I think the house is lovely both inside and outside. Can't see what's wrong with the kitchen, looks modern and fairly new. I think your standards are ridiculously high!

We’ve bought a blah ex-council terraced house in a part of London we love living in. The alternative would have been a bigger, prettier house somewherr in comuterville.

I love living here so much, it feels obvious to me we’ve done the right thing. Go for location.

I also don’t think that house is that bad really. Decor isn’t to my taste but you can change a lot without spending too much.

@PurpleToeNail

Link here I think it's a fabulous house.

I thought the outside of the house looks nice but now that I've seen the interior I think it's gorgeous! pls buy it.

Now imagine that same house with
Rendering repainted so it no longer looks patchy.

Shrubbery to right of car tidied up/replaced with a couple/mix of flowering climbing plants - jasmine, honeysuckle, wisteria or similar.
Jet washed drive
Hanging baskets on front (4, one on each pillar) or even a wisteria trained carefully up the left hand wall and across the front above and below the upper windows.
The wooden decking/railing out front, neatly re-stained

A couple of hanging planters on the railings of the decking, with trailing flowering plants

And you'll see a far nicer looking house with instant kerb appeal.

I'd be more interested in how to improve the energy efficiency of the property to keep bills down than what it looked like from outside.

Go for it. Ugly houses can be improved although imo it's not ugly

I've made an offer 🤞🤞🤞

@Ariela

Now imagine that same house with Rendering repainted so it no longer looks patchy. Shrubbery to right of car tidied up/replaced with a couple/mix of flowering climbing plants - jasmine, honeysuckle, wisteria or similar. Jet washed drive Hanging baskets on front (4, one on each pillar) or even a wisteria trained carefully up the left hand wall and across the front above and below the upper windows. The wooden decking/railing out front, neatly re-stained A couple of hanging planters on the railings of the decking, with trailing flowering plants

And you'll see a far nicer looking house with instant kerb appeal.

I'd be more interested in how to improve the energy efficiency of the property to keep bills down than what it looked like from outside.

Totally agree on energy. I'm guessing the roof would be the first priority. I liked your vision of tidying up the front.

@Loopytiles

‘So much potential’ is all very well if you have a large budget. Now even more than ever.

Not many recently divorced people have large budgets including me.

I think it’s looks like a great house. And I don’t see the need to extend. It looks big enough for 3 , and definitely big enough for 2. I know the location and it is lovely. Much better than the other house linked. I think it looks like a good buy.

Yes, so if you don’t have a large budget, you probably can’t afford the extension you’d like at today’s prices. So would only proceed if you like the structure of the house as is and can afford the smaller changes you’d like, at today’s prices.

Fingers crossed!!!

That house is fine as it is. Most people will consider it done up and it sounds like it’s going to sealed bids on Tuesday, in which case other people who actually like the house will probably outbid you anyway.

Have you talk through your housing plans and wants with anyone? You have on 17 year old living with you. Probably a year or two until you’re off to university and you’re by yourself most of the time? It doesn’t sound like you need to be extending a house to have four beds and two bathrooms, you’ll be rattling around. If you can adjust how you think of the living space you need, you will probably be able to buy somewhere smaller that you actually like.

@CordeliaBrideshead I wouldn't expect to spend more then £3-500 + hire of a scaffold tower on my vision of tidying up , if I could bribe DS and friend to go up the tower to paint. Provided that decking allows a scaffold tower, might have to bribe them to use a ladder/paint with brush on a pole.

Always chose location. It sounds like you can afford to update it to your taste (as much as possible).

We’ve previously rented a house that was perfect for us in the wrong location. The impact it had on my mental health was staggering. Our next rental was perfect on both fronts when we moved in but over time my wishes for the area I lived in changed and again my mental health deteriorated. When we were buying I would only look at houses in certain areas on certain streets - happy to take on a project but wouldn’t have even looked at an otherwise perfect house in a location I didn’t love.

You can change the wallpaper and fix a roof - you can’t get the family a cross the road to stop partying at 3 am every-single-night or the drunks from the pub at the end of the road pissing up against your door on the way home.

I know people on that road and it’s lovely. Not an ugly house either.

Many years ago we moved from a dream 3 storey Victorian house in SE4 to an ugly looking Span house in Blackheath - it was the best move we ever made. Location every time - you won't regret it.
With regards to the work, secure the house first (and it certainly isn't ugly in my opinion), you can improve and add value over time.

Not many recently divorced people have large budgets including me

Divorce is distressing and tears our homes from under us. One family house often does not equal 2 new smaller houses. But A budget of £450k plus ability to borrow £200k is hardly bargain basement or struggling.

Good luck with your offer and onwards.