Cost of renovation work

[5thWisdom]

Hello fellow property board people!

I've rented for years, want (desperately) to get on property ladder, very little on the market. I viewed a 1920s semi today. It needs a LOT of work.

Reluctant to post Rightmove link as might lose anonymity but will if it helps!

Needs rewiring, had a new boiler in 2015. Plastering needed to ceilings and walls. Roof looks ok. Garden needs overhaul. New kitchen and bathroom needed. Potentially move bathroom upstairs, room to extend into garden. Timber framed structure in garden which could come down and make lots more room. It's on at £325k. On market since June. Am waiting on update from Agents as to whether any previous offers have fallen through. Would it be cheeky to offer less given amount of work needed? Nice area, semi rural.

I've no idea where to start on costing any of this work! Can anyone give me ball park figures - rough estimates? I'd ideally live there whilst doing work very gradually - no rush, and would see it as my forever home dream project.

Whereabouts in the country are you and how big is the house? I am in Yorkshire and we are paying about £600-700 per room for plastering now but they are quite large rooms (5x6x3). We did a rewire a few years ago and it was about £9000 but it is quite a big house. I would estimate a standard 3 bed rewire could be £10,000 now.

We are getting a new bathroom fitted at the mo and it is £4500 labour plus whatever we use in materials (£3000-£10,000).

Again kitchen depends on size and spec and if you want structural stuff doing but I would guess similar to bathroom for labour plus the cost of the kitchen plus materials.

I don't think you can offer less based on the work as it was obvious at viewing but if it has been on the market a while you could give it a go on that basis?

You could save money on the rewire by running the cables and chasing out for the wiring yourself and just getting the electrician to connect and sign off the wiring. You could also save on the bathroom and kitchen by shopping around for bits and possibly by clearing out the rooms yourself and offering to labour for the trade whilst they are there. Not all tradies like people "helping out".

We were also given the advice that you can have two out of cheap, fast and good when you get work done so booking stuff in with a 6 month lead time can often get you cheaper prices without dropping quality. Post Christmas is a good time to get trades as everyone wants things finished in time for Christmas.

I'd base my offer on what other properties have gone for locally, not the work, that'll be reflected in the price already.
You should consider that lots of your requirements are wants not needs, such as relocating a bathroom.

Price will depend on local market conditions, but generally places are priced with account to obvious work needing doing. Is it work that actually needs to
be done (ie imminently dangerous) or just work you would like?

If it has the origional 1920s wiring
it probably needs redoing, if 80s-90s or later it’s probably fine for now.

Last estimates we had to rewire were
about £3k, (two years ago, we didn’t bother). Apparently about £5k would be normal now.

The rest sounds like work that would be nice but not essential assuming the property is mortgageable.

Thank you all. The house is in South Wales, within close proximity of Cardiff in adjacent county.

The house is lived in at the moment, and electricity is clearly working so perhaps a full rewire may not be needed. And as PP have said, there are always ways of saving costs, I'm happy to get stuck in to do some work.

The walls were all in quite a bad way with a holes in the bedroom ceilings etc. Dated bathroom but functional, you could even save the actual bath, toilet, sink, these are white. It would be possible I think to live there whilst having work done, and do room by room. There is room to extend into garden which would be long term plan.

There is no fitted kitchen at the moment as such, just random cupboards and some worktop.

The agent seemed quite embarrassed whilst showing me around yesterday, it was quite strange! She was suggesting that there was a lot of work needed and that it would be important to get it at the right price.

I've emailed with an expression of interest in making an offer. I'm not sure if it will help but I have asked if the vendor will accept an offer below asking price and stated my position to be able to proceed to start the conversation. They have a family house to move into according to agent so I presume they don't need to sell to move but you never know people's circumstances - this may mean they aren't in a hurry.

There isn't really a like for like comparison in local area - most houses are huge detached properties which sell for a lot, lot more.

I have noticed on Rightmove that prices are being reduced in Cardiff and surrounding areas now.

If there is no kitchen then you may not be able to get a mortgage on it.

Rewiring, new electric box, plastering after to fox rabbit warren of holes and skim several rooms fully, and paint was - £13k approx last year. So £10-15k depending on size, and inflation

new kitchen - £5-15k depending on size and preference. IKEA is a good option on budget

To fix up electrics, kitchen, plaster, poss move bathroom and make lovable safely I would say think min £50k. Everything is expensive nowadays, so even that could be completely off mark

@PragmaticWench I may be being overly dramatic! There is a kitchen as such, about two kitchen cupboards with a sink attached, the oven and washing machine are freestanding though.

@5thWisdom put a link up and we'll help. We all love a good property thread 😀

I don't know the area so don't know about price but I was expecting something far worse from the way you described it. That is totally liveable and what a beautiful setting.

We are about to put our house on the market and was advised by our EA that, in the current climate, any house that hasn't been sold within 4-6 weeks is on at the wrong price. Plus, the market is turning and is no longer a Vendor's paradise... So, yes - definitely make a cheeky offer - the worst that can happen is you have to up it to secure the property... I think £300k is a perfectly reasonable starting point. Good luck.

I would just say if it needs re wiring, just do that first in whole house. It makes such a mess and will ruin any other work you do, so best to get it over and done with before you cover walls with new kitchen or decorate or flooring

That bathroom seems perfectly fine for now

I've zero experience in renovating properties - in my defence, the agent was really emphasising the amount of work needed too!

Agent says they're still waiting to hear from vendor so not sure vendor is in a hurry.

Am keeping up the RM search - very little on market at the moment. This house is pretty unique as a doer-upper.

How do you know if a house needs rewiring?!

It's beautiful, but I'd definitely do some digging about the private road and the parking space, it all seems a bit loose.

To be honest I’d be happy to live in that as it is.

I'd check the shower - it looks like it runs off the taps = 1980s nightmare! I speak from experience

Looks fab, I would definitely take the chance and do work as needed. Good luck.

I have heard back from the agents at close of business and they have advised that previous offers have been made on the house which have been declined (they haven't said what has previously been offered).

They also said that the vendor could be open to open to accepting a lower offer compared to the guide price (exact words) so encourage me to put an offer in. They confirmed that the vendor would vacate once sale has gone through.

I'm going to think about it overnight. The house is semi-remote and is semi-detached so I would want to know the neighbours are nice people as they are the only neighbours for miles! Would it be bizarre to pop round to introduce myself as interested in the buying the house next door?!

To see if a rewire is necessary you'd ask an electrician to do an electrical survey.

Update

So I had a few queries about the cess pit etc that I received an answer on. I then submitted a low offer on Monday evening. I received a very positive, excited reply on Tuesday morning in response to having made the offer, and that they would come back to me.

Since then, nothing. No holding email, phone call. I'm reluctant to chase.

Is this common?! Is it possible I'll never hear anything from them ever again?! It was a low offer but no negotiations, nothing.

Ah - mind games! Or the vendor is still considering your offer, which is great (as in it is not an outright 'no'!) my advice would be don't chase as you would then be the more eager party and might elicit a rejection (if the vendor is on the fence about whether to accept or not).

And I definitely wouldn't introduce myself to the neighbour at this stage. But driving by at different times of days can be enlightening.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Thanks @GingerPigz - I agree. I'm just waiting it out. I'm hoping that it's not a case of the agents simply forgetting to come back, the agent on holiday and forgotten to hand over etc.

My parents are selling and after accepting an offer, their agent later called to tell them the offer was withdrawn. To then have a call a few days later to say that they'd made a mistake and the withdrawn offer was actually on another house on their books!

So hoping this isn't pilot error on agents part and I get some sort of response soon! Last week, they called me and were keen to get an offer from me. Now silence!

Anyone can learn to do renovations themselves, it all boils down to determination and self drive . Watch you tube / grand designs , any renovation programme where people have learned to do it themselves for inspiration.

it can be hard work and frustratingly slow , but extremely satisfying when it’s done.

I’ve seen some top class work done by diy/ novices over the years.

Watched YouTube video the other day of a young woman in America who bought a bit of land to build a house on, she had to remove a lot of big trees to clear the space. She did a safety course, bought a couple of chainsaws and got to it !!! Hats off to her……. If she can do it anybody can 🙂