Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

WWYD - readymade house or renovation project ?

3 replies

incognitodorrito · 23/12/2022 07:10

Husband and I were divorcing in 2019, sold marital home & bought two separate properties but have since earlier this year decided to reconcile and are looking to purchase a home together. The home I bought was a complete wreck but ticked all the other boxes (excellent primary and secondary schools nearby, could walk into town, big garden) so I went ahead and endured the most stressful and massive renovation ever (builders took the piss and it took forever to complete, costs spiralled during renovation as just after covid/Brexit). House is now done and to a lovely standard but I swore at the time never would I ever again do a renovation to that scale (house was reduced to a shell and rebuilt again internally). We have two properties that we both really like. The first one is a builders house and was built from scratch maybe 15 years ago. We would need to overhaul the interiors and we aren’t keen on the flooring throughout but otherwise it’s a lovely house but the price wouldn’t allow us to do too much to the house as it’s the upper end of what we want to pay, £950k. House nr 2 isn’t on the market yet, essentially it’s a perfect example of the worst house on the best street in town. It needs a complete overhaul, atleast £300 k thrown at it as everything needs done it’s completely stuck in the 70s and a warren of tiny rooms. We are fortunate in that we don’t need to sell my property which is close by and we could live in it but I’m just not sure whether it’s wise to put ourselves through all that stress again. This house is on for £700 k currently but due to the amount of work it needs we’d likely go in at £600 k to account for all the work. I’m now wiser due to my previous experience and my hubby recently retired so although the most he can do us decorate and small Diy jobs, he can oversee the project full time. This is really an appeal for anyone who has tested themselves and their relationships during a massive renovation - would you do it all over again ??

OP posts:
SollaSollew · 23/12/2022 08:26

DH and I have renovated our last 3 houses so this is how I'd approach the decision based purely on my experience...

Firstly of the 3 we have renovated 2 were fine and 1 was a nightmare. The one that was a nightmare was because of the builders who we'd used on our first house had a change in their personal circumstances and as a result just didn't do anywhere near as good a job the second time round. We found the builder who has done our 3rd renovation as a result of getting a number of jobs in the second house fixed! So the first thing I'd be asking myself in your position is how much of the stress of your renovation was a result of poor builders, would you be confident to find others or do you have enough money to hand the whole renovation over to a more expensive but more quality assured company?

I never ever felt that I would never do it again but that's because I love the process of making something my own and interiors are my hobby. I wasn't sure from your OP what the drive was for doing the renovation, is it something you'd enjoy? If it's something that you're doing just because those are the only two houses you like at the moment could your dh sell his house, move in with you and wait till an alternative that you really liked and wasn't a renovation came along?

Finally and in the kindest way, I am very fortunate to have a strong marriage to a man whose hobby is DIY. I'm solely in charge of the design side where he never interferes and he manages the budget and does as much practical planning/electrics etc as he can. However, even with very clear differentiated roles the time pressure and sheer number of decisions required sometimes lead to cross words. It sounds like you're just finding your feet again so I would definitely be thinking about whether you actually want to put that amount of strain on your relationship again so early on in your reconciliation.

Only you can decide but on balance I think you just might not have found the right house to buy yet. So maybe give it time, live together in your lovely newly renovated house with cash in the bank until you find something manageable and enjoy your time together for a bit.

JustGotToKeepOnKeepingOn · 23/12/2022 10:57

I agree what previous poster has said about making sure your relationship can withstand a big project, but the fact that you have a lovely house to live in while the work is being done, I'd go for it!

I found the most stressful part of renovations was having to live in the property while it was being sorted. You won't have that stress. Your DH is doing the project management... that should keep him out from under your feet Grin

I'd definitely go for the worst house in the street... as long as you get it for the price you're happy to pay.

Festivfrenzy · 22/01/2023 22:49

SollaSollew · 23/12/2022 08:26

DH and I have renovated our last 3 houses so this is how I'd approach the decision based purely on my experience...

Firstly of the 3 we have renovated 2 were fine and 1 was a nightmare. The one that was a nightmare was because of the builders who we'd used on our first house had a change in their personal circumstances and as a result just didn't do anywhere near as good a job the second time round. We found the builder who has done our 3rd renovation as a result of getting a number of jobs in the second house fixed! So the first thing I'd be asking myself in your position is how much of the stress of your renovation was a result of poor builders, would you be confident to find others or do you have enough money to hand the whole renovation over to a more expensive but more quality assured company?

I never ever felt that I would never do it again but that's because I love the process of making something my own and interiors are my hobby. I wasn't sure from your OP what the drive was for doing the renovation, is it something you'd enjoy? If it's something that you're doing just because those are the only two houses you like at the moment could your dh sell his house, move in with you and wait till an alternative that you really liked and wasn't a renovation came along?

Finally and in the kindest way, I am very fortunate to have a strong marriage to a man whose hobby is DIY. I'm solely in charge of the design side where he never interferes and he manages the budget and does as much practical planning/electrics etc as he can. However, even with very clear differentiated roles the time pressure and sheer number of decisions required sometimes lead to cross words. It sounds like you're just finding your feet again so I would definitely be thinking about whether you actually want to put that amount of strain on your relationship again so early on in your reconciliation.

Only you can decide but on balance I think you just might not have found the right house to buy yet. So maybe give it time, live together in your lovely newly renovated house with cash in the bank until you find something manageable and enjoy your time together for a bit.

Excellent advice here. What did you decide in the end OP?

New posts on this thread. Refresh page