Thoughts on this house...

[MilkshakeMilkshake]

After a 2 year break from trying to get on the property ladder, I have started looking again and came across this house. I'm familiar with the area and it is unusual that the house hasn't sold as normally properties in that location sell quite quickly.

It has been on the market for nearly two months, originally listed at £140,000 (reduced a few weeks ago). I can only assume it is the extension roof that's putting people off, but I'd be interested to hear other peoples opinions and if you think it is worth the price listed? It does look like it needs some work (kitchen and bathroom look fairly new) and I have no idea if that extension is all above board.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/134175833#/?channel=RES_BUY

Although not stated in the listing, it looks as though it may be non standard construction. The garage certainly is. This would make it potentially difficult to get a mortgage on. I'd definitely ask that question of the estate agent.

I actually like it as you can always renovate it. Would just check the structural conditions of it though.

I don't have knowledge of the local area so can't comment on that part - but I think they've got a tough sell on the way.

Do you have a budget for the renovations? Is the extension done to building regs / does it have any sort of paperwork?

The exposed pipes in the extension would put me off, as would the flooring which looks suspicious on the join between the kitchen and extension.

The fireplace in the from room looks slightly dodgy too. It doesn't help that the agent has taken blurry photos and badly lit ones!

I'd be concerned by the way it looks that perhaps someone has been working on it who might not have all of the skills you'd hope they did? The kitchen + extension look unfinished and slightly botched, the front room looks unfinished, externally it looks like it needs a good tidy up, it really depends what £££ you have available.

I would say it's a sought after area and other houses up there have sold pretty quickly.

I have some money to play around with but I would prefer not to spend a lot of it as I want to have something left over as a safety net.

Lenders will borrow up to 110k (I'm only looking to borrow 100) and I have 45 as a deposit.

Luckily I have family who work in trades (roofer, builder, plasterer) and they have friends who are sparkies, plumbers etc

I don't have any info yet on the extension, building regs etc

The house was last sold in 2006 for 90k. I am concerned about the work and if it's been built by a professional.

It looks like the work that has been done has been done very poorly so I think that’s probably why it’s cheaper and not selling

Sorry missed your questions @Fiddleyflop

I like the location, it is only 15 minutes from where I live now. It is a nice quiet street/village, easy access to the dual carriageway, shops etc. I think I'd be happy there.

I suppose it depends on how much work needs to be done and I don't think I'll know properly until I view it, but I'd definitely have a full survey completed.

Yes I would have to live there during the reno as I wouldn't be able to afford to pay a mortgage and rent on top.

Can your family help by going to viewing with you to check it from their expertise point of view?

The EPC is a G.

@senua there isn't any gas up there. It's all electric, which I knew about as a friend of mine lived in the same village years ago. Does that make a difference to the EPC rating? (I have no idea lol)

Opposite a play area - teen antisocial behaviour?

@Fiddleyflop yes I suppose you're right. I guess I was just interested to see what people thought of the price. Thanks for your help.

Looks okay to me. But I would redo the kitchen to bring in more light. Either move the island or put in a skylight. Clearly needs work and no one has bothered to make it look nice in the pictures.

Hadn't seen about the EPC rating. You can look up the EPC report or ask agent for it. As a G I suspect that means no insulation or double glazing. Some insulation might be relatively cheap (loft and underfloor). Cavity wall might be an option but only put the beads in. Not the foam stuff which isn't recommended for wetter/west parts of the country.
Also what heating system is being used. Electric heaters are expensive. Could you afford to put a heat pump in?

@Olika yes I'd definitely ask one of my family members to come with me to the viewing (probably the roofer)

houseprice.io suggest hat the price is in the right ballpark if it's been maintained adequately. The pictures suggest not and that you may want to offer a little less.

With your family, work out the rendition costs and then offer your maximum comfortable price for that property and state that - no need for explanations. Walk away if rejected.

Wrong image. Weird. Here goes:

Apologies. Just not working today. Enter the post code and look up for the right data!

Electric heating, along with the worst energy efficiency rating means that you're likely to spend a fortune heating it to not very warm.

It looks like it's a prefab and one solution might be to have it externally brick clad with extra insulation - this will cost thousands obviously, but there might be grants available.

TBH I'm not sure it's something I'd go for without fully understanding the heating costs.

If the asking price is average for a maintained property as @XVGN suggests, that needs a big discount to get it more habitable.

I would suggest viewing with as many trade mates as you can.

Ask the EA if the extension has building regs sign off and certification before viewing. And what is going on with the roof and why it hasn't been fixed.

If there is no gas in the village, can there be oil? Is there space in the back garden for an oil tank?

Air source heat pumps are all good and well if the building is up to it, but if it is a G you probably don't even have the basics to start with to install one. They cost circa 12-15k to install (the government will currently give you 5-6k towards that). Installers qualified in these systems are in v short supply because just not enough have been trained yet.

You really really don't want to live in a house that is fully run on electric. In a house that size with that EPC you might be looking at 3-5k a year just for heating and hot water on electric. I had to put my immersion on for hot water when I moved into this house, stupidly left it on all the time, electric was £450 for a month (admittedly we did have a constant stream of hot water). No heating included in that!

Personally, I would sit on my hands and wait for another property in better condition to come to market. The work it could take to get it comfortably liveable could take over your life and eat up all your financial reserves. Not to mention getting good tradesmen is like pulling teeth these days (unless your mates can help with their own reliable contacts).