House buying advice

[AddictedToRightmove]

Just a what would you do question.

1. Would you spend the full amount ok the house and do any work that needs doing as and when you have the money to. (Eith a mortgage)

2. Or buy a cheaper house and use the spare money to do the house up.

The difference between 1 and 2 would be with 1 you would get a bigger property but most likely will still need 'work' doing to it.

Me and DH going around in circles.

If you buy the house and have no spare money (even if on the surface it looks to be to your taste and your perfect house), you leave yourself open if you have an unexpected bill.
There should be a compromise where you don't anticipate any work but could accommodate it if it occurs.

That said, we have never bought a house and thought we didn't need to do anything and have always gone in with an expectation of doing something (apart from our current newbuild which is a whole different scenario).

We did number 2 to give us wriggle room. We didnt compromise on location and house size but had to compromise on size of garden.

It depends on the kind of work the bigger house needs, if it's just redecorating or rewiring and replumbing, new roof etc?

I wouldn’t buy a property that needs work at the top of my budget. Even with a place that doesn’t need immediate work I would want some money set aside for the unexpected.

It's going to depend on the specifics. In general you will "profit" more by doing work yourself than paying for a bigger mortgage but it should really be about which is the best home for you?

We ended up buying a newly redeveloped home. I know we've paid through the nose for it, but we got a lovely home and didn't have to do any work - which we wouldn't have had the time or knowledge to do.

I would honestly be thinking more about the structure, number of bedrooms, location, size of garden and so on. If that's a do-er upper then so be it, and if not, I'd go with the bigger mortgage.

Thanks all,

So both types of properties are in the right location. But size is the issue. Smaller mortgage we will have to do an extention to give us the right amount of bedrooms.

Bigger mortgage right amount of bedrooms but will need everything stripped and redecorated.

Both properties will increase in value after work (hopefully) as most houses who have been done up are now on sale for between 100-300k more.

Smaller mortgage we will probably mortgage enough for the extension and then save and do everything bit by bit.

Bigger mortgage, will have to save and redecorate as and when. Probably have to add another bedroom or study somewhere too.

Either options we have already money aside for any unexpected bills which will not be touched for any renovation etc.

If you are planning on buying a doer Upper be aware that building costs have gone up massively over the past few years and in my experience they always come in over (I've done large and small scale building work).
So unless you have a real passion for embarking on the refurbishment and also a very very realistic view on costs (or some experience/skills in this) then I'd personally steer clear of major refurbishment works. Painting, decorating etc of course fine