Very vaguely - how much would it cost to do up this property

[WindUpBird]

3 bed 1960s terrace in an unglamorous bit of Kent. Photo to give an idea of how dated it is. Avocado bathroom, 1960s kitchen and what looks like polystyrene ceiling tiles - so ceilings will need replacing? Is there likely to be asbestos under those tiles?
I think it’s on at far too high a price and the estate agent reckons it needs £20k of work - would you agree?? To me it would seem a lot more. I could potentially live with the terrible kitchen & bathroom for a couple of years but dodgy ceilings and carpets would need to be replaced asap
I just have no idea if all of this would cost £30k or £10k or more?!

"the estate agent reckons it needs £20k of work"
I think he might be missing a zero.

😅 the kitchen alone will be £20k.

+1 on add a zero…

It will most likely have a lot of hidden needs too - we discovered rotten joists, rewiring, plastering, roof issues, doors, ripping out and replacing the ceilings, gas work. I’m thinking 75k+

Right - firstly, those kitchen units are now vintage and highly collectable, so if you buy the property, don't smash them up!!

Yes the polystyrene ceiling tiles will have to go asap, they are a fire hazard. the ceilings with then need skimming.

What's the roof like, is there cavity wall insulation, will it need a new central heating system, and does it need rewiring?

It is difficult to give you even a ball park figure without knowing that lot. I suspect the agent's estimate is what it would cost a property investor to do it up with the most basic kitchen and bathroom, and make it safe, so they can rent it out.

You can ask the vendor to provide an asbestos report.

Oh - I forgot, windows! Does it have double glazing or not, and what condition are they in?

If it doesn't need rewiring and new plumbing/boiler you could probably do it for 60-70k if you did a lot of the decorating yourself. If it needs rewiring and a new boiler etc.... you are probably looking at 90k.

You can get a kitchen for 5-6k if you are careful then probably another 5k for fitting it. Bathroom probably 6k all in. But you will have to project manage it to keep the costs down.

How long is a piece of string? How much can you do yourself? What kind of finish and fittings will you include.

We've been slowly doing up our house but we are handy. We took our entire kitchen back to brickwork and started again. It cost us under 5k because we bought an ex display kitchen and did all of the installation ourselves. Our bathroom, not only went back to brickwork but we replaced the ceiling, some of the floorboards and moved a waste pipe so we could swap bits round. We bought vintage and retro fixtures and fittings and reclaimed many things to make it exactly how we wanted. Cost under £3k. Again, it's because we are able to do work ourselves. We have an electrician mate who will sign things off for us, DH assisted our plasterer until he'd learnt to do it for himself, I am happy to travel to reclaim yards and auctions to source things I want or need.

We've done a huge amount of work for less than 50k, including a new roof and an extension.

A heap. Probably needs rewiring, replumbing and new boiler, windows, carpets, roof, new kitchen, new bathroom, asbestos removed, walls and ceilings reskimmed, painted throughout, work outside .... Easy £100k probably heading towards £200k.

Unless you can a lot of the work yourself and source second hand kitchens etc cheaply , I think they the EA is having a laugh.

Even if you go for budget ranges like Ikea I would budget several times more than the EA estimate

I agree, add another 0

100k at least, without an extension.

No advice, but I'd keep the avocado bathroom, I love their look!

Oh crikey…thanks for all your speedy replies!! 100k!! That’s what I was worried about. I’m going to view it on Friday and will look out for and ask questions about all the things you’ve mentioned. It would just be me on my own (moving out of the ‘marital home’) and I’m not handy apart from stripping wallpaper/painting so I’d need to pay someone to fit kitchen/bathroom & sort ceilings & floors - nothing needs to be deluxe I’m happy with basic.

Also I bet the EA has just taken the difference between this and other houses in the area and used that as the cost for reno. There is no way.

Could be -
Kitchen £15k depending on finish work tops etc
Bathroom £5-8k depending on finish
Re-wire £5-8k
new boiler and heating £5- 7k
Remove tiles and plaster ceilings £2k
Remove wood chip and plaster walls £5k if whole house
Re decorate £2-3k easy for whole house
Windows £10-12k
Carpets £2k

plus there are always things you don't think of. Good luck

I love the units in the kitchen as it is but of course it is going to need redoing.

The EA is taking the piss.

😂😂😂

Nailed it!

I think 20k is possible if you went full on economy for kitchen and bathroom and you/mates did a lot of it yourselves. If there's anything else however .. floors, roof, windows, carpets, any plastering, plumbing, wiring then you could very easily triple or quadruple that number. Price up an KEA kitchen, the units are fine and we just used an oak surface we bought online.

Less then 2.5k for the units, surfaces and appliebced but you can easily double that to pay someone to fit it too.

No one can tell you from the pictures, people saying £200k are just as ridiculous.

You can spend as much or as little as you want depending on your tastes, £200k would include an extension.

Yes I also love the kitchen!

OP check the street it's on and see what houses on the street sold for and when. You might even be able to find that house

We renovated a two bed mid terrace 60s house in SE London that didn't look too dissimilar to the pictures. It was 5 years ago and we spent about £25,000 including a new kitchen, re-wiring and installing central heating. I think 20 is unreasonable and would probably budget 50 to be on the safe side if you’re sensible.

Depending on windows, boiler, re wire etc I would say minimum of around 40k if it's just kitchen , flooring , bathroom and a total redecorate , more like£ 80k if it needs the above. -

@TinkerTiger in Jan 23 one in the terrace went for 37k more but it was completely modernised with an extra bathroom.

Will you be doing any of the work yourself?