No more doer-uppers?!

[IthinkIamAnAlien]

So a year ago we bought a 3-bed, semi-detached in the beloved Cotswold, on a 60s estate very near the town centre. It's a nice estate, all home owned in a desirable location.

However, we are regretting buying because the number of jobs needing doing on the house has just escalated. The house had been lived In by the same family since it was built in 1964 and we have had to replace all carpets, floors, decor, rewiring, do roofing work, garden landscaping, loads of rubbish clearing. We haven't done the kitchen (1980s) and the bathroom (bright yellow, possibly 1990s) because we have just stopped and wondered if it is worth spending any more money on it. We think it really needs new windows before long and the garden is on a steep Cotswold slope so not really child friendly despite the landscaping.

So today, we got the original estate agent around to do a valuation and he said that doer-uppers are a thing of the past because there are so few builders available in the Cotswolds and building costs have increased enormously. (The latter is true as we know from getting work done, it takes forever as the Cotswolds has been inundated since the pandemic and the incomers have far more money than us!) So he would put the house on the market at the price we paid - 350,000!

Infuriating, hard to believe, didn't really like his manner but I'd value any comments on what he said. I think we're stuck here forever if he's correct. Thanks for reading.

The kitchen and bathroom add value but you haven't done them. It's only a year since you bought it. I think you need to decide whether you like the house and the area and do it up to your likes.

I hate the area and want to move, DH spends his life in his head so anywhere is ok as long as he has a book and computer!

If you hate it there and really want to move then get a couple more estate agents round and see what they have to say.

I'm on my second do-er upper in three years (this is the 13th house I've renovated). I'm in the South West and I would say that since the pandemic getting trades people is universally harder than it was.

If your agent is right and do-er uppers are not desirable then I guess property that doesn't need work doing will be at a premium and you might have to pay more to get it.

House prices in general haven't risen over the last year so your agent might be right. Whoever buys your house will have the same problems and expenses you face - kitchen, bathroom, windows etc, and will expect to pay you accordingly.

The next gen of doer uppers are going to be removing all the shit plastic flooring, crap non descript kitchens and horrific brown giant tiled bathrooms of the last decade of doer uppers.

I agree @ticktickticktickBOOM . Also taking down all the glass box extensions, media walls, bifold doors and kitchen islands so big you can't clean the centre of them without a floor mop. They'll be putting up walls to divide up open plan places too.

I'm currently trying to turn my Victorian cottage back into a Victorian cottage after the previous owner fitted a bathroom straight outta Vegas (glittery tiles, bidet, marble tiles and touch action heated and lit from behind mirror).

I think people are definitely more hesitant to take on work now, mainly as it’s just so bloody expensive. It’s not really economically viable in alot of circumstances anymore (perhaps what you have discovered!)

however, I’d say the biggest thing is you can’t really have expected much of a price rise in the last year with everything going on in the economy?!

You're doing the world a favour @Churchview! That bathroom sounds hideous

I think you would be very lucky to have made money on a property in just one year, especially in this current economic climate - how much more were you hoping to get? If you factor in stamp duty, solicitors fees and estate agent's percentages you would be lucky to break even - even if there had been a price increase.

It's really only a good investment if you do a lot of the work yourself (thus not spending on labour) or extend (thus adding square footage). It's only been a year (of high mortgage rates), and you've not done the kitchen and bathroom, so I'm honestly not surprised it's not gone up. If you're not extending or doing the work yourself, it is not lucrative.

Just put a basic white bathroom suite in & a kitchen from somewhere like DIY kitchens in a neutral colour with loads of storage, see if you can get a deal on appliances like oven, hob, extractor etc. When that is finished, dress the whole house & get it valued again, don't forget to smarten up the garden, put some plants in planters, you can take these with you if you decide to move. You will be surprised how much the kitchen & bathroom will add to the value & if the whole house is fresh & ready to move in you could potentially get a bidding war going.

I think if you could get back what you paid for it that wouldn't be so bad. There's no point living somewhere you hate. The agent is probably being generous with the valuation though. Prices are down and likley to go down further in a lot of areas. You could end up waiting 5 or 10 years to move if you insist on a profit. Put it down to experience and move to somewhere you like. Lifes too short to get hung up eating your mistakes. We all make them.

I wouldn't stay somewhere I hated but I'm also not surprised at the same valuation within a year, given the current economic climate.

We've done a big house renovation within the last couple of years and have spent far beyond the house's current value BUT this is somewhere we intend to live for 20+ years and we didn't have to borrow all the money to do it. So it made sense in our situation.

It's noticeable that several houses we viewed two years ago have come back on the market at the same price (or lower!) than before and either in the same condition, or with a few cosmetic improvements, rather than anything that would really add to their value.

Thanks for the useful comments, so helpful to have other input. TBH it's been about 18 months, not a year since we bought but that doesn't change anything really. I wasn't focusing on the expectation of making money but was beginning to be horrified by the amount of money this house needs (I think we might have already spent about 15,000) and the thought of not recouping any of it. We have done a couple of doer-uppers in the long ago past and I'm feeling shocked by the estate agent's message and its delivery. Also, once again, cursing the surveyor, what do we pay these people for?

I'm also being pushed by neighbour stuff, next door are very ''eyes down, don't speak' and having done some minor landscaping and got a pergola built in the only sane place, which is by the other neighbour's boundary, she's now gone super neurotic and every time one of us is out there, she comes out and starts strimming or mowing or banging around. She made such a fuss when we built it and we tried to fit her views into the construction but she's obviously not happy. I find myself checking to see if her car is there (parked beside the pergola on her side) before I go out and use the pergola. I've got a totally sinking heart about the whole house now and DH is very much 'oh it'll be ok, we can do what we want, it's our property'.

TBH if you bought it 18 months ago, you are even less likely to have made money on it. You would have been a lot closer to the Covid/post-Covid boom when you bought, and now thinking of selling in the middle of a big old slump/stagnation.

You've also been spending money on things that are nice for you but won't add value. The way to get the value out of things like your pergola and your decoration is to live in the house and enjoy what you've done. As others have said the kitchen and bathroom are the big things that viewers see and can judge a house on, so they are what really affects a property value.

It doesn't sound to me like you've really bought a money pit, just perhaps that you weren't prepared for the cost of owning an older property. Everything you mention (apart from rewire) sounds like normal ongoing stuff for anyone who is maintaining their house and you'll get that anywhere. TBH 15k doesn't sound like a huge amount of money for that period of first moving into a house and getting things how you like it. I guess you underestimated the cost of bringing a dated property up to modern taste, but it doesn't mean you've bought a horror show.

I'm guessing that the big problem here is that you aren't happy in the area and you're taking it out on the house, if you see what I mean. Focus first on deciding if you just need to move to another area regardless of cost, or if you could be happy where you are.

When the “fixer up” property tv programmes were a new thing (about 20 years ago) - property ladder and that ilk - the owners always added value due to a rising market. They would also have added the same amount of value doing nothing but holding onto the property whilst the price went up.
Unless you have in house builders or expertise yourself it’s very difficult to make a net profit on renovations. And construction and material costs have gone up massively in the last few years.

Your experience with renos is gold. Please can you read my thread about doing up an Edwardian house's roof? We feel unsure about what to expect : https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/property/5073356-edwardian-house-roof-needs-replacing-soon-scared

I don't have much reno experience - we are thinking about taking a project house ourselves with a potential roof problem that needs soon-immediate replacement. it's a bit scary.

If you hate the house and area - there's your answer. It's not good for your mental health. Take care of yourself. Life is too short.

I would get a second and third opinion.

EAs know doer uppers are harder to sell these days and it could be that he just cannot be bothered.