Should we take on this renovation?

[HouseofHills]

Hello,

I would love some advice from experienced renovators!

DH and I both have busy jobs and no DIY skills, experience or connections. We’re currently TTC.

We’ve just sold our first flat and are looking for a house which we can make a long-term family home. We’re struggling to find something we like in budget and in the location we want. We weren’t looking for a renovation but came across this house which we love in our ideal location: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/148399262

We love houses with character and the idea of being able to put our own stamp on a house and have it exactly how we want it! But is it worth it?

How much would it cost to renovate a house like this and how long would it take?

We’ve recently had a big jump in income so we can get a large mortgage but don’t have a lot of savings due to previously being on much lower incomes. This means we have a budget around £800k but we don’t have a lot of capital to fund a renovation immediately (we’ll around 70k left after deposit and stamp duty on this house). So, we’d probably have to prioritise renovating some rooms and live in part of the house while saving more before finishing it.

Houses like this in the area are around £1m if completely renovated so we could never afford a house like this without renovating. But is it worth it?

I would love tips and advice from anyone who has been through something similar!

We took on a renovation project but are quite diy experienced. What I would say is it can be an amazing thing to do so if you feel it's the right decision then go for it, the house you could end up with at the end could be your dream home.
However and these are big howevers, owning and renovating an old house is very exspensive. Normally what happens is the work you expect to need to do will always cost more than you expect, there will be work needed that even the survey doesn't pick up on so add to the cost. Also any diy you do yourself always takes 10x longer than anticipated and getting a trades men in the do jobs is a nightmare. In our project sone days it makes me want to cry, endless sanding. Stripping wood, smashing stuff up etc but then some days I can totally see why we bought the house and feel very proud.
So if you want a challenge go for it but don't under estimate the cost and time. Good luck 😁

I agree. I reckon it would go to sealed bids TBH.

A lovely house but is it realistic if you both have busy jobs and are TTC? My first house was a do-er upper (much shabbier than the one you linked to). I didn't have enough time or money to do even a quarter of what i thought i could do in a year. I would be cautious about buying it in your circumstances. You will not want a house full of tradespeople and dust with a baby.

I agree. I reckon it would go to sealed bids TBH

Perhaps, but knowing absolutely nothing about the area the op is talking about, here is a 200k more expensive, similar style property:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/148640315

You could easily sink 200k into the property the op has put to get it to this level.

We have a damp cellar in a Victorian house and we haven't needed to do anything to it for structural reasons. Though we will probably get around to tanking for practical reasons.

We also had single glazed windows, original wooden sash with lovely stained panels. We have had them all stripped down and refurbished with new, slim, double glazed panels fitted into the old frames. Though it was a little over 30k for the windows alone.

It's beautiful! 70k won't go far, but you don't need to do it all at once. I would focus on knocking through the back area and having a nice kitchen diner with sofa. Then recarpet and skim ceilings. Everything can be done a bit at a time.

What you need to think about first is

1. Running costs, that looks very experimental to heat etc.
2. If you are already trying to conceive, how possible will it be to get down to DIY? Lots of paint fumes, ladders etc.
3. The cost to renovate the whole property could be huge, but it doesn't have to be. I would definitely want a downstairs loo and additional bathroom. Watch a couple of episodes of grand designs to see what happens when everyone decide to go full excess.
4. I can't imagine you would ever outgrow the place.
5. You can afford it now, how does that change if you have kids and need to pay nursery fees or cut down work hours?

It's a gorgeous house! I would definitely buy it if I lived in nearby.

As a PP said, it's mostly decorative and even though it's dated, it doesn't look dirty and uncared for, so you could move in and live with it while you wait for trades to become available.

With DP I've renovated several houses, but couldn't give you an idea of costs, as we did most of the work ourselves, but you could easily live in that house and decorate as you go. You'll need the Artex ceilings skimmed by a plasterer and probably need to update electrics and plumbing, new kitchen, bathroom and decorators.

I would put off ttc for a year to get the big jobs done, as it will add to stress levels if you're looking after a newborn amongst building work.

Do you actually NEED to knock through the downstairs rooms. Have children THEN see what you need. Separate rooms (25 years in, to an Edwardian house ) are so family friendly.
You don't NEED an extension or to tank the cellar or to damp proof. Guttering and drains and roof tiles yes maybe but the house has lasted this long why would you tamper with the fabric of it? Don't listen to snake oil merchants...

I look back at my 34 year old self and think how much I had to learn. The longer I lived in the house the more I worked out what was important to me. Which rooms had the light or the flow.

YES. Gorgeous house!

I renovated a tiny 3 bedroom house. It was horrific I'd never do it again.
The dust, the builders, the money!!, the stress. No way. That house is gorgeous but yes, floor boards, wiring, boiler/heating, plastering. We were renting thank god and not living in it whilst the mayhem was happening
Sod trying to conceive during that period in our lives and double sod having a new born or toddler at the same time too

If it is purely cosmetic then maybe. But anything else is so much more effort than you can imagine before you begin.

I think that’s very much open to interpretation. If the OP wants to gut the house, make it open plan and add a modern box extension to the back, then yet, it needs a lot of work and would be expensive. But if she wants to restore it sympathetically, then the house is perfectly liveable, and the work needed is not major and could be done gradually. A downstairs toilet isn’t exactly a necessity and a small kitchen is manageable in the short term. We’ve taken on houses that needed far more work than this one appears to need, and if it’s structurally sound, it wouldn’t worry me at all.

This is really similar to how my house looked when we bought it back in 2007. My ex was in the trades so did a lot of work himself so can't really help much with cost advice, but we did it all up room by room. He replaced some of the electrics straight away, but just rewired each room separately as we got round to decorating. It was only really disruptive when we did the kitchen. The other rooms were fine because with so much space it was quite easy to just use another bedroom/bathroom/living room.

It does look like there's asbestos on the ceilings though. Fortunately ours didn't so we didn't have that expensive. Asbestos removal can be pretty expensive to remove so I'd maybe look into that?

Lovely house, sh1t ton of work. I think this is the first RM listing where I have failed to spot even one electric socket.
A rewire to modern standards on that is 25k+ ?
Single glazing = heat loss and noise. Road looks like a busy rat run (street view and SLOW markings).
Five beds, one toilet. No obvious place to fit a downstairs one either. Garden would be very shady. Will need new plumbing/heating.
70k would be gone before you even get a paint brush out.
Personally I would not max the mortgage and buy a house like this. Spend 600k to get a smaller, well maintained more modern one and have the baby. Less outgoings, less stress.

lol where do you think the tv and lamps are all plugged into. Maybe just there for decorative purposes 😂

As someone who bought a similar house not too far and had baby number 2 not too long after, DO.NOT.DO.IT. We even have plenty of funds and DIY experience, it's not our first reno. But the stress of trying to get any decent tradesperson to do anything in Manc, like even just getting them to quote, is stressful. Add children to that, work, relationships... It's doable but it'll suck the joy out of most of your life.

PP doesn’t mean there are t sockets, just that they’re likely to be only a couple in each room in odd places. Whole place is probably run off extension leads. We had exactly the the same in our Victorian build. So if you want modern safe living you’ll need the rewire.

I agree with seaside3, its more than a redecorate.

Realistically, it will need full electrics and heating and plumbing renovations which are invasive. There are signs of damp in places (probably due to poor maintenance), it will be draughty and expensive to run, will need insulating and yes, there is possibly asbestos in areas. I would expect some roof/ guttering works and likely some drainage.

HOWEVER , nothing is urgent, its a lovely house in an area you want and its worth doing. Nothing is unmanageable.

Just be prepared to live in a mess for a few years, or move out for a short while while its done. Get a good full survey done.

I'd buy it in a heartbeat, totally worth it as a long term family home.

Extension leads. I’d bet there’s one double socket per bedroom. I’m sorry for your lack of comprehension.

If you need to be put off take a look at Instagram - claudzgaff and Comedowntothewoods.

Both experienced renovators.

Bitten off more than they can chew really

Do you need 5 bedrooms? How many kids are you planning? It’s a nice house but will eat up your time, money and energy.

😂 so there is sockets. lol.

Buy it.

but don’t underestimate what’s it like living in a house being done up. We lived in ours while doing it up, it needed new plumbing so all carpets and floorboards etc up, new bathrooms but lived with old not working ones with dodgy flush etc for. 2 years. It rather takes over your life….

edited to add….it’s a very big house to take on as first project. And check the roof and neighbouring properties…see if anyone has replaced theirs yet.

Be aware that when you remove any wallpaper the plaster is likely to drop off. Plaster dust is awful. Get a survey to look carefully for dry rot.

What don’t you understand about not being able to see a socket in the photos vs. saying ‘there are no sockets’?

I think it is lovely. The only thing I would do is knock through the kitchen and morning room. It would give you the opportunity to add a downstairs loo and make a lovely large kitchen diner.

You could also add a bathroom to the attic floor but that can be done later.

It definitely doesn't need an extension and I would live in it before you knock through to the living room as you might want the separate spaces when you have older kids.

You can rewire a room at a time when you get them decorated if you need more sockets. Maybe get the board updated to make sure it is safe to modern standards when you move in bnt this will be hundreds rather than thousands.

I reckon you could do a knock through to morning room, new kitchen and downstairs loo and repair any roof issues and get the gutters checked and the electrics board made up to current standards possibly even do the secondary glazing too for your £80,000.

At some point you will want to take the ceiling down in the attic room so you can insulate it better. You could do the attic bathroom at the same time.

I would just move in and get the work done while you are there.

I have done 3 houses up while living in them so my opinion is probably swayed by that