Yippee!!! We're going to look at a flat in a minute!!

[NurkMagiggy]

It is one of these hugggggge Victorian ones that has massive windows and doors and the rooms are enormous, it is ground floor and basement with a nice big garden at the back. In a leafy road as well. It is very very cheap because it is run down and dingy apparently! Which I love, as you can change that stuff, and you can't change the size of rooms.
I am so nervous I didn't sleep last night, we've been looking for ages and finally found something, just hoping we can have it.

Have got 15 minutes till we leave. I think I might fall off the chair I am so nervous!

The agent is wonderful, I spoke to him a while ago and he was saying 'it has a HORRIBLE bathroom, horrible kitchen, we have asked the landlord to update it' and I was going 'NOOOOOO please don't, I hate the way everything is refurbished these days, I want to do it up msyelf, please let me have the horrible bathroom!'

He thinks I am an utter loon

Lucky you! I love those big Victorian buildings, they have such great proportions.

well....how was it?

Hello! Well, we got there and the outside is fantastic, big garden, surrounded by hedges and trees...it is a massive house. The man saw us out of the window though, and said he had cancelled the appointment with the agents, because he was hoovering and trying to tidy up because his wife was coming home with a new baby this evening!! They have a little girl already who was very sweet.
Anyway the agent turned up and we had a long talk and he said we seem to be the perfect tenants, if we want to do it up as it was converted into flats in the 80s and hasn't been updated since then.
We're going back to see the inside at 10 tomorrow. The agent says he had several viewings booked but has cancelled the rest!!!

I'm so scared, it's a big deal moving isn't it, with loads of furniture and stuff and two little children. I need advice on how to make it easier, especially for them - any tips anyone?

Ooh and can anyone think of pertinent things to look for/ask when we're looking round? The tenant already told us it is a cold flat, though it has central heating apparently? And he said it's quiet, not much noise from upstairs. That has to be good!

Well,

We saw it today, and it really is very very bad - wallpaper falling off, damp places, (not too much) and just very dirty. It's big though. I am not sure whether to go for it or not - it will need loads of work to make it habitable, including decorating everything (ceilings are about 10ft high, so not a light task) and the cellar has got dodgy electrical switches and quite a bit of damp - it's like a building site down there!
BUT it's got lots of potential - big rooms, huge garden, great big french doors from floor to ceiling and a newly rebuilt wooden conservatory (odd that they did that but nothing else!). I'll have to pull up carpets and sand floors (maybe) - couldn't check floorboards as tenants were there!!

I like it cos I could watch the children in the garden from the living room, so I wouldn't have to accompany them every time they wanted to play; I like the scale of it, the indoor space is pretty good...very big bedroom, huge living room, dining room, small kitchen and second bedroom - two toilets, including en suite. (But bath panel is broken badly). Like the fact it's near shops and hospital and so on, however it isn't near a playing field like we are now.

I don't know whether to go for it or not. We don't have to leave here, have been here a few years, done a lot of work to it - but I guess I like the idea of something exciting to work on. Would it be impossible? Or unfair to the kids? My 5 yo got sad thinking about leaving here, he has been here since he was 1.

Perhaps it's a displacement activity...

Sorry, I'm rambling inanely, it helps to write it down!

too much work and money for a erntal i have renovated 2 big victorian maisonettes and it was ££££££££££££££££

rental

Are you renting it or buying it?Personally I'm not keen on damp.

Renting...yes, I think you might be right.
Very romantic idea with the big rooms and everything but I just found out it has a residential rehab service next door, which is for adults with severe and enduring mental health issues who are too unstable/chaotic to live in a community placement.
I am concerned about living right next to a place where lots of unstable adults are...the garden wall goes low on that side, just not comfortable with it.
Oh dear.
Might have to rethink. Thanks for your thoughts.

Message withdrawn

Agree would take a hell of a lot for me to renovate someones flat for them. Suppose you finish then they give you notice?

I don't think I'll be doind anything major. I shall put down some vinyl I've already got, clean the carpets, and eventually decorate - plus I'll chuck out parts of their kitchen, and mend the bath panel.
Basically it just needs a lot of cleaning up and then painting, but as long as they sort the electrics out I'm not too worried about anything else.
Most places you find are renovated, and expensive - we're talking around 800 average here. This one is 575. So that is behind my blase attitude to a bit of work

I went up to look at it again and it seems pretty quiet next door - I reckon it shouldn't be too bad actually. I want to ask the rich neighbours if there is ever a problem, but am scared to knock on doors - would people mind do you think?

Have just realised how gutted I shall be if someone else gets it. I think we are going to take the plunge - subject to them checking the electrics. I do not like switches that refuse to be switched!!