What could you do to this house for 77K

[JennyBerg]

Looking for ideas and things to think about. What would you do with this house with a 77k budget. From viewing the electrics are really old, no lights in the middle of ceilings etc, the boiler is old too...

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/157142240#/?channel=RES_BUY

I wouldn’t buy a terrace at that price, I’m afraid. It doesn’t look as though there is parking anywhere near.

Otherwise, rewire , replace the boiler, get rid of the conservatory, check for damp. It doesn’t look as though there’s much storage, so you’d need that.

The kitchen and bathrooms are probably liveable with for a while.

Rewire is going to be the first thing then. Also what is the roof like? If that is on its last legs walk away. If you are lucky and the footings of the conservatory are OK you might be able to squeeze in a garden room of some sort into your budget - something like this www.oakwrights.co.uk/extensions

I'm on my phone so can't look in detail. Could it be non-standard construction?

I would reconfigure the kitchen conservatory layout. Madness to have kitchen diner window looking onto a washing machine area!
That would predate any rewiring new boiler. So get layout right then do any rewiring replumbing.
Alternatively do very little except move washing machine upstairs, washing line in garden. Knock down conservatory replace with nice patio area with a big retractable rain proof awning.
It's a great house and so near centre of Cambridge, transport
Get rid of carpets...there's probably a parquet floor underneath in living room.
Personally I would change the style of front windows too but maybe too pricey.
But the table kitchen layout is the thing I would tackle first.

If you are getting rid of the boiler what about a heat pump?

It's a good location.

I second getting an ASHP if you need to replace the boiler.

Well, first I can't help but comment on the shocking price. Cambridge is unreal! And that the estate agent describe that as a "generously proportioned 4-bedroom"!

But more helpfully, I would want to ask a lot of questions about the basics with that house. I know you say the lights aren't in the middle of the rooms, but I can also see ceiling roses in a few pictures that suggest a light USED to be there - something odd going on. Is that top floor a loft conversion or was the house built that way? In pic 7 theres some very odd looking plumbing in that wardrobe area, plus in pic six - exposed pipes going up through the ceiling and it looks like the electric socket is spurred on the surface, which smacks of DIY. It's giving me thoughts that there is a risk that there's a bit of a shonky home-made loft conversion going on, which could be a money pit to fix. If I was considering that house, I'd want to get that surveyed asap to work out how much of my £77k budget might need to be spent on remedial works before I could work out what I could spend on the nice stuff.

They've used awful pictures and stretched everything. The front is very short and stretched and the back of the house is long and skinny. Can't quite work out which is accurate. Very off putting.

Why is there an annual service charge? Is it not freehold?

I would plan what to do on a 60k budget on the assumption that this house would fairly easily eat 17k of contingency. Sorry. That might even be a bit optimistic

Otherwise, rewire, boiler (if both needed) change conservatory to solid roof would be priority

Would depend a bit on if you were happy to do a bit of repainting etc yourself or whether the budget would need stretch to that too

Thanks everyone, really helpful things to think about. Cambridge house prices are absolutely ridiculous aren’t they?? we have a pretty healthy budget in general but in cambridge it doesn’t get us much, it’s all very disheartening, so we’re having to compromise a lot just for the location. Unfortunately, lots of factors combined mean we really can’t be looking outside the city (and actually we don’t want to, love it here in spite of the prices).

its definitely not a dodgey loft conversion, all the houses on the terrace have the same layout but from viewing it does seem like something dodgey is going on with electrics… really trying to work out if we can afford the basics to make it a comfortable nice home and then we’d do more improvements little by little over time.

The conservatory is ugly, so my initial reaction was to get rid of it and just put bifold doors to the garden there instead. But I appreciate it is a useful living space, that you might want!

Presumably it’s not strong enough for a solid roof with a big roof light and bifold doors, so you’d probably need to tear it down completely and start again?

Given that would cost a lot, I might actually leave the conservatory as is for now (with a plan to sort out in a few years time, if viable) and make everything else nice in the meantime instead.

I quite like it. I'd get rid of the lean to, bin the carpets, have it rewired, new boiler and possibly replace other plumbing/radiators. Then I'd undercoat the walls in white while I thought about the next phase.

Even a 2 m extension on the kitchen with some roof windows would make a huge difference to the space.

Definitely what I was thinking, if money was no object first thing I’d do is tear it down and the kitchen out and build a lovely open plan kitchen diner extension, but seeing as money is an object and the kitchen is absolutely fine as is I think it would stay, become a dump for toys and other things would be prioritized

It’s for the upkeep of the green in front and the general area, this is one of the selling points actually as they do family events out on the green which sounds lovely

We’re ftb too so feeling so clueless!! What survey would you get? Full level 3?

600k in the Arbury! Cambridge is nuts

It looks like it has been well maintained. I would use the money to redo all the rooms except the bathrooms and kitchen and see what was left after that.

If the property is basically good for you and you can live in it as it is, then I'd say 100% the electrics and boiler should be done in the first 3-12 months. Unless there's something else on your mind that bothers you, I'd keep the rest of the budget, get to know the property and what you feel needs changing/improving.

Get a quote for a superlite conservatory roof. Ours is much bigger and it was 15k and had made the space much more useable.

Get the wiring sorted and get the kitchen done.

What are the pipes on the wall in picture 7? Is it a stop cock or gas? If the boiler is in a bedroom I would want that changed for safety and noise reasons. It's a lovely bright house, I really like it. The conservatory is the biggest issue for me, perhaps you can do a partial renovation/upgrade to make it a more useable space, a cheap kitchen replacement or even redecorating and adding more storage would make a difference, boiler and electrics then tart the rest up over time as looks liveable otherwise.