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Original poster

If buying a house that needs a full and massive make over, would you.....

32 replies

Thankyouandgoodnight · 01/06/2008 22:09

The aim is to buy a substantial family home....

Spend up to your absolute max possible budget just to get the biggest house that you possibly could and then get the work done as and when you could over a couple of years.

Or

Buy a cheaper smaller house so that you could get the work done asap and move in to it?

OP posts:
K20 · 01/06/2008 22:12

Go for the smaller cheaper option. Having done both, the first can cause a lot of relationship friction as every penny is "for the house" and nothing left for your relationship / holidays / extras etc - stuff that makes life easier

noddyholder · 01/06/2008 22:12

We are buying a modest house with no mortgage and enough money to renovate it and live in it soonish.I have done lots of renovations and it is hard but if i had more kids and didn;t want to do other things like travel i would buy the big dump and do it as i go.It all gets done in teh end

LovelyDear · 01/06/2008 23:55

we are a month into the big dump option...in more ways than one! so far so good, we've had a bit of family help which has helped us patch up the relationship as it is already v stressful. i am finding myself v resentful about the constant childcare/housekeeping while dh gets to spend time listening to what he wants on radio/ipod and decorating.i have just rebelled by spending hours sourcing the fabric i want to make my curtains out of.

i also stand in the overgrown (but gorgeous heavenly and full of potential) garden wondering when on earth we will be able to get round to sorting it out.

gone from no mortgage on average little terrace to monster one. feeling v virtuous so far but we'll see...

getbackinyouryurtjimjams · 02/06/2008 00:00

We went for the big house that needs doing up 5 years ago.

For various reasons its turned into a bit of a nightmare (partly because we can't do any decorating when ds1 is around now - he's severely autistic- and it needed a lot more basic structural type work than expected- electrics, roof etc).

I sometimes get sick of living in a falling down house. But I think I'll be pleased at the end of it all.

Twinklemegan · 02/06/2008 00:04

We tried number two, got gazumped, so ended up with number one. We think we made the right decision.

LovelyDear · 02/06/2008 00:04

rereading i think i gave wrong impression. ours is livable in, and we got the electrics done before we moved, and it's gorgeous and i couldn't be happier. we also kept back about £20k for emergencies/redundancy insurance. we aim to pay for the cost of the diy and any minor work we get done out of our monthly income. ho ho.

CantSleepWontSleep · 02/06/2008 07:16

Does 'full and massive makeover' here mean that it needs rewiring, replumbing, rereoofing, rebuilding (!!), or does it just need a big makeover in terms of decor and a new kitchen/bathroom? If the latter, then I'd def go for the bigger option, but if the former, then I'd be more reluctant, as those sort of jobs can get very expensive, and with no set timescale for having the money to do the work, it would be hard to see an end in sight.

noddyholder · 02/06/2008 08:19

I have only ever done the full monty and that is what i am doing nexst too but i am going to do the wiring and(bulk of) structural before we move in.Decorating only is a breeze so perfectly do able and if that was the case i would go for big house.

pavlovthecat · 02/06/2008 08:22

Big house! But I say that from the experience of ZERO!

I have an apartment that needed surface stuff only, our next place will need more. Ask me again in 5 years!

Flamesparrow · 02/06/2008 08:31

Is there no middle option of a slightly smaller house that would take medium time and money?

MrsBadger · 02/06/2008 08:32

If this is the 'forever' house I'd consider a.
if it's only a 'next step' house then b.

Agree that type of work needing doing is important - I'd always do roof, rewire, central heating etc before moving in. Decorating, garden, extensions/conversions etc are more feasible for 'as and when' completion.

We've just bought a next-step (ie not the 'forever house') and have split the work into two phases - one that will be done before we move in (kitchen, bathrooms, flooring, decorating) and one that will happen within the next 2-5 yrs (convert garage to office, re-landscape garden, possibly add a bathroom).

2sugars · 02/06/2008 08:33

Number one.

Original poster
Thankyouandgoodnight · 02/06/2008 11:59

Thanks everyone. It needs the full monty doing to it and I absolutely agree that some stuff needs to be done before moving in. It's an opportunity of a life time house in that we would never be able to afford one of that size if it just needed decoration / new kitchen etc. We were thinking that if we pile everything in to it and just get it, that the prices of property are going up and that in 5-10 years time, we will be sitting on a nest egg.....

OP posts:
throckenholt · 02/06/2008 12:06

wouldn't spend maximum budget - but would lean towards option one over option 2 - but would depend how much and what needed doing before it is livable (says she who is 2 years into an extension and major redesign of original house - still another 18 months probably to go).

Would depend on your tolerence levels to having a non perfect house in the short term.

LoveyDear said - finding myself v resentful about the constant childcare/housekeeping while dh gets to spend time

we have had a bit of that too - I get to most of the household and garden stuff that we used to share - I won't be sorry when that ends.

throckenholt · 02/06/2008 12:09

if it is a big house then consider if it is an option to just target certain rooms - get them sorted and then spread out to the others. It is so much better if you have a sanctuary room(s) which is good so that you can go there to get away from the rest of the mayhem in the house.

noddyholder · 02/06/2008 12:10

prices are NOT going up don't rely on that.I negotiated a 27% reduction on ours and don't think it will rise anytime soon.

Original poster
Thankyouandgoodnight · 02/06/2008 13:43

It depends on where you live and what you get the house for in the first place.

OP posts:
EachPeachPearPlum · 02/06/2008 13:48

Something in between can work quite well, e.g. keep back enough money to decorate and replace carpets but maybe wait a bit for bathroom(s)/kitchen?

ib · 02/06/2008 13:51

If it needs the full thing done it will cost a LOT more than you think - renovations always throw up costly surprises.

Make sure that wouldn't cause you major problems.

thelittlestbadger · 02/06/2008 13:55

If you do it it is worth getting some rooms done as quickly as posisble and if you're able to, before you move in so you always have a bedroom (for you and DCs), bathroom, kitchen. DH and I completly restored our flat (plumbing, electrics, heating, knocking walls down) etc and did most of it ourselves to start off with. Once it was vaguely habitable we left some bits for a while and paid other people to do them... 4 years later it is lovely and we have to move

Nooneshome · 02/06/2008 14:11

we bought derelict squat, fairly big. Should have taken 12-18months in all but ended up being just under 4 years in total - from purchase to moving in. Luckily we weren't living in it - it wasn't habitable. We were let down by just about everyone who worked on the job from architects to all trades, bar a lovely landscape gardner. We have been in now for a year and a bit and still experience the fall out daily eg threat of legal proceedings re planning breach (crap builders built extension 40 cm too tall) and a fair few things eg boiler continue to go wrong and a lot of work needs redoing as it wasn't done properly in the first place). But I just can't face the ordeal of more workmen as I think I've developed a phobia of them, basically I think they are all crap and dishonest! The stress has really taken its toll on my husband's health as well - he's on his second breakdown - seriously. But the house is what we wanted and we do love living here warts and all. We spent a long time designing and thinking exactly what we wanted and we more or less got it, although a lot of things could have been done to a higher standard of workmanship. We got the whole thing done for so much less than it would have costed us to buy from someoneelse (although we went massively over budget), and nothing like our place exists in our area to buy anyway.

So my advice take care. Make sure you get first rate contractors even if it means paying them more. If doing a big job split it into smaller projects (if one contractor turns out not to be up to it you can switch to another) and think of getting different contractors to do the separate trades. On a big job a contractor doing the whole thing often starts to lose money as they price it too low in the first place then they start cutting corners and reducing manpower meaning deadlines get missed. Specify every you want in minute detail and stick to the spec - costs will rocket if you think of things later on and add them on. Get a good contract in place with contractors and pay most of the money on completion of whole or on completion of stages. Regularly ask to see receipts for materials and pay up front for these but keep loads of money back to keep control. Get good architect or quantity surveyor to oversee works.

I'm glad we did it but cannot imagine doing it again! But then again we don't have to as I can imagine living here for ages and even if we didn't we would keep house and rent it out as it would provide get rental income.

cupsoftea · 02/06/2008 14:12

get the biggest house & do it up starting on the big jobs first

StripeyKnickersSpottySocks · 02/06/2008 14:29

Get the biggest house and do al lthe work as you can.

Otherwise you will move twice and spend double on solicitors, estate agents, decorating, fees, stamp duty, etc.

GrapefruitMoon · 02/06/2008 14:38

We bought an old house 8 years ago - still not finished!

We sort of did a combination of both options - it was liveable in from the start, we had enough money to do some major work within the first 6 months (rewiring, new central heating, damp-proofing) and the rest as when we had the money.

One thing against doing work as and when - you often end up undoing/redoing stuff as time goes on. Eg walls which were replastered after the damp proofing was done were demolished a few years later when we had an extension done. God knows how many times the floorboards were taken up...

Overall it probably would have been cheaper to do everything in one go...

throckenholt · 02/06/2008 14:55

just a comment on doing work : You can have any combination of two of the three - but not all three : cheap, fast and good

so cheap and fast - but not well done
cheap and good - but not fast
fast and good - but not cheap

Decide which option you can live with long term and factor that in to any decision you make.

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