Advice on a offer needed

[Alwaystierd]

Buying a forever home and need some advice. I think I’m overly cautious and overly pessimistic (according to my husband). The numbers:

Asking price - £925k. Old Edwardian house and needs total modernisation and layout remodelling on the ground floor. I have no idea how much this will cost - £200k?

The dilemma, because we own our current flat, stamp duty is going from £36k to £83k. So an extra £46k for a flat I think we will struggle to sell in the current climate. Saving for the refurbishement whilst paying a big mortgage will be tough. Do we just go
for it and hope we can see the flat at some point to pay for the refurbishment?

So much money so im very nervous

I think you’ve got 2 years to sell your flat to get the extra stamp duty back.

Is the house listed?
When you say total modernisation what do you actually mean?
remodelling, what do you intend?

Are you going to live there and rent your flat out?

If you are happy to please share a floor plan and /or house details so I can offer more specific feedback, thoughts and finance considerations

Why do people say 'needs total modernization and a layout remodel' as if thats a totally normal thing to do. I'm sure homes under the hammer and great house giveaway etc... have filled people heads but its really NOT common to buy a house, gut it and completely redesign its layout.

Even with doer-ups its more updating electrics, fixing damp, heating, damage maybe adding new bathrooms/kitchen and hardware + decorating. Its not basically demolishing it and building a new house.

It's certainly not a 'needed' thing, if a house needs to have its layout completely changed then obviously its not the house that suits your needs. If you want a modernized house then BUY a modern house not an Edwardian one. Its clearly just not the house for you.

Have you tried selling your flat?

we were buying a large Victorian house (3-storeys) and it was in a terrible state. £200k wouldn’t have touched the sides. We’d budgeted £100k to make it liveable.

Why don’t you sell your flat before buying another property (less stamp duty)?

As an Edwardian house it's unlikely to be listed.

Any building works are more expensive now than they used to be due to the high cost of materials, skips etc. It's also not so easy to find reliable tradespeople - especially ones who are willing to take on a job that's likely to last several weeks, if not months. Also don't underestimate the cost of clearing and replanting an overgrown garden.

Definitely pay for a full structural survey so that you know exactly what you're taking on.

Also remember that it doesn't have to be done all at once. As long as basics such as any re-wiring, re-pointing, roof repairs and heating are done, you can put in new kitchens, bathrooms etc over time.

DH & me did up our last home (a 5 bed Victorian town house with original features). But it was a mess! We only had a very small basic kitchen, it needed re-wiring throughout, the roof had been leaking & brought the ceilings down in some rooms, both ceilings and the roof needed replacing, the only heating was open fires in the main rooms. We made 2 rooms liveable (the living & dining room) we all slept in one room - DH, me, 3 DCs under 10, a cat & 2 dogs. Birthday & Christmas presents from each other & our parents were things like a new ceiling, electric cable, sockets & light switches. We didn't have a holiday for several years, went down to one car & spent many happy hours stripping wallpaper, paint, sanding etc when we got home from work.

I do feel that, in doing the work slowly as we could afford it, we had time to really think about how we wanted the house and would have regretted some of the plans that we had when we first moved in if we'd had the money to do it immediately. For example, having lived in the house we found that our original plans to extend the kitchen wouldn't have worked. So, rather than knocking through to the scullery (as we'd first planned), we kept the scullery as a utility room & downstairs toilet and built an extension onto the back with doors onto the garden. We also decided not to knock 2 downstairs rooms together to create a huge living room so that we had a good sized living room, but also a 'snug' where, as they moved into their teens, the children could take their mates, play music, watch TV whatever.

At the end of the day it was worth it all. We eventually had a house that we loved and that we felt was truly 'ours' as we'd put so much time, effort & money into.

Whatever you decide, I wish you all the best.

Why don't you just sell the flat first instead of rushing into buying without doing your sums carefully first? Apologies if I have got tis wrong but this is my impression from your post.

It does feel like rushing and our plan was to always sell the flat first but this house has come along and location wise it’s perfect - the street we have always loved.

We are thinking we need to move the kitchen to the back and make a longer lounge - that’s what the next door neighbours have done. Maybe extend slightly… then I think maybe plumbing, re-wiring needs to be looked at. And the rooms all have sinks in them which we could live with for now.

the couple currently live in the house and seem to have maintained it. It’s just very old fashioned

www.bloxham.co.uk/properties/?page=1&propind=S&MaxPrice=1000000&orderBy=PriceSearchAmount&orderDirection=DESC&searchbymap=false&hideProps=1&businessCategoryId=1&searchType=list&sortBy=highestPrice

We are thinking we need to move the kitchen to the back and make a longer lounge - that’s what the next door neighbours have done.

It doesn't need a reno. You just want one for the instagrammable big open plan kitchen & trendy new decor etc. Its a good sized house in ok nick.

Yes I’d square off the rear and move the kitchen in there have a big kitchen/diner/family room. Bed 3 is good for an en suite. You are talking more than £200k though - if you extend to the side that’s at least £70k there, new kitchen flooring etc is another £50k or more. The new en suite at least £10k.
I redecorated my three bed terrace, replaced kitchen and two bathrooms and added built in wardrobes and landscaped small garden but nothing structural and I spent £100k four years ago.

Yeah 200k won't do it. Ive got mates doing similar big projects, 3-400k is more like it. Tradespeople cost massive amount now.

It’s lovely. I would check roof, electricity, heating. And then I would go round and strip 100 years of paint from all the fireplace surrounds, skirting boards and architraves. You could have some lovely work under all that. Don’t make any decisions until you know what you have.

All the rest I could live with quite happily for a good while.

I mean if you have the money, anything is possible.

Well I would not risk this. It’s a huge gambl that youll sell the flat for enough to stay solvent, as things are. But if you don’t mind risk and have looked at all possible outcomes, it’s your choice.

You will discover lots of hidden damage once you start ripping stuff out. Be prepared to double the quote and stock up on Valium.

Another house would come along … I would sell the flat first before rushing to buy a money pit. To most people the stress would be enormous to be in so much debt and one of the properties being a big drain on finances.

Sell your flat first. That'll give you time to see how the budget at the end of November might impact your choice of property.

From your title "advice on an offer" I'm not sure if you're asking for advice on whether to make the offer or if you're actually asking about making a lower offer because of all you want to do, and not having sold your flat.

Does the link work for other people? It doesn't for me.

It does link to an EA site. I’m assuming the house OP is interested in is the first one (most expensive one) on the list.

Thank you everyone. The comment amount the Valium made me chuckle.

It’s been good to get your opinion on what this might potentially cost. I have definitely underestimated it! I’m doing a second viewing with my Dad who is a carpenter but has worked in the building trade to get his opinion.

The sellers love there home and the estate agent has told me they have already rejected offers that are not close to asking price.

From your initial post, I was picturing something much worse! It's a lovely home.

Presumably the electrics and plumbing are functioning, and the kitchen certainly looks more than OK as is. So you could move in and take a few years to save up and think about what work to do. Your ideas may change as you get used to living there. I wouldn't rush to remodel as soon as you move in.

Have you looked into renting your flat?

I think there's probably lots of 'hidden' surprises to be found, you can see some hints just looking carefully at the pictures; and a good builder would tell you of the not so hidden ones. It depends on how you want to live in it. It needs every room updating, but if you don't mind living in it as is then you'd save £200k! :D
I like the period features but having lived in places that have that I'm now at the age where I prefer functionality first, I want to be warm and technologically up to date, but each to their own of course. :)
I can't see that it's really a 5 bed house either, and downstairs isn't huge, but looking at the houses that have sold on that website it's difficult to tell what it might be worth. The sellers will see no wrong and so want 'full market value', that might change fairly soon with the budget?
Anyway if you think it's worth the money and stresses - money 'troubles' can undoubtedly be the cause of much misery and you're already worried - go for it. I'd keep the flat myself.

Just because next door have done x y and z doesn't mean you have to do so too.
Wash hand basins in every bedroom are not the end of the world, and at least you know there is water access into each bedroom, useful for when you decide to fit an en suite somewhere.

One of the first things I would personally do is replace the front fence back to a wall, probably with railings.
and I would be adding ceiling rose/s to the living room which now has spotlights.
but that's me, I would be buying an older house because I like an older house and I like dado rails etc.

and I would be delighted to have 2 ? open fires and I see a good stock of logs for them in the back garden.

It is a lovely home as it is and certainly does not need ''total modernisation''...