Ideal first buy?

[propertyinkent]

We like this area and have viewed this house but would like some advice on costings.

Apart from the usual decor and that every room needs decorating, new flooring etc but also the house needs new electrics and a boiler from what we can see. It also needs a new kitchen and bathroom.
The decor doesn’t put me off so much as we would do this ourselves, But still that’s time and money on paint and will then the walls need plastering etc. While we are handy we aren’t professionals but have previously painted most of our rental and happy to do so here so that saves labor.
But as the property is 325, what do people do when they consider that there is a lot of work to do so I guess unless you ate in the trade, what would approx costings be and what offers.

overall we loved the house, the area, the side and to grow with our family. We want children and want to have a home to grow in. 325k is our maximum and we want to buy but want to be sensible.

thank you

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/93324675

You would need to get quotes OP but it looks like tens of thousands of pounds worth of work.
Could you live in it and get the work done gradually?
You can always offer less, of course.

Thank you, we will probably have around 1k free a month to spend on the house after everything so even if it took 2 years we are happy with that as that’s our plan when to start trying for a family, approximately anyway. We would be happy doing room by room but flooring straight away as it’s old and smells, electrics and boiler first too but we could use payment plan and loans etc but bearing in mind we have around 1k a month free we just didn’t want to be loaded with credits cards etc but it’s just an idea.

OR save a bigger deposit and buy in 18 months which I don’t like the idea of that - would prefer to get out of renting as soon as we can

I think it's got a lot of potential, personally. Good sized garden and nothing wrong with living somewhere dated and doing it up gradually.

It's in a lot better condition than my first house was. Why does it need new electrics? Boiler will be about £3,000 plus cost of fitting.

The rest of it can surely wait and you can take your time with it. If you like the area and think the price is reasonable then I'd go for it. Much better than renting. I'd offer just over £300,000 probably - depends on the market round you.

It will be priced for its condition.
honestly I think you need to keep looking., even using budget materials, you’ll need 25k absolute minimum. Realistically more like north of £40k.

cant see the roof well enough but that looks like it may need repairs/replacing too from the first photo.

This is good advice and hoping it would be something like this but likewise if we should avoid then of course I want to be advised that too !

maybe it doesn’t need new electrics it just looked so old! And thought they may need replacing

Hmm this is a good point….i think i like the area more than the house and im worried about hidden costs
if it was closer to 40-50k then would be out of budget for us

Forgetting decorating,

New K,B, electrics and boiler will chomp through £50k very easily in today’s climate.

Having looked at the pics, it does look liveable, just (depending on how much you’re will to accept) but to get it to a good standard is probably equivalent to a house selling for 75/100 k more.

I guess it comes down to how long you’d be prepared to live there until that sort of money was available to you. It would take most people years to save for those works out of wages, and that’s not to mention the upheaval some of those jobs take.

Hmm ok maybe it’s not the house for us
I’d be fine with 2 years but I’d want it finished by then
so I think it’s just too far stretch for us with our budget.
thank you

The problem I found moving into a similar property was all the money had to get spent on the boring stuff- the boiler, the insulation, the electricals and the house was ugly. We were spending loads of money doing very worthwhile stuff but it was demoralising not being able to get new flooring and carpets etc. Just food for thought!

We live in Prestwich and paid £225k for our house, and realistically I should have offered £210k based on it's condition and all the work needed. But I loved it and I wanted it and I don't regret buying it at all. Every now and then when discover something else I think I should have tried to negotiate rather than paying asking price, but I just really didn't want to lose out on a great house in a great area that I could actually afford!
We moved in two years ago, and I suppose we've spent about £20k already, and it still needs a new kitchen - BUT the house next door to us is in very similar condition ours when we moved in and it just went up for £360k, so I do feel we got lucky even if at the time I overpaid a bit!

I suppose all that is to say, don't be embarrassed to negotiate, but if you really love it and you can afford it, go for it!

Good luck, OP!

Personally, if I really liked the house and area (you can’t change these things) I’d be prepared to put up with a far less than ideal state of repair, as in the long run, once you’ve done the work you’ll be happy. But you do need a certain tolerance for things not being great.

The alternative is you go for somewhere with a great finish, but is actually not that great in terms of location or “bones” as a house.

Personally I’d usually go for the long term potential but everyone has a different tolerance to what they’d accept.

It’s a great house, plenty of scope to extend or change the ground floor space around, excellent sized garden, but I’d be surprised if you got much change out of £50k for a boiler, requiring, kitchen and bathroom unless you can do a lot of the work yourselves. And then there’s decorating and carpets……

I don't know the area so can't tell if it's good value for the area, but given the housing market is generally pretty slow at the moment, they may accept a lower offer, say 300k ish, which would give you a more budget for renovation.

Also worth bearing in mind that if you've got 325k to play with, is anything else in better condition in the same area for similar size likely to come on? Surely anything in a better condition and the same size would be priced higher. To get something for 325 without so much work required may mean a smaller property or a less nice area.

It hasn’t had any money spent on it in a very long time.
It does need a rewire, kitchen, bathroom, flooring throughout, maybe new plumbing. There’s an old oil tank you will want to remove. Does that garage door work and how is the roof of the garage? Patio will want replacing and getting rid of that wall.
All that said it’s a decent house in a nice street, it’s got potential.
Eyes wide open you will spend £50k getting it ‘done’.

How set are you on the village location? You'll get more bang for your buck in Ashford itself than in Mersham

E.g. https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/90320571 the garden needs doing but has new bathrooms and kitchen

Or this which has character and is in walking distance of Boys Hall https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/169158530 (I'd put in a bathroom upstairs instead of a bedroom)

Looks to be a 70/80’s house, probably only needs a modern fuse board rather than all electrics replacing, with a be board if there’s any problems with anything electrical it’s flip the switch to off. New bathroom, kitchen, carpet and and decor easily 30k. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Op, can I ask…

Have the electrics and boiler been condemned..? the place looks in not too bad condition re socket and radiator placement and age etc.

Kitchen looks liveable, not swanky but not dire either.

Bathroom could come in at under 10k, that doesn’t look ideal.

Go to the open house on Saturday, have another look round. It looks liveable but dated tbh. Make an offer they might say yes, it's a funny market atm. Maybe buyers have money for a deposit and the mortgage, but it seems often they have no spare cash to do work to a house.
Nothing ventured...

Worth noting that this has one reception room and appears only an upstairs toilet. With children, that one reception room will be a dining room, living room and playroom all at once. This is the main reason my friend group seems to be moving currently - first houses not having a second reception room for the children to play or to eat etc and you don't really think about that when you don't have them.

Good point indeed! It would definitely need
another toilet at least - maybe a WC downstairs

I just have an issue with terraced…grew up in one and horrid neighbors either side, one being loud but I know that’s a risk just less risk with semi

but I see what you mean, hmm it’s very tricky
I would rather not be central ashford, love the little villages on the outskirts or maybe Smeeth/sellindge/Lympne maybe even hythe

That’s all well and good

But those criteria are not available at that price point in the location the OP is looking at.

Have a look on RM in that village; there’s not a lot on offer.

It’s going to cost more than £24k and of course costs will go up over time. Keep saving for a bigger deposit or could you find a three bed terrace in the area rather than a semi-detached?

ETA I’ve seen your comment about terraced houses. How about an end terrace?

Yes, I agree that may be the case.

But OP has stated it's a home to raise children in. Currently there are no children and so the thought process for buying as a couple is very different for buying with children and I was just highlighting that what is fine now, may not be in a few years.

We did the same - perfect 3 bed semi for a couple with friends coming to stay. Absolute nightmare with kids, all on top of each other and nowhere to escape the visual clutter of a multi purpose reception room. Several friends have found the same and what was perfect as a three bed when you're child free, becomes oppressive when you have nowhere to go aside from one room.

It's just something to consider, that's all.