Help me estimate how much I would have to pay to renovate this house in London.

[artichokes]

We saw a great house in west London this morning (zone 2). The problem is it is at the top of our price range and needs a lot fo work as the old man who owns it lived there for 30 years without doing a thing and rented out 3 rooms as bedsits. Before we put an offer in we need a ball-ark figure for renovation costs and we have never had to do work on a house before.

The house needs no real structural work but its kitchen is a dump and would need ripping out, refitting and a glass wall would be nice at the back. Another kitchen upstairs would need ripping out and replacing with a bathroom and bedroom (so a wall would need building). The other two (small) bathrooms would need totally replacing. A wall would need knocking down between two bedrooms to make a double reception and the other 3 bedroom would need decorating (with new carpets, stripped wall paper etc).

So, are we looking at 40k or 140k??? We would ket kitchens and bathrooms from places like Ikea to save money.

Hi
100k? You are joking?

Mr pear is a fantastic builder. He has many ex clients who still come to him when they move house for him to do works again. He has clients who are more than happy for people looking to have their kitchen/bathroom loft/garage conversion to come and see the works that my dh has done.

He keeps his costs done by not having flashy brochures made, by not requiring a brand new van each year. And because he can basically do it other than plastering which his brother is fab at means he doesnt have to get in outside contractors who charge fortunes. And prices tend to be extortionate in london cos builders normally think ' cor their loaded lets bung an extra xxxk on top cos they will pay regardless!

Any builder who wont do a quote for free is not worth bothering with. Always ask to see works that have been done by them.Ask for at least 3 properties to look at to see whether they have done a good job.

dh is doing a garage conversions at mo and because they are so impressed he is virtually renovationing the whole house after xmas.

there is also a website called mybuilder. You can go on there and explain what you require and builders from all over will quote you for free via the interent. That will give you an even wider range of the many different quotes you will get.

Dh is still at work so will find out if that the right website. Then i can try and do a link.

Where do you and your DH live Sugarpear??? Please say London!

Just a little update - I have booked two builders to come and give me a rough price for all the work. I have just spoken to the agent who thinks that is a good idea and hinted there may be more flexiblity on the price than I am banking on.

Sooooo, we may be able to get another £30k off and then have £70k to do the work with.

We drove past the house several times at the weekend and I my (totally uninformed) opinion is that the roof and sash windows are in pretty good nick. Same goes for the doors and brickwork.

Maybe, just maybe, we can do this .

Its sounding good. I'd try and negotiate hard on the asking price in this climate. Boffinmum's plan is very good.
I guess it depends as well how happy you are just to do the basics and then gradually get everything how you want it. And how much time you have to do bits yourself and to oversee everything in detail - I'm sure that would help keep costs down.
We did ours in a great hurry and did nothing ourselves- we just didn't have time/energy - we weren't able to keep a hawkish eye on the costs and we had to make a lot of quick decisions, so no time to shop around to keep costs down.

Hi art if you need any advice dh said you can call him on his free phone number 0800 0461694. And we are near dartford.