help a first-time buyer who has no clue about houses please! seen a house i love for £195k what sort of offer do you would be reasonable given that it needs some work doing to it?

[JackiePaper]

the house has only been on the market for a week and is a fair bit cheaper than others we have seen in the area (but then those aren't selling) It's a 3 bed semi which has been the home of an elderly couple. aside from the naff decor and carpets the loft needs insulating the back door needs replacing and there is no radiator in the third bedroom. i also suspect the central heating system is quite archaic.

one on the next road road sold in nov 2008 for 174,950 but obviosly i don't know what sort of condition that was in when it was sold.

please help me, we are first time buyers (on a gov scheme for key workers to help us buy) and i have no clue about buying a house/doing one up!

thanks x

oh it also needs a new bathroom suite quite desperately.

Someone once said, it may have been WWW (the original) that if you are not embarrased with your starting offer then you are offering too much.

Do you have a link so we can help you have a nosey

What about the kitchen ??

Any idea what 3 bed semis in good condition (ie: need no major work) are selling for in your area?

I would certainly be aiming to pay under 175k as that is the stamp duty threshold.

Are you going to do the work yourself? Might be worth getting a local builder in to give an estimate of the cost of doing it up.

If you do make an offer then you should emphasise that you are FTBs as that makes your position much stronger.

basically we can't afford to completely renovate it, so would just do the minimum ie - new bathroom suite (but leave the tiles etc) put radiator in 3rd bedroom and fit new back door. i have no idea how much that would cost us tho. would have to get a plumber to fit new radiator and fit bathroom suite (just a cheapy one from b&q)

that's a tiny kitchen and they're old units???

ermm - apart from saying it looks nice I'm not sure I can be of much help to you

just one thing though - if you do put an offer in and the sale goes through you may like to get that linked deleted - the full brochure gives the exact house details (number of street and postcode).

good point faq

the photos make it look a lot bigger than it really is and the units are not in great nic. but like i said perfectly liveable in for a few years. back door is rotten tho and needs replacing from a security point of view.

megbusset - do you htink we should offer below 175 (and aim to be pushed up to that figure) or offer 175 straight away? do you think they would accept an offer that low? i have no clue how these things work!

I would work out what everything is going to cost and take it from asking price and offer that. New bathroom probably roughly £3-4K including labour, depending on how flash the suite and tiles are. Not sure about cost of new back door and radiator. Carpets would estimate approx £500 per room.

I was expecting swirly carpets

thanks cat64 the decor is not as bad as some i know, although all the walls etc are yellowed through smoking.

it is a nice house and the sun pub is lovely

It looks in pretty good nick - I'm not sure you could argue it needs urgent renovation so needs money off on that basis - a back door is a couple of hundred quid; you can put an electric radiator in the third bedroom if you cannot afford to have a GCH one plumbed in.

Obviously you want to be under £175k for stamp duty but, before I offered anything, I would check my mortgage and how much I could borrow - those govt schemes are very vulnerable to changing criteria. Put in an offer and emphasise fact you are chain-free and want to make it a family home (if owners are still there and you have children, rosy up their cheeks and brink them round to gambol playfully in the garden).

Boak at the fire in the front room, never mind laminate flooring, they should have replaced that gas fire, it is gopping.

Those gas fires eat the gas, so you would need to replace them at some point.

I would offer £170k allow yourselves to be pushed up to £175, then sit back and hold onto your nerves.

Tiny kitchen? Bloody hell. Looks quite roomy to me! My kitchen is 2x2 mtrs in a 5 bed house! Not in UK mind you

FAQ - they are all swirly upstairs

tbh it's not the decor i'm fussed about, just the radiator fitting in the bedroom and a new back door, oh and a bath - the bathroom is a pink, stained suite.

ooo oxo - I'm so glad I wasn't the only one that thought even taking into account clever photography from the estate agent that the kitchen looked a reasonable size

Do you have a mortgage guarantee for near to the asking price? If so, you could start with a low offer and move up if you want.
However - you think the central heating is archaic and it is lacking a radiator in a bedroom. The loft needs insulating and it needs a new back door. This is on a first viewing, there is probably more. Also you say it "has been" the home of an elderly couple. I assume they no longer live there? Generally, these houses need rewiring as the olds didn't have it done. (Wiring is hidden - you don't find out the awful truth until the survey - go back and look again - check in the meter cupboard and if it all looks old, then that is another few grand off the asking price as it needs to be done for your safety). Re price, assuming it is empty, that means the old folks (or their relatives) need a sale as they are either deceased or in a care home.
Research the cost of the stuff that needs doing, as well as checking the wiring.
You are a first-time buyer, and if you have a mortgage guarantee, then most vendors would not only give you first refusal, but would knock several K off the price.
So - Add up all the repairs etc plus say 5k for your buyer status. Subtract this from the asking price and see what is left. Hopefully, this will be a cringingly low offer. Make it, and see what happens.
However, the biggest question is - can you afford it? If not, walk away as that path leads to untold grief.
Good luck

you know I wish a house I linked to on the rental market was still on right move - OMG it was horrendous - there was CARPET on the sides of the bath - was fairly cheap - though not that cheap for the area, and was snapped up really quickly I was that anyone would be wanting to live there with it like that LOL.

If the plumbing is fine - and if the bath is old, it is likely to be a good quality iron one - you can have the bathroom suite re-enamelled for less than £300. As someone on another thread pointed out, you can still wash in a bathroom that isn't white. If I were the owners, I wouldn't knock a penny off because your taste was different from mine, I would only negotiate on things that needed replacing/fixing to be workable.

Incidentally, does it have patio doors at the front? I've never seen that before.

carpet? on the bath?!! flippin hec!