House Renovation

[brainbug007]

My wife and I are considering buying our 1st house soon and have come across a 3 bed that's quite far under our budget but is described as needing total renovation. We know it was built in 1952 and has only had 1 owner in that time. We're planning on going along to view it so can anyone advise what kind of stuff we should be looking for in a house this old? We'd expect to have to replace all the electrics, carpets, repaint, and probly replaster. The advert says it has gas central heating so I'm hoping the whole system doesn't need replacing and maybe just boiler that would need servicing/replacing. I would expect the bathroom & kitchen to hopefully be usable, but ugly.. Any other advice on what to look out for and what kind of budget would people recommend for doing up a house like this? We'd hopefully try and do all the grunt work ourselves and only hire in people to do major things like roofing, electrics, and plumbing.

[TheArf]

Hi I have just sold a house of around that age and priced it to allow for things I knew needed doing, i.e a total re-wire as there was no earth and the the insulation was natural rubber which rots with age. Guttering facias are another area to look at and kitchens don't come cheap

Arfon

[vmax1974]

Look at the windows are they double glazed is the seal still intact do they need replacing etc and if you can get into the loft space and check to see how much insulation there is cause its all good and well the house being cheap but if its costing a fortune to heat its false economy

Hope this is helpful

[vmax1974]

Also check for any damp on the inside of the external walls and any cracks running up walls

If you do decide to do it yourself get on a plastering course cause this will save you a fortune in the long run

[brainbug007]

Ya this is all good info. Not sure if it's a goer though as just spoke to the estage agent and they've said it's suffering from subsidence and in their opinion you'd be better off ripping down the whole house and building a new one :(

[K4KEV]

SUBSIDENCE = run a mile

[vmax1974]

Oh dear

Still have a look but allow for underpinning if you make an offer get a quote b4 you make an offer is there any large trees close to the house cause it could be just that it needs cutting down cause it could just be taking all the moisture from the soil under the house

[brainbug007]

Yup I thought it would end up costing way too much to fix something like that as you'd have to pay to fix what's causing it, then fix whatever damage has been done to the house. Then you'd have to renovate the house :|

[twinturbo]

Bloomin eck, an estate agent that tells you something to stop you buying!!

We put in an offer on a place that needed updating when we were moving. think it was something like 145K, it would have cost about £20K to do most of the work. We had a 3yr old and a -6mnth old. Thankfully we were outbid. And we got a place for £160K... It still needs a bit doing but we have been here 4yrs now....

TT

[vmax1974]

How cheap is the house would it be worth your while pulling down and starting over that way you could have your ideal workshop lol

[brainbug007]

Well it's on for 150k but it sounds like they're going to send it to auction. It's a detached 3 bed with a big plot and the other detached houses on the street go for 250-350k. It's more that it would probly end up costing 250-350k to buy it and then rebuild :( Here's the link for it http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-35144798.html

[rapidtornado]

as Kev mention subsidence is disaster area... even if you get it sorted you'll have a nightmare convincing the insurance companies that all is well... rip down and re-build or walk away would be my 2 pennies worth

[ozzy1]

Unless you feel confident to do alot of the work yourself and then put up with organising tradesmen that dont turn up and escalating costs i would RUN and go buy a house for the 250k that doesnt need any work.At least you wont have to put up with 2 years of renovations :D

[rapidtornado]

looks like the garden path it like grave stones, this is prob due to the subsidence issue and good indicator of what lies beneath....

[vmax1974]

After seeing the link run away run away as fast as you can

[brainbug007]

ya totally, if it didn't have subidence issues i might have been tempted as thought you might be able to budget 30-50k to do the inside up nicely and have a really good house for much cheaper than what they go for around here.

[Locky]

Also, which i am suprised no one has picked up on is that if it is that old and in need of renovation, its probably riddled with asbestos, ceilings, walls, tilies, plaster, artex, cement, paint, you name it, asbestos was in it so an asbestos survey is a must on a renovation.
Good luck with it all.

[robo]

Well it's on for 150k but it sounds like they're going to send it to auction. It's a detached 3 bed with a big plot and the other detached houses on the street go for 250-350k. It's more that it would probly end up costing 250-350k to buy it and then rebuild :( Here's the link for it http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-35144798.html
Seems like a bargain , a decent flat around here is twice that.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/new-homes/property-30858223.html?premiumA=true

And that is to live in a rabbit warren type complex. Go for it.

Bob

[ayjay]

You mustn't let your heart rule your head
Most of these type of property are worth the effort only if the purchase price is right.If you buy it, spend a fortune on it and at the end its only worth what you would have paid in the first place for it in good nick then its a big waste of time.
If you pay 150k for a place ,spend 50k on it and then its worth 250k then its a different matter.
You need an idea what needs to be spent ( then add 10k!) work out the max you would pay at auction to leave yourself at least 20k profit margin. If it goes past your max at auction walk away remembering that some poor bloke has bought a great big millstone for themselves.
It makes me laugh when you see the house developers on TV.They spend 2 years working full time to do a refurb earning no money then when it sells for 10k more than they spent they call it profit:confused:
The house in question looks reasonably straight. Look at the tops of door casings if they are horizontal .Look at lintels above windows from outside have they dropped out of square . Any cracks or lumpy bits in floors,damp patches in ground floor walls etc.
My advice would be if you would have to pay someone else to do all the work then walk. If you are capable of doing some of it yourself and the confidence to get the trades in as sub contracters then if the price is right go for it.

[brainbug007]

Ya we're going to walk away from this one. If it didn't have structural problems that would have been different. It was more that for 200k around here you only get a crappy shoebox new build and I'd hoped I could get this for 150k and spend 50k and end up with a house that was much bigger inside and had a massive garden (we've got ducks & chickens and are into growing veg) compared to the crappy new builds.

[Enoch]

Buying a house is the same as buying a car, as long as you pay a fair price for what you are getting and know all the warts then you are doing ok. If the house has been surveyed and problems found then it's best to walk away unless the cost of the house is so low that there is still a "profit" in it after the work is done. Subsidence does not have to be a deal killer, it looks like there is 100k margin between what the house costs now and what it could be worth. It would take a very brave (or mentally retarded) man to go ahead without a full structural survey though. As other posters have said it could be many months of living on a building site too.
Dave

[dogwood]

If the price is right,then anything is fixable

Chez moi, when I bought it.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p212/muddypaws4x4/house002-1.jpg

And now !

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p212/muddypaws4x4/dkspringPicture016.jpg

[ayjay]

Just dont put a spirit level near it:D