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