Viewing a 4bed mid terraced house

lowlandsmatt · 23 July 2009 at 12:49AM

Hello all,
I am currently looking at a '4' bed mid terraced house however the 4th rear bedroom has been converted from an upstairs bathroom so this just leaves the downstairs toilet/shower room for the whole house .

Being a FTB and having limited DIY/technical skills at best, how difficult/costly would it be to convert this (not needed) 4th bedroom back into a bathroom?

Also there is a right of way access path right through the start of the 70 ft long garden for 1 immediate neighbour to access their garden. I know this is a factor with terraced housing obviously but is this relatively accepted in the property market or would this significantly affect the price/buyer interest?

Matt

chickmug · 23 July 2009 at 8:53AM

Last year had a room fully fitted as bathroom but all plumbing was easy and total bill for suite, electric shower over bath, tiles, lighting, towel radiator, flooring was just under £3,000. We got all the materials which I think were about half of the cost.

As you say rights over your garden for neighbours are common so it is what people expect when buying this sort of home.

sarah_elton · 23 July 2009 at 9:32AM

If it were me, I'd only be prepared to pay the value of a 3-bed house for this property. If you put the bathroom back in and lose a bedroom, you could lose some value, so just bear that in mind if you make an offer on it...

googler · 23 July 2009 at 9:51AM

Yup, lose the bedroom and lose the bedroom's value when you come to sell.....

If the previous folks left all the piping behind the walls when converting from bathroom to bedroom, it should be fairly easy to restore. You need a local plumber to quote, though - and without x-ray vision, they won't be able to tell what piping is there until they open up walls- which may lead to unexpected extra expense if they have to add pipe runs.

lowlandsmatt · 23 July 2009 at 12:55PM

Thanks for replies everyone.

I'm not too worried about losing the 4th bedroom value as the house has been on the market for a while at £140k but now reduced to £120k so I'm thinking this could be something of a bargain if I put in a slightly lower offer. However it needs complete redecoration all over including new kitchen and this bedroom reconverted to a bathroom.

Part of me thinks a 3 bed terraced with an upstairs bathroom would be more attractive than a 4 bed with downstairs bathroom?

Starting to question whether I would be better off with a 10% deposit and suffer slightly higher interest rates but have some spare money to do the work as soon as we move in or 15% deposit, slightly lower rates but have to put the bathroom work off for a couple of years?

Grz.26 · 24 July 2009 at 4:35PM

120k for a 4 bed Terrace? Can I ask where your buying?

- We have just bought an end terrace 2 bed, Victorian house, with joint access for 4 houses so they all come behind us to remove rubbish etc. Ours was £138. Joint access not really a problem to us.

Grz.

Pee · 24 July 2009 at 4:49PM

Allow £3,000 but it may well be possible to get this down to about £2,000 - depending on what sort of fittings you want and the cost of the plumber. Get several quotes and it is worth trying bigger companies as they are struggling a bit a present and may have the time.

Re: the garden. It is quite common, but some people really don't like it and it would put them off so it slightly reduces the pool of potential purchasers.

Pee · 24 July 2009 at 4:50PM

Joint access isn't a problem unless you want to build or extend or the neighbours are unhelpful.

27col · 24 July 2009 at 8:50PM

Personally, I would not countenance buying a house that had the only bath and toilet downstairs. Unless there was scope for reinstating a bath and toilet upstairs.
4 bedrooms and only one facility, and that downstairs. I don't think so!
The possible complications with that number of people in a house are too difficult to even begin to comprehend. Think out the practicalities before you get carried away by the excitement of owning this house.

carolt · 25 July 2009 at 9:28AM

Likewise, I'd never consider buying a house with all the bedrooms upstairs and the only bathroom downstairs. 3 bed houses are usually sold to families and small children all traipsing downstairs to use the loo in the middle of the night....no way.

It would be much more sellable as a 3 bed with upstairs bathroom, and spare downstairs one.

Imp · 25 July 2009 at 10:49AM

We've just had our bathroom done. We stripped the old bathroom out back to brickwork, and stripped out all the old plumbing back to the stopcock.

We got a plasterer in and a bathroom fitter.
Bathroom fitter including plywood flooring - £1,450
Plasterer (all walls and ceiling) - £690
Bathroom suit - Bath, toilet, sink, shower screen, shower with thermostatic valve, taps, wastes - £1,320
Tiles - £214
Mirror - £207 (but you should see the mirror)
Vinyl floor - £84

Total - £4,000

WE did get quotes for labour £1,000 more than we paid, so get several quotes in.

Viewing a 4bed mid terraced house

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