how much budget for central heating, new kitchen ...

[jjuggle]

Hello
I've seen a 3 bed mid-terrace house. The good points are its the right size and location, the downside is that it has no heating and needs a new kitchen and bathroom. The agent has said it's structurally sound and not damp, it has double glazing, looks pretty tidy. It's on for 135k...roughly how much would you budget? Would it be worth the hassle? has anyone done this?
Thank you!

[hazyjo]

If they've not spent money on things like kitchen, bathroom or heating, you should also bear in mind other things like electrics might need attention... Also, if there's been no heating, there's probably damp (ignore the agent, they'll tell you anything).

New kitchen - £1k-30k fitted, depending on what you can afford and what you want. Mine cost around £6-7k with appliances.

Bathroom - low hundreds for cheapest suite, cheap tiles around, fitting will cost. Could do all between £1k-5k. Spent about £500 on a suite several years ago and my ex fitted it so that didn't cost us anything.

Not sure about cost of installing whole heating system - boiler, rads, etc. At least £3k I would imagine, possibly double or three times that, depending on how much work needs doing! New boiler cost me over £1k, under £2k. I forget now. That was around 3 years ago.

Someone else will probably be able to assist more.

Jx

[kford224]

Originally Posted by jjuggle

it has no heating

Our new house needs full central heating put in and it is costing us £4500 for a combi boiler, rads and creating a flue in the bedroom to vent it up through the roof Our downstairs has solid floors, but not sure if that makes any difference. It is a 3 bed terrace.

[TOBRUK]

I agree with what hazyjo has said regarding looking at the electrics, damp etc and cost.

It seems that the owners haven't looked after the property - it hasn't been 'loved' for a very long time. I would take what the agent says with a pinch of salt - remember the agent just wants to sell AND is working for the vendor!

The estimated cost of new kitchen, bathroom and heating system really depends on a few things. It depends on the size of the rooms e.g. kitchen; are you looking for a fitted kitchen, what extras do you want, have you got expensive taste?! Same for bathroom - you could spend a fortune - depends on what you want! Are you looking to do the work yourself?

Are the rooms in good condition - would you need to plaster the walls, are there tiles etc you would need to remove, what about the flooring?

One thing with kitchens and bathrooms, many companies have 0% interest on kitchens and bathrooms - how much can you spare on your monthly costs?

With heating, it would be at least £3k I would imagine. How many radiators, boiler etc. Is there gas mains in the area you are looking to buy?

Sorry for rambling, it's just something to think about. Also, how much could you take off the asking price? How long has it been on the market? What is the reason for sale - do you think they are desparate to sell - there are many reasons for selling!

Look on sites to look at how much other terraced houses have gone for in the area for a guide - although they may have been in better condition!

[daisymay2008]

probably looking at 10k for a decent kitchen and bathroom then 3-5k for a central heating system and boiler

[Absolutely]

As others have said, it's a matter of how much you are willing to spend and what type of spec you want.

Central heating 3-5k
Bathroom 1k-???
Kitchen 3k-???

Having had a terraced house which needed all this doing, I'd also say consider the other consequences. Drilling into walls to fix rads showed us that the plaster had blown in many places and we ended up getting the downstairs re-plastered. Which meant knocking the old plaster off, cost of skips to dump old plaster in, etc, etc.

Installing central heating meant a lot of floorboards were taken up. Existing carpeting never really went back down right. Also, pipes were surface mounted and capping put over them....looked a bit messy all in all.

We discovered lead water pipes as well and eventually got these sorted under the lead pipe replacement scheme. But it was a hassle.

However, that's just my experience, which obviously wasn't a very good one! lol. You could be lucky.

For my next house, I bought a newish build house. Lost out on space but given the choice again, I'd never choose to buy a house that required that amount of work.

Good luck.

[harrup]

Originally Posted by jjuggle

Hello
I've seen a 3 bed mid-terrace house. The good points are its the right size and location, the downside is that it has no heating and needs a new kitchen and bathroom. The agent has said it's structurally sound and not damp, it has double glazing, looks pretty tidy. It's on for 135k...roughly how much would you budget? Would it be worth the hassle? has anyone done this?
Thank you!

Difficult question. Cost is primarily governed by how much of the kitchen & bathroom installation you are willing or able to carry out yourself. Are you/OH good at DIY? Do you enjoy doing it? Also, would you be happy with a good quality but average laminate kitchen from B & Q or are you hankering after a solid wood, tailor made one from a specialist kitchen retailer?

I am hopeless and unwilling at DIY and I love cooking and hanging out in my kitchen so I'd budget about 15 K ( +!!) for a medium sized kitchen and standard white bathroom ( bearing in mind that MUCH of this cost goes on fitting, tiling, plumbing, electrician)

A friend recently put in a beautiful HUGE new kitchen and bathroom and the cost for both was about 5 K ( this included the appliances!). But they did ALL of the work themselves - I think they only had an electrician to come and sign off on it -and it took aaaaaaaaaaages to finish.

For me a property requiring those expenses ( new bathroom, kitchen, heating) would be a huge bonus....because then I could choose exactly what I want rather than live with someone else's taste.

New heating system & radiators for a 3 bedroom property you are looking at ~ 5 K.

[harrup]

Originally Posted by TOBRUK

It seems that the owners haven't looked after the property - it hasn't been 'loved' for a very long time.

Tobruk, I would have to respectfully disagree with you.

An older property requiring updating and modernisation isn't synonymous with neglectful owners and being unloved. Indeed, often it means that the owner regarded it as a home rather than a quick turnaround investment opportunity.

I can't tell you how many properties I've viewed who HAD been "updated"....but for the sole purpose of a sale. Every fitting and fixture in those houses was naff. REALLY naff. Cheap fake wood laminate floors, budget kitchen, low cost appliances, naff showers, naff carpets, ill thought out extensions or clumsy loft conversions...and on and on it goes.

And for the "priviledge" of those "improvements" the vendor expected a truly princely sum. No way. A house requiring modernisation at a realistic price which reflects this is infinitely preferable to any buyer.

Infinitely.

[bosseyed]

Did exactly the same work in our house when we moved in, mid terrace 3 bed - in late 2008 we paid:

Central heating, including all pipework, rads and boiler - £3,500
New Kitchen and appliances (only small space) - £4,000
New Bathroom including appliances £2,200

But as someone says above, we also had to have the electrics rewired at £2,900 (wasn't on our original budget)

[TOBRUK]

harrup, I can see your point and agree with what you are saying. The properties I viewed - a few had made some 'improvements' which were badly done (diy was poor!) and this is something you can judge for yourself when viewing.

I also saw a couple of properties where the previous owners had lived in the property for many years and hadn't 'modernised' - it was obviously their 'home' and yes, they did 'love' it.

I suppose you judge the property taking all this to account and the reason for selling.

[jjuggle]

Thank you everyone! Much appreciated. I'm having another look tomorrow.....

[suki1001]

We just got a new kitchen. Got a good price from from howdens - 2.6k. However once you take into account appliances, fitting it goes up. Fitters charged £80 per day. We did get walls plasterboarded etc, because the plaster was knacked. New french doors, radiator as no heating. It came in at about 8.5k, but we got a new room for that.

[womble12345]

Originally Posted by jjuggle

The agent has said it's structurally sound and not damp

WOW the estate agents in my area are just estate agents but in your area they also seem to be qualified buildings surveyors and damp experts!

[Prudent]

I have just been quoted £4600 for an completely new central heating system and the total removal of all the old system for a three bed house. I paid £6000 for a kitchen (including appliances floor coverings and new ceiling/lighting) in 2009 and £4500 for a bathroom the same year, although the bathroom was a bit complicated hence the price.