new house vs old house

hamblettamaud

believe it or not replacing a kitchen is not a difficult thing to do.

i stripped my own one to the bare walls and got a new one installed. it cost less than £6,000 in total (but you know what, i wouldn't use homebase again - very expensive for installation and they will say anything to you to get that commission).

Doozergirl

You can get a half decent, decent sized kitchen, fitted with appliances for under 2000. The least I've spent on a kitchen was 575 fitted with two appliances. Most I've ever spent was 7800 and that was huge with granite worktops and posh appliances. I'm about to do the same again but I'll do it cheaper this time.

The mortgage company won't advance you on the work that needs doing, I'm afraid but it's worth living in for a while until you get exactly what you want. If you can do a couple of rooms, the rest becomes bearable. In the long term the cost of moving to a little house and then a bigger one when you outgrow it will cost you more.

Brand new magnolia boxes can be nicely furnished but they're never very interesting.

QTPie

Doozergirl wrote: »

Most I've ever spent was 7800 and that was huge with granite worktops and posh appliances. I'm about to do the same again but I'll do it cheaper this time.

May I ask how?

I have only had one kitchen fitted and that was 11 years ago. It was really quite small kitchen, but well fitted with lots of cupboards and appliances. Still it was Magnet, laminate worktops and hardly "top of the line" appliances... Fitting wasn't hugely impressive, either: mainly because of the use of an apprentice to learn "on the job" with an experienced craftsman (you could see the bits that the apprentice did :rolleyes: ). It cost between 9 and 10 thousand (including fitting).

So, in case I do it again, I would love to know how you get such good value.

QT

Wickedkitten

I don't know about Doozergirl, but you can usually get a great deal by going to local kitchen shops (not B&Q or Wickes) and picking up an end of line kitchen that they are discontinuing.

poppysarah

QTPie wrote: »

So, in case I do it again, I would love to know how you get such good value.

QT

Buy prebuilt units online - some great shops out there - will look up where we bought from later on.
We got the same stuff as the posh kitchen place had by reading her design books and looking for codes which we looked up on the internet - we discovered we could buy the same stuff for shed loads less.
You could then either fit them yourself or employ a handyman for a couple of days to sort it out.


Kitchen stuff - http://www.withknobson.com/

BASFORDLAD

I would go for a property with a huge garden anytime. We brought a house two years ago, the house itself was an ex council house, nothing special really, but the garden was massive (corner plot) and we brought it because of the size of the garden.
Spent a lot of money doing the house up so its now really nice and taking time over the garden. We got chickens when we moved in due to its size. Its big enough for 3 modern houses but would never sell the land.

So in long run you will do better with an older place and big garden because you will really come to appreciate.

New houses are 2 a penny and not worth the plasterboard they are built of

mlz1413

from experience I would get the central heating and wiring done as you move in, before too much furniture arrives and you get 'settled' because these involve having the floor boards up in every room which is a major hassle once rooms are full of furniture.

The kitchen is something that you can arrange to have done anytime and although it's a bind emptying all the units and storing stuff for the days it takes it is only a few days to get done. Try Howden's for pre-built kitchens I got a small kitchen with oven and hob for £1000 in Oct 2007.

Tart the old one up if possible with fablon on the doors and new worktop if necessary. Its surprising what a difference a fresh coat will make too.

Personally I'd go for the old house but I know people who wouldn't consider anything that wasn't less than 10 years old, so it is ultimately what you prefer.

herry

I just want to share my experiences because I know that I didn't think about lots of factors when I was younger and I always thought I had to have a brand new house exactly like I wanted etc.
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Horse Racing System

gabyjane

Well i love both new and old but unfortunatly where we live they are either not great looking from the outside (im very picky!) or need as much work doing i just can't see it, and we would still not be able to afford to do anything really!
we moved into a SO townhouse a year and a half ago and adore it, the measurements are bigger than most big houses and the garden is deff bigger, we have a drive and off rd parking, garage, bathroom and downstairs cloakroom...more than our friends in victorians etc.
Was also watching relocation last nigt and noticed how small every house was on there compared to ours..they wre looking at £500k+ ones!!
Anyway we LOVE the house, IF i had enough money and time i would love an older house or a barn conversion etc as they are unique as such but for the time being we are here for a long while!
I also love going out and not worrying about having to save up for anything for the house as it is all obviously brand new! if it had heating and good electrics etc then that makes a big difference..
Good luck with your choice, if i could see the house from outside i would prob make a decision straight away but that's me!

febop

We went in today (got to love half term) to put in an offer and was told that suddenly there were three more offers:(we put it 126 which i know is pretty low but we wanted wiggle room on the negotiations. We have now just been told that theres 4 other offers and they let slip only one was over our offer but now they are going for best and final offers and we really dont know what to do ive read horror stories of losing out over 100 pounds and referential bids!!any advice would be fantastic!!!