FTB questions - offer and planning/ building regulations

an3107

Hi,

I'm a first time buyer with a large deposit and can definitely get a mortgage.

I've found a house that I like which is on the market for £89,950. It's a 2 bed terraced house which was purchased for £39,950 in 2000 (and doesn't look like it's had anything done to it since then).

It obviously needs quite a few things doing to it (described as in need of TLC by the estate agent) such as a new kitchen, new bathroom and complete redecoration and possibly a new staircase.

At the moment it has no bathroom/ toilet upstairs so I'd want to put one in otherwise I'm not really interested in buying the property. There is scope to extend over the kitchen at the back (a few of the other houses in the row have already done this) but I just wondered about the feasability of this (plumbing, planning permission, building regulations etc).

Is there anyone who could firstly advise on how much to offer given the work that needs doing and my position to buy immediately and also the feasability/ necessary permissions to build a 2nd floor bathroom extension?

Thanks in advance!

skintchick

I'm no expert, but these are a few of my thoughts.

Firstly, just because you are a FTB doesn't automatically make you super-attractive to a seller. It depends very much on whether they have seen somewhere they want to move to, and if so, how dependent the chain is at this moment in time on them getting a buyer. If they haven;t found anywhere they want to offer on, then you being a FTB will not make a low offer attractive to them. IT will be more attratcive if they *need* to move quickly however.

Secondly, everyone likes to look up how much people paid for properties but it is irrelevant. I paid 84 k for my house in 1998, but it has no bearing on its price now (unless you are able to track its price rises and falls over the intervening years). What you perceive to be them making as profit isn't, and it reall yisn;t worth basing your offer on what they paid for a house years ago.

You need to look into what similar places sell for now, with and without the extension and upstairs bathroom, so you cna base your offer in reality.

If the EA knows it needs work, it will be priced to reflect this. That doesn;t mean you shouldn;t make an offer (of course you should! Who pays the asking these days?) but bear in mind that they have already reflected the work needed in the price.

As for the extension, I would call the local council and ask their advice.