Viewing a renovation project: what to look for

jojo2910

We are going to an open viewing of a property which is described as needing full renovation, but no details as to specifics.

We are FTB's and all the houses we have seen so far have been modern properties. Is there anything particular or different we should look out for when viewing?

Cheers in advance x

crazyguy

I would say a make sure you get the full survey, and remember that requiring a full refurb might mean it it is in quite a bad way, so disreguard the look of it and think how you would like it to be, it is more so the space that will probably come with this place that would be the selling point.

jojo2910

Cheers Crazy Guy. Note to self: a full survery is a must.

pinkteapot

If you do go for it, ring around some local surveyors and find a good one. For a bog standard modern property I just upgrade the bank's mortgage valuation survey to a Homebuyer's Report. You can also upgrade the bank survey to Full Buildings. But, you get no say over who the surveyor is.

If you employ your own you pay part of the survey cost twice as you pay the bank for their mortgage valuation survey and the surveyor for the full buildings survey. However, for a 'project' house I personally think it would be worth it. Before proceeding with the purchase you will want to know exactly what work is required - there could be structural or other expensive problems that you aren't aware of from your viewings.

In terms of the viewing, good advice above re looking past the current state of it. Do the rooms and space work for you? If you need to move walls, change layout etc then it's a much bigger job than just replumbing, rewiring and replastering and you need to budget accordingly.

MoneyJuggler

Definitely a survey, we bought our house years ago and without trying to scare you , for us it was things we couldn't see on a viewing which cost the most -had to rewire the whole house for example, as (what I didn't know at the time, and do now) really old wiring becomes a fire hazard and rewiring usually means you have to do some plastering and redecorate.

Good luck!

JQ.

You need to know exactly how much the reonvation is going to cost and how much it will be worth once complete, as these will form the basis of the offer you make. No point buying a house for £100k that needs £50k spending on it and will only be worth £125,000 once complete. If you pay too much in the first place no amount of cost cutting will save your bacon.

A Surveyor will not cost up the renovation for you, they will value it and highlight problems. You need to get a local, experienced, recommended builder to walk round the property and give you an estimate of the cost of works.

hazyjo

Do you need a mortgage? If so, check you'll get one! Lots won't lend on a full renovation, especially if it doesn't have a useable kitchen/bathroom. Can't imagine that being FTBs would go in your favour with that either.

Jx

jojo2910

hazyjo wrote: »

Do you need a mortgage? If so, check you'll get one! Lots won't lend on a full renovation, especially if it doesn't have a useable kitchen/bathroom. Can't imagine that being FTBs would go in your favour with that either.

Jx

That did cross my mind. We're just going to have a look and see what is involved as 'full renovation' can mean different things to different people.

The house is on for £150 and similar houses go for £300. We've tried ringing the EA to find out more but I can't get through. We'll just have to see what the score is tomorrow.

abankerbutnotafatcat

"In need of renovation" can cover quite a lot of scenarios. This is the way I, as a diy-er rather than a property developer, look at houses. Prices are all inclusive and based on London area so may be lower for you:

* Does it have Gas Central Heating? Boiler upgrade £2k-£4k. Complete system more.
* Does it have double glazing? (no idea of price, I've not needed to do this yet)
* Is a new kitchen required? (including appliances) £4k - £10k+
* Is a new bathroom required? £2k - £5k+
* Will it need re-wiring? (you probably won't be able to tell unless you take an electrician with you and the survey will probably be unhelpful but you can get an idea by observing sockets/light fittings & the fuse box. £2k-£6k.
* Does roof need repairs/replacing? I've only thankfully done the former but usually have a figure of £1-£2k in mind for repairs.
* Will there be any structural changes such as knocking down walls?
* Any other obvious problems such as holes in walls, mould etc.

Then they may be issues the survey throws up such as damp/re-pointing of brickwork etc.

Then there will be immediate 'cosmetic' things that you need to do before you can live there like re-plastering and re-flooring if existing flooring is poor.

Then, of course, the other cosmetic issues such as decorating i.e. you might not like the colour of the walls but you can live with them until you are in a position to change.

sonastin

Think about what it will be like owning the property while the renovation work is going on. Can you live in it? You need to be honest about how draining it is to live on a building site for months on end with nothing tidy and nothing properly unpacked. If you can't live in it, can you afford to stay where you are and pay the mortgage on it and pay for all the work to be done before you can move into it? The end product might be perfect and the finances might add up but if you lose your sanity in the meantime, it might not really be worth it!

phoebe1989seb

Agree with last two posters - as someone who has bought several projects, you do have to consider all these points. One house we bought was arranged as four flats. The mortgage co would not lend on it (even though it had four kitchens and three bathrooms and we were only borrowing 40% of the purchase price) so in the end my dad bought it for cash and we later bought it from him. The house was considered uninhabitable by most of our friends, but we (and our eight year-old) lived in it from day one, although we lived on the upper floors whilst renovating the downstairs. In May this year we bought a half-finished project for cash - the house has been re-thatched, new heating, half re-wired and all new floors/joists etc but needs re-plastering (currently bare stone in some rooms), rebuilding a dilapidated extension and all new decoration plus kitchen and bathrooms. As it's now just the two of us we are content to live on a building-site..........but despite it having bags of potential, it can get you down as the end doesn't seem to be in sight at the moment..........my sanity is definitely in danger of evaporating some days