Low offer on "doer-upper"?

Cambridge32

Hi,

My partner and I have stumbled across what might be a bargain house in Barrington near Cambridge, but the only problem is the price (bear with me!).

The house is on the market at £194,950 (since June), and is advertised as needing "modernisation" (I imagined plastering, painting, possibly new bathroom suite, fittings etc). I have compared the price with sold prices of neighbouring properties and those were not only larger or in better condition but sold for less within the last few years. A realistic valuation of the property were it in good condition (i.e. needing minor work, paint etc.) would probably be £185,000 to £195,000 in today's market. Barrington is a lovely village which indicates that properties might command a slight premium.

A viewing followed by some considerable time spent making calculations has suggested that we would need to spend upwards of £35,000 just to make the place comfortably habitable, as it has a few issues:

-broken (dg) windows and damaged external doors (the rest are all yellow and scratched too)
-missing internal doors
-damaged plaster (chunks missing)
-kitchen desperately needs replacing
-bathroom needs replacing, has exposed wires etc.
-missing tiles
-central heating untouched for >10 years, probably >15 years
-wiring and fusebox needs updating
-tired eaves and soffits
-carpets all knackered
-driveway needs substantial repair
-garden fence needs completely replacing
-the list goes on and I have made full (mid-range) costings for everything...

Anyway, is it advisable to make a low offer (say £165) given the condition of the property? Or is the vendor likely to tell us to get lost? I have spoken to the agent and the place had a fair few viewings when it first came to market, but it has had hardly any viewings more recently and has had no second viewings or offers.

The agent was very defensive when I asked who valued the property and whether they actually went inside or valued it from the road (i.e. the agent did not confirm or deny but went a bit quiet - I expect that I wasn't the first person to ask).

Any thoughts would be welcome please :-)

Niv

If a realistic top end price is £195k in good nik then I would say £165k is actually too high an offer to make. If you think it will cost you £35k I would budget £45k and offer ~£140k on the property. At the end of the day it is you that should benfit from any refurbishment, imo you should take more than your budgeted cost for refurburbishment off the asking price. Think of all the inconveniance to you.

Niv

Caveat_Mortgagor

This story sounds familiar. The house we have just started renting was bought by our landlord to do up and sell (Ok I know you havent mentioned selling, but bear with me).

They bought it for about £25k less than other houses in the area but hadnt got their sums right. By the time they had finished the renovations they stood to lose money on the house so had to rent it out.

So what I am trying to say is that this will not be a good deal based on what you may or may not think it is worth when the renovations are complete. A good deal comes from negotiating the right price at the time of purchase.

Cambridge32

Hi,

Thanks for the tips!
We aren't looking to rent or sell, but want to buy a family home (my partner is getting broody) that we can do up a bit and then live in for 10 years+. This place has a nice big garden too, but as you say, the asking price doesn't really take any account of the condition.
Hmm, lots to think about.

kkgree1

I know the area well as I grew up less than 5 miles from there.
Barrington is a lovely village (especially by the Green). Just had a look at it on Rightmove and it is looks like one of the ex-Council houses. These are always well built so it should be structurally sound. Very similar houses in the next village go for close to 175k (with much less work needed) so I would say your figure sounds realistic. I think they are thinking they can get more for it because of the "Barrington" factor!

There are some lovely villages around there. Good luck and hope it works out for you.

Niv

kkgree1 wrote: »

I know the area well as I grew up less than 5 miles from there.
Barrington is a lovely village (especially by the Green). Just had a look at it on Rightmove and it is looks like one of the ex-Council houses. These are always well built so it should be structurally sound. Very similar houses in the next village go for close to 175k (with much less work needed) so I would say your figure sounds realistic. I think they are thinking they can get more for it because of the "Barrington" factor!

There are some lovely villages around there. Good luck and hope it works out for you.

I am not suggesting your incorrect, as you know the area better than me. But can you explain why an offer of £165k with upwards of £35k worth of work required is a realistic price for a house that will sell for between £185 - £195k. Assuming the works cost dead on the lower side estimate of £35k and the house became worth the top end valuation of £195k the OP would still be out of pocket.

Niv

ognum

Barrington is a great little village especially now the cement works has shut down! I have visited the place where they do the weddings there as well - think its Barrington Hall

Looks like ex council stock and many of the villages around Cambridge have small groups of council housing that are great homes I think 195K is top dollar for it so if it needs 35K of work you do need to get it for 165K and I think it is unlikely uou will but give it a whirl Have you had many dealings with Tuckers?

InkZ

Offer what you think it's worth. They can only say no.

Niv

ognum wrote: »

Barrington is a great little village especially now the cement works has shut down! I have visited the place where they do the weddings there as well - think its Barrington Hall

Looks like ex council stock and many of the villages around Cambridge have small groups of council housing that are great homes I think 195K is top dollar for it so if it needs 35K of work you do need to get it for 165K and I think it is unlikely uou will but give it a whirl Have you had many dealings with Tuckers?

Lol have you been on the Turkey thread lately? :-)

Niv

ognum

Niv wrote: »

Lol have you been on the Turkey thread lately? :-)

Niv

Yes Ive read it LOL

Note the cement works shut down in 2008
'After producing cement at Barrington cement works in Cambridgeshire for nearly 80 years CEMEX stopped clinker manufacturing at the plant in 2008.'

This was proposed for Barrington Im not sure where it got too

• New Cemex Proposals for Barrington Works

By william | Published: July 19, 2010
Cemex made an application to the County Council regarding the Barrington Works which they received on 30th June. I went to an exhibition in Barrington Primary school today to find out about it. The official summary is as follows:

Proposed importation by rail of suitable restoration material, over a period of 5 years, to partially infill the existing quarry void and provide for the restoration of the western and north western areas of Barrington Quarry to a combination of agriculture and nature conservation after-uses and all associated works including railway refurbishment and the retention and continued use of existing weighbridge, office and workshop at Barrington Cement works and quarry, Cambs.
There would be four 23 wagon trains per day for 5 years on the branch line from Foxton junction and work at any time to unload. A total of 2 million tonnes of material would be dumped. They showed a sample of the infill material which looked like a dark grey mudstone – pretty inoffensive material. Their would be additional road traffic during the construction phase.
I was told that some Barrington residents had guessed that Cemex are bidding for a contract related to the London cross rail project ( a new rail tunnel under London) and that of course this would only go ahead if they got the contract.
The County Council have engaged a consultant to study the noise effects of the work. The project will create between 15 and 20 jobs. The North Pit lake will also be retained at the end of the project but this will not be available to the public. The pit will not be filled up completely because the top of the chalk is apparently a registered geologically interesting site.

Procrastinator333

Cambridge32 wrote: »

Hi,

The agent was very defensive when I asked who valued the property and whether they actually went inside or valued it from the road (i.e. the agent did not confirm or deny but went a bit quiet - I expect that I wasn't the first person to ask).

Any thoughts would be welcome please :-)

In other words, for whatever reason, the vendor has a pie in the sky number in their head. The only thing that will change that is another X months sitting with no offers (Replace X with a number between 3 and 18 months depending on how stupid they are).

We are in the process of doing up a house. Everything costs more than you plan. It always does. I would say file your notes away and just keep looking. If in 6-12 months it is still there, maybe return.

Good luck.