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Anyone ever bought an empty house or somewhere uninhabitable?

My boyfriend and I are looking to buy next year .
We’re looking for a 3-bed doer upper – wondering if anyone has taken on an extensive project like this – we’re even considering empty houses to a point, or maybe buying land and getting a kit house but they seem a bit pricey for us atm.

He owns a house he rents out and we currently rent closer to where we work. We want to stay in the same area we are in now (Surrey/Middx borders).

Upon selling his house we’ll have about £160k for a deposit on the new place and have decided to aim for a budget of £350k (£140k mortgage although we’ve been advised we’ll qualify for a £300k mortgage no problem if we wanted it but we really don’t need it).
:A

Comments

  • fc123
    fc123 Posts: 6,573 Forumite
    Yes, twice and with small children. All the usual, no hot water, living all in one barely habitable room for a few weeks, no kitchen, no bathroom......we did it both times as we got a better property for less money. We also ended up with it renovated how we wanted it.

    Just bought a 3rd but we won't have to live in it F/T whilst it's being done up but we will be camping in it whilst we are there organising/doing stuff.

    We did decide to extend the house we live in last year and have finished the front and are about to rip out the back. I have no proper kitchen (got a kind of camping one) and downstairs is all concrete floors at the mo but it will be worth the pain :)
  • Kastanie
    Kastanie Posts: 94 Forumite
    You need a word with phoebe1989seb. Her posts make fascinating reading!
  • phoebe1989seb
    phoebe1989seb Posts: 4,452 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 21 May 2013 pm31 2:55PM
    Yep, we've done it a few times, the most memorable being -

    1) Large six bed Victoran villa, previously divided into four flats. DS was seven when we moved in and we thought it would put him off restoring old buildings for life, but two years ago at 21 he embarked on his own restoration project :D

    The house was in a terrible state and the main ground floor was unusable so we camped out upstairs utilising one of the three remaining kitchens (which themselves were pretty basic, LOL!) whilst we ripped out the downstairs including a huge two storey partition dividing the hall/staircase to make a separate entrance to the flats. It was so well built it took several weeks to remove it! One year we even had our Christmas lunch in the hallway as none of the reception rooms were in a fit state to use! We did a lot of the work ourselves and spent about six years getting it back to its former glory - very rewarding in itself. When we sold we made a hefty profit which was very nice too ;)

    2) Our current house, dating from the late 18th century. A somewhat smaller property at around 2500 sq ft, but unmortgageable when we purchased two years ago. It had been gutted by the previous owner, who had re-thatched, done timber treatments and put in new oil heating, but had removed all the plaster from the stone walls leaving it somewhat resembling a cave! He then fell ill and was unable to complete the project.

    There was no kitchen, only a rudimentary bathroom, a literally collapsing attached outbuilding and bare concrete floors. We moved straight in two years ago this week and envisage a further two years till it's complete. Last year we added a large vaulted ceilinged kitchen extension (20' x 16') and had to cook in microwave/on top of the woodburner for a while and were without hot water & central heating for nearly six months :o

    DH is now working from home and is very talented at DIY so is able to save some cash by doing plastering, tiling, carpentry etc himself and I do all the painting & soft furnishings etc.......

    We love a project, although last year during that very wet summer, with baths only available if you were prepared to fill a manky bath by running upstairs with umpteen saucepans & kettles of boiling water, we sometimes questioned our judgement - but in reality we wouldn't have it any other way ;)

    Good luck if you decide to go for it :)
    Mortgage-free for fourteen years!

    Over £40,000 mis-sold PPI reclaimed
  • phoebe1989seb
    phoebe1989seb Posts: 4,452 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Kastanie wrote: »
    You need a word with phoebe1989seb. Her posts make fascinating reading!

    Ha, thank you Kastanie !!! Cross-posted - must be telepathic :D
    Mortgage-free for fourteen years!

    Over £40,000 mis-sold PPI reclaimed
  • lessonlearned
    lessonlearned Posts: 13,337 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker I've been Money Tipped!
    edited 21 May 2013 pm31 4:05PM
    I'm another one who loves a project. :rotfl: In fact I'm looking for one right now........

    I call them "Field Kitchens". A corner of a room somewhere with a kettle, slow cooker, microwave or mini oven and fridge and I can create gourmet meals.:rotfl:

    As long as I have one room to sleep and set up "base camp" that I can keep relatively plaster and brick dust free then I'm ok.

    As fc123 says - it's worth the pain.
  • Mrs_Imp
    Mrs_Imp Posts: 1,001 Forumite
    We had about 6 months when our 'kitchen' was a 1 ring camping stove, a mini fridge, a kettle, and a washing up bowl in the dining room/living room. The kitchen itself was bare brick walls, floorboards, and a single cold tap. That was it. It was an adventure, and I still remember the day the cooker, washing machine and fridge freezer were fitted :)
  • ognum
    ognum Posts: 4,879 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    You need to remember that without some kind of kitchen and bathroom a house is unmorgable so if you need a mortgage it needs one!
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