FTb question: What does it cost to redo a house after slob vendors have "wrecked" it?

DoubleOhScrimp

Hello,

I'm a FTB interested in a 4 bed detached house in cambridgeshire. The development was built in ~2000 in a cul de sac. There are three identical units next to one another the middle one is the one im interested in.

They all sold for the same originally. Zoopla "values" left and right ones at 275k. Mine at 262k. Mine has an asking of 249k.

Average detached 4 bed in development value is 308k. Mine is slightly less feature-full than average e.g. combined lounge/diner and no utility room etc.

I'm chain free (renting). Vendor wants to sell his house, take over his parents house in same village and build bungalow for parents in parents garden. So vendor chain free.

Development property value escalation since 2000 is very good. Very low sales turnover.
Externally left house, mine and right house look identically pristine. However, mine has been cosmetically wrecked internally by slob vendors.

If the house was in normal condition internally id take the vendors hand off at 250k (value 275k). However it clearly needs lots of internal reworking:

Absolutely required:
Fixing botched wall damage e.g. picture hangers.
Repainting everywhere (and I mean everywhere).
New carpets everywhere including stairs. Lounge carpet has holes!
Industrial grade cleaning.
(Double glazing edges appear to have external black junk at seams ... not sure what this is)

Required to make it nice:
Completely redo family bathroom.
Completely redo en suite shower room.
Completely redo downstairs cloak.
New kitchen and appliances.

Total floor area about 95-105 m^2.

Any guess on how much that may cost if done "professionally". I can do a hell of a lot of it myself.

Essentially I want to know whether I should offer full asking e.g. 250k because its worth 275k so already discounted for horrible cosmetics.

Offer 240k initially (hoping nobody comes in and nabs it at full asking).

Offer 245k initially (hoping that 5k discount is sensible given I'm every vendors dream buyer).

Offer full asking to avoid it being snatched.

Any thoughts? (Being a FTB is soooo stresfull )

Thanks for input :beer:

monty-doggy

If the EA is half decent it will be priced to reflect current condition.

You can't expect the seller to drop the price to fund your modernisation and decorating wishes.

Most people expect to re decorate a new house and there is nothing structural there as far as you have said.

I wouldn't insult with too low an offer.

Pineapple88

Its very difficult to give an exact answer on here because a lot of it will depend on the spec that you want, eg the quality of the carperts and kitchen/bathrooms you wanted fitted, can you patch up the holes from hanging with polyfiller ordo you need the wall replastered?

It may be worth talking to some local tradesmen to get quotes for things like the carpets and also getting some quotes from kitchen suppliers and fittings. If you have these to hand it will also give you some bargaining power with your offer.

aeb_2

Reading the title I thought you meant the doors were hanging off and they'd burnt the frames as firewood. The items you list are no more than I would expect to find in a well loved family house to be honest. A box of Polyfiller and some fine sandpaper will soon put the picture hook holes right.

Most houses needs a lick of paint and carpets replacing to your taste when you move in.

If you really want the house, have been looking for a while with nothing else available I'd go for it.

DoubleOhScrimp

Pineapple88

Walls dont need to be re-plastered. In terms of spec, I'd want to go for a good blend of quality but relatively affordable e.g. not 24 carat gold plated door knobs

aeb

I'd say this was a little more than well loved but I take your point.

I'm going to go with 245k initially which is 5k under asking. Hardly insulting and the vendor may place that value on me being chain free. Will go up to full asking if needed but certainly not over 250k for SD reasons!

I'm guestimating the fixup/redecorate is going to cost 10-15k.

jimbog

Have you got a rightmove link?

DRP

DoubleOhScrimp wrote: »

Pineapple88

Walls dont need to be re-plastered. In terms of spec, I'd want to go for a good blend of quality but relatively affordable e.g. not 24 carat gold plated door knobs

aeb

I'd say this was a little more than well loved but I take your point.

I'm going to go with 245k initially which is 5k under asking. Hardly insulting and the vendor may place that value on me being chain free. Will go up to full asking if needed but certainly not over 250k for SD reasons!

I'm guestimating the fixup/redecorate is going to cost 10-15k.

As they saying goes: 'if the vendors aren't insulted, then you're offering too much"


For a house asking 249k I would certainly go in at 10% less.

It sounds like you have done a lot of research, so it all depends on your budget, your desire for the place and recent sold prices...

DaftyDuck

The agent has probably taken the condition into account. Your second list of "..to make it nice" is utterly irrelevant. As to your other list, I'd do all myself, with the exception of the carpets, and price there depends entirely on quality. Could be as low as a thousand, as high as .. well, 20k or more if you wanted top quality....

Offer away, and start low... but you might lose a bargain. It's certainly NOT going to cost £25k to fix that lot, so it might be "priced to sell", as they say...

phoebe1989seb

Blimey - if that's what you consider *wrecked* goodness knows what you'd have thought of our current house when we bought it two years ago........or even what certain parts of it are like now, LOL!

I agree with the poster that said you can't expect the vendor to drop their price in accordance with what you deem to be necessary works, but which to other buyers (and the vendor) might be fair wear and tear......

DoubleOhScrimp

Update: Upped my offer to full asking. Accepted.

I guess I will soon find out how much its going to cost.

I plan to do as much as I can myself. So I'm guessing a final bill of 5-8k then.

Next stop: Exchange