Bought a huge mistake of a house: what to do?

Prothet_of_Doom

My experience may help you put this into perpective.

Bought a 1966, wimpy built 3 bed semi in 1998 with my wife for £50K. It was old fashioned but solid enough. The windows were rotten, the kitchen horrible, the decoration hideous, and there was a glass door at the bottom of the stairs. And the concrete garage was falling down.
In the first year we painted all rooms in white, straight over the wall paper, no preparation, 1 room in 3 hours.
We knocked down the garage, and had another bigger put up.
We removed the false wall and glass door which separated the lounge from the stairs, and I fitted cheap laminated flooring down stairs.
In year 2 I replaced the kitchen, we paid for the upstairs windows to be replaced, and we bought a shed.
In year 3 I tiled the bathroom, used spare laminate on floor, redecorated our bedroom, and laminated the floor
Year 4 had a loft conversion, and had to rewire the whole house, and we had a new porch, and had the gabble wall repointed. we spent £15K on all that.
Year 5 we redecorated every room, and had a new fire place in lounge
Year 6 we had a new bathroom, and new windows downstairs and back door
Year 7 we had a new heating system £1500, and we decorated the kitchen again.
Year 8 the dining room had a makeover. and so it goes on
This year, year 15, I have knocked down that shed and built a bigger better one, which took me 8 solid days. It's very bispoke. Fits in a weird space behind the garage, with not one wasted inch.


I digress. We have spent over the years as much on the house as we paid for the house. The surveyer was not polite about it, but said it was habitable. It was the only house we could afford that met our needs in the area we wanted to live in (I say that, but we could have taken a larger longer mortgage, but didn't want to at the time)

grifferz

Just to echo what everyone else is saying, the list of defects you've given sounds fairly minor and cosmetic.

My partner and I have just bought a 19 year old house that sounds to be in similar condition to yours. We get the keys on Monday and we're expecting there to be a few more niggles that they managed to hide from us as well. Hopefully nothing too dramatic.

I would have really loved to be in my mid 20s and getting on the property ladder like you have, even with some work to do. I'm in my late 30s and my partner in her late 20s.

Try to turn this into a positive. You own this thing, it's basically sound, you now get to put some honest sweat and tears into making it just how you want. You'd probably just have had to do pretty much the same before selling it on anyway.

fart

grifferz wrote: »

Just to echo what everyone else is saying, the list of defects you've given sounds fairly minor and cosmetic.

My partner and I have just bought a 19 year old house that sounds to be in similar condition to yours. We get the keys on Monday and we're expecting there to be a few more niggles that they managed to hide from us as well. Hopefully nothing too dramatic.

I would have really loved to be in my mid 20s and getting on the property ladder like you have, even with some work to do. I'm in my late 30s and my partner in her late 20s.

Try to turn this into a positive. You own this thing, it's basically sound, you now get to put some honest sweat and tears into making it just how you want. You'd probably just have had to do pretty much the same before selling it on anyway.

Great post. Remember OP - as long as the structure of the place is sound and it has a roof that doesn't leak, everything else is simple to put right; and even if you don't, you have a solid box with a front and a lid that you can live in

Norma_Desmond

If only our house had been in such a good condition as yours when we bought it!

Honestly, I'm not trying to be funny, but even though we expected the unexpected with the purchase of a 200 year old virtual ruin, there were a good few things that gave us sleepless nights, crying fits and just plain terror.

We're still renovating bits and bobs 10 years on - as and when we can afford it.

Best thing we've ever done.

calicocat

I don't know about the OP, but I have loved reading this thread as have just bought a home and have had a few problems. This thread has put it all into perspective for me and made me see thing differently....and am now quite excited about it and what the future for me and the house holds.

penguine

Focus on the cheapest stuff first, and the things you can do yourself (it's amazing what a lick of paint will do). If you still hate the house in 6 months' time, get an estate agent round to see how much you can sell it for. You might find after 6 months that it isn't so bad after all.

For a realistic view of how much it's worth, if there are similar houses in your area that have sold in the past year or two you can find out a lot on Rightmove. Often the sale photos are still available to view so you can compare the condition of other houses to yours.

martinsurrey

Chin up, boots on, and get some graft in... it'll be far more rewarding than you can imagine.

I'm sleeping on a mattress on the dining room floor while the upstairs is rewired in my 1880 semi (after that we’ll live upstairs and they’ll do downstairs), just had the plumbing re done and next is all the wood work (which I’ll be doing myself).

If you’re at all practical, you can do so much more than you think, it’ll not cost as much as you fear (for none structural) and you’ll get a warm glow when you step in a room that you’ve re built.

Besta dvice which has been given here is to hit one room hard, get it done in a few weeks.

When myother half breaks down after something else has gone wrong (like last night after 50m of walls had to be chased to strip out 1950’s wiring), we go and sit in the finished room and remember what we are aiming for...

FYI, I am late 20’s, work full time and do a lot of the work in evenings/weekends, its not easy, but I’ve already saved about £8k on labour in 4 months.

calicocat

Yay....i like my house again (haven't had any rain recently though to see if it flipping leaks in bucket-loads into house). My back is killing me...a garden! what the heck is this! (may have to get a bloke in every 2 months for weeds) I love the buying and olanting bit. have planted a few herbs to eat, and loads of lavender, what do bees like? I want to attract bees. I had loads coming before my mother pulled all the 'weeds out'.. i'm no gardener. Is there some garden thread I should be on now?

seven-day-weekend

calicocat wrote: »

Yay....i like my house again (haven't had any rain recently though to see if it flipping leaks in bucket-loads into house). My back is killing me...a garden! what the heck is this! (may have to get a bloke in every 2 months for weeds) I love the buying and olanting bit. have planted a few herbs to eat, and loads of lavender, what do bees like? I want to attract bees. I had loads coming before my mother pulled all the 'weeds out'.. i'm no gardener. Is there some garden thread I should be on now?

Bees like 'open' flowers, especially purple ones, they love lavender.


http://www.foe.co.uk/living/articles/bees_in_your_garden_35089.html?gclid=CMrD3ZK99LgCFebJtAodWgIApQ

Macca83_2

I've just put in New internal doors throughout my flat. Didn't cost me a penny. The doors came from a house clearance and my partners uncle fitted them for us.

With a little creative thinking anything is possible.