House Buying

evilgoose

Hello, I live in south wales I'm a FTB looking to buy, ive seen a 3 bed semi detacted property for around 95000. It appears to be structurally sound. But it needs alot of updating, currently heated with a rayburn and a coal fire. I'd like to put in a modern C/H system but keep one of the open fires.

I'm not the greatest at bargining and was hoping for advice on making offers for properties and also some indication of the costs of works required:-

rewiring
replaster
new C/H system
replace windows
new bathroom
new kitchen

I was considering making an offer that is 5% less than asking price, does this sound reasonable?

Is getting a 'negative equity' mortgage to pay for the works sensible?

thanks for advice :beer:

grownupgirly

yes, I think the offer you're considering is reasonable. But what about if they say no? What would you like your final offer to be? What price would you say 'no way' to? So maybe start out even a little lower for some negotiating power...

rewiring: maybe 2-5,000? (Check some other threads on this subject)
new c/heating system: around 5,000, probably.
replace windows: depends on how many there are and the size. Estimate 200 per window, I'd say.
new bathroom/kitchen: Depends if you're paying someone to do the work for you. Could be as much as 5,000 each, I'd say.

Just a rough guess from someone who is moving on to property number two. Hopefully some more experienced guys will be along in a bit to tell you what they reckon!

I have no idea about the negative equity bit.

Hope this has helped a bit.

Grownupgirly.

evilgoose

Thanks for the info grownupgirly, perhaps should make my offer a little bit lower. give more room for negotiating.
+ the prices you;ve suggested are slightly higher than I had thought so I'll need the extra money!

Wizwoo

We live in a 3 bed semi that needed the same kind of work doing (bought it in 2000).
Central heating came to max of £3000 (included putting in new gas supply);
Re-wiring - I reckon you should be able to get this done for about £1.5 - £2.5K
Windows - we've got connections here and got them done very cheaply and ours came in at just under £2K fitted (very good quality);
Our bathroom - we bought all the bits and pieces and asked someone to fit it (included al the plumbing work, some electrical, tiling, flooring etc) and it came to about £2,700.

I guess it really depends on what you want. Got to say that none of the tradesman we used were what you'd call "cheap" and all did a good job.

Good luck

Ww

kingkano

I had a new bathroom fitted with basic white suite, electric shower and a heated towel rail for £2k. There was no tiling to be done though, that can be the expensive bit. If you can do that yourself thats about 1k off the price.

I'd agree with most of the prices here though. If they reject your offer you can always ask to bring a tradesman around to give an estimate on the works required, then use this as a bargaining tool.

Doozergirl

I'd put a budget of £16k on that to get it tip-top to paint and carpets, which means if you haven't done this before, you are going to need to shop very hard.

What you offer is not dependent on asking price. You need to know what it is worth finished, then deduct your budget and the amount you'd need to make the project worthwhile. For some people it might be nothing!

evilgoose

My offer for £84,000 was rejected; I was about to ring back with a second offer, for £86000 but my phone rang and it was the estate agent to tell me the property had sold - she was 'illusive' but i think the accepted offer was around he 85500 mark. Rats!
A rang them back to say if it falls through I'd be interested.

Thanks everyone for their comments.

grownupgirly

oh, thats such a shame! I feel really sorry for you. I really hope you get the house of your dreams... where one door closes, another opens.

Grownupgirly.

Debt_Free_Chick

I'd pay extra for the Rayburn! But appreciate it's not everyone's preference. You should find that it powers the radiators as well as providing a Range cooker. Claims to be very efficient in terms of fuel consumption, but not sure how you check this out. Perhaps ask what the vendor's heating bills have been over the past 12-24 months

I'm getting frustrated that many old farmhouse kitchens in local properties have had the "Sarah Beeney" treatment so they look more at home in a penthouse in a City :mad: An Aga or Rayburn is very, very high on my list of "must haves" for any new property - but I'm probably in a minority.

Might be worth just looking at keeping the Rayburn, as it might be advantageous to do so.

All academic now as it's sold to another buyer ... sorry about that, but hope some comments might be useful for a future purchase. Good luck

Doozergirl

I'm in the minority with you, debt_free_chick. I'm wishing I'd put something in to the house we're just finishing. I've fallen in love with the interior of a little cottage that's come up across the road and it has a Rayburn. If I could lose the kids and husband and re-render the house, I'd be in there, 'spinster'ing it up, drinking red wine and getting fat eating casseroles :rotfl: