Detached or semi detached ?

ComputeAngel

Hi Guys,

My question below is based on real life scenario. I am very confused and need your suggestions.

I have seen two houses one detached other semi detached.

3 bed detached (3 bed very big size, two reception, a garage, big gardem ) needs a lot of work. Some to mention are

- Paint in all the rooms
- New Ceiling
- May be new boiler
- New washroom (it is a wet room at the moment, usable but not in a great condition)
- New Kitchen (Again usable, but not in a very great condition).

How much do you think will it cost to do all the above. Imagine all the room sizes be 14*14 and living rooms be 14*14.
The good thing is Garden is south facing

Another 3 bed semi detached (3 bed good size, one reception, a garage, big garden ) n needs no work at all and there is planning permission approval to convert garage to room and add 2 rooms at first floor. The Garden for this house is north facing but of very good size

The price difference is almost 20K.

Both the properties are based in Luton.

Which one will you choose?

Thanks

lincroft1710

Neither, I wouldn't want to live in Luton.

But a detached will always be preferable to a semi.

duchy

If the semi has space to extend it might be possible to add value -making it a better deal but it would depend ....... probably worth looking at local prices for extended v unextended properties in the same road.

LEJC

personally I would go for the one that needs the work...
Is the 20k more expensive house the one that has been modernised? and can you comfortably afford either house.


It also depends if you want to move into something that is done and enjoy living in it or whether yoy want to live in a house which may not be cosmetically perfect but has potential once the work is done...
In terms of how much it will cost to renovate the house...well thats really up to you...for example a kitchen could cost £5k or whatever you want it to depending on specification .


Are you DIY savvy...painting and general repairs can be done very cheeply if you are but will add cost if you need to employ trades for all the renovations.


How important is a garden to you...there are lots of people who like smaller gardens as keeping them looking good can be a pain...but there are also lots of people who would love a decent sized south facing plot


Also is this a forever home purchase or something you only plan to live in for a few years....if its a forever place again for me I would invest the time and money in creating something from the detached house which is possibly going to hold value better over the long term.

Bennifred

I'd go for the detached one, especially as it has the south-facing garden, too!

ComputeAngel

LEJC wrote: »

...
Is the 20k more expensive house the one that has been modernised? and can you comfortably afford either house.

The Detached one is 20K more expensive but it needs a lot of work. however it has a very big south facing Garden, detached and very big may be (14/15*15) rooms. Potential to extend at the back.

LEJC wrote: »

.... Are you DIY savvy...

Nope, and I am self employed as well. so if i don't go to work, i don't get paid


The semi detached is 20K less, needs no work but north facing gig Garden. Potential to extent and they are saying planning permission to extension is already approved.

LEJC

In that case...go with what you can afford ....theres nothing worse than living in a house that is an expensive money pit both in terms of time and money.


I guess you need to work out which house will cause you the least streess but give you the best quality of home life.
Its no fun living somewhere that is under refurbishment so you have to be sure that its a case of being able to complete what you start....you can very easily devalue a house once you start ripping it apart and there is a period you go through where actually once you start ripping things out if you were to run out of money whilst doing it ,it makes it only appealing to a niche market should the worse happen and you need to sell it.


Other factors to consider would be the unseen things like electrics etc which if needed a rewire you would also be looking at replastertng/skimming and then redecoration.


I have done a total renovation it took many months and cost a substantial amount....to me it was worth it but its not always for the faint hearted or inexperienced.

teddysmum

It's not possible to judge without actually seeing at least photos of the properties.


The detached may need very deep pockets,but , if you want to extend the other, then that will cost a lot, too.

Loopy28

I was in a similar position recently and went with the semi that needed no work and was slightly cheaper.

Yes it would have been nice to have no potential noisy neighbours but the semi was bigger and needed much less work and additional outlay.

Same for us in that the semi had a north facing garden but as you mentioned it is large, I imagine you will get the sun at the end of it anyway.

The price to do the work to the detached will depend on how cheap you want to do it. I think at least 15k at best for the work needed but probably a lot more.

I_have_spoken

Neither, I wouldn't want to live in Luton.

Correct answer. But TBH a £20k premium for detached isn't too bad and the faults don't sound like show-stoppers.

All things being equal, the detached should have better chance of capital gain

pinkshoes

I would go for the detached without a doubt!

The south facing garden would be the icing on the cake.

I the insides are liveable, then they can be done up over time.

We are in the process of buying a 4 bed detached at the top of our budget, that is VERY dated, but we plan to do it up over 10 years.