Should I buy a run down house now or should I wait?

Dannyboyni

I want to buy a run down 3 bedroom house in the South East Belfast area, with the intention of renovating it and living in the property. Any street around Ravenhill Avenue would be ideal, also considering Oreamu Avenue. I would be more keen on Ravenhill because of its closer proximity to the large Tesco in Castlereagh. I am not interested in the Lisburn Road as I think its too expensive.

I have the finances now to buy a run down property and I intend to install underfloor heating so will be removing any existing flooring.

I will have the extra finances to do a good refurbishment job in around 8 months time.

Should I buy a run down property now and let it sit for 8 months while I save up or should I just wait the 8 months before I start looking? In 8 months time I see houses costing a lot more money than they would cost to buy now.

qwert_yuiop

Are you asking if prices will go up over the next eight months? No one knows. All we know is there's been no effective change in prices since 2005. If I saw something I liked I'd buy it, without any expectation of price change.

betterdaysahead

Yeah, as the above poster says, no-one knows. However, in my opinion, I don't see how prices can rise significantly in the short to mid-term as the economy isn't growing and people are not taking home any more money in real terms than they were in the last 5 years at least. If prices do increase significantly here in Northern Ireland then we're just getting ourselves into another bubble which is unsustainable and will burst again.

qwert_yuiop

We've still got the welfare cuts to be forced through, and the chancellor is making landlord life look less appealing. That holy land type of house could get a lot cheaper yet.

motorguy

Dannyboyni wrote: »

I want to buy a run down 3 bedroom house in the South East Belfast area, with the intention of renovating it and living in the property. Any street around Ravenhill Avenue would be ideal, also considering Oreamu Avenue. I would be more keen on Ravenhill because of its closer proximity to the large Tesco in Castlereagh. I am not interested in the Lisburn Road as I think its too expensive.

I have the finances now to buy a run down property and I intend to install underfloor heating so will be removing any existing flooring.

I will have the extra finances to do a good refurbishment job in around 8 months time.

Should I buy a run down property now and let it sit for 8 months while I save up or should I just wait the 8 months before I start looking? In 8 months time I see houses costing a lot more money than they would cost to buy now.

Why would you install underfloor heating in a house with wooden floors? Wood is by no means the best conductor of heat. Likewise if you put carpet over the boards, that will make the situation even worse.

Excellent insulation, well zoned heating and a high efficiency boiler would be my thinking.

If you're going to replace the windows and external doors, pay careful attention to the thermal efficiency of them.

Mistral001

I assume that this is a pure business venture and that you are not going to live in the house but see it as a means of making money. In my view you have to ask yourself what value you are you going to add to this venture. Is it labour, building skills, something else? If you cannot add value to the project in some way like this, then it is just an investment like putting your money in shares as far as I can see and you should treat it as such. In other words you might as well ask us here whether the Acme Company shares are worth investing in at the minute.

qwert_yuiop

They want to live in it. The question is then only do we think prices are going up in the next few months, because if they are, they'll save money by buying now. I don't know either, but all I can say is, I don't think there's any rush. Could be horribly wrong of course.

Mistral001

qwert_yuiop wrote: »

They want to live in it. The question is then only do we think prices are going up in the next few months, because if they are, they'll save money by buying now. I don't know either, but all I can say is, I don't think there's any rush. Could be horribly wrong of course.

I see. My comments then only apply to buying a house that needs renovation versus buying one ready to move into. Also the Op would also need to factor in the cost of accommodation while carrying out the renovations as the renovations planned seem to be very extensive.


Has the OP thought of actually building a new house?

Ticked

When you see the right house in the right location, buy it. The area is more important than the state of the house, house can be improved but location is a lot more difficult! Old but still good advice, buy the worst house in the best location.
Underfloor heating is excellent, but Paul is right, not under wood or carpet.

tara747

If you see something you like, by all means buy it.

But don't panic-buy or think that prices are going to go up... all the indications (local and global) are pointing in the opposite direction. The economy is in for a bumpy ride here - welfare cuts, public sector job cuts, spending cuts, huge public and private debt levels etc.

This IMF report makes scary reading:

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/oct/07/next-financial-crash-is-coming-imf-global-stability-report

motorguy

Ticked wrote: »

When you see the right house in the right location, buy it. The area is more important than the state of the house, house can be improved but location is a lot more difficult! Old but still good advice, buy the worst house in the best location.
Underfloor heating is excellent, but Paul is right, not under wood or carpet.

That would be my view - you could miss the "perfect" house now, hoping the market drops a few percent, then not be able to get what you want.