First time buyer, fixer up house

Daughterofmine

I am looking for advice on how to cost up renovations on a house we have viewed. The house is in our ideal location and 30k cheaper than others on the street (just reduced by 10k). We are first time buyers and a big part of me thinks we should pay more to avoid the risk and leave it to someone with more experience but we could make this our dream home and save money in the process.

The work that needs doing is
-wall needs knocking down between kitchen and dining room (sounds like a structural wall so i think it would need strengthening).
-New boiler, current system is a water tank
-new bathroom and kichen
-old rotten porch knocking down

That is what is obviously, it looks in ok condition but everything is very old. May need electrics and some damp work along with full redecorate. No idea about the condition of the roof, windows and doors seem ok. My question is where to start? Would you ask for a quote for the remodel work first. Which sort of tradesperson should i be looking for? Any experience/ advice of whether it is worth it?

Owain_Moneysaver

You start with the roof, as if that's in poor condition the rest of the house may have suffered considerable and hidden water damage.

Knocking through a wall and putting in a lintel is actually not a big or expensive job for a builder. Couple of thousand, maybe less. It is very messy though.

New boiler might be £2k, more if you need new plumbing and radiators. Kitchen and bathroom depend on what you want to spend.

Jackmydad

There are a lot of "depends"
Depends how big the house is.
Where it is (Will effect the cost of getting trades in and final value etc.)
And how keen on DIY you are. And how much you know already.

There are always unseen work and costs in a restoration job.
I'd guess 30K at around the "average" cost of a refurb on a small house. Could be less, but could be a lot more.
My pricing is probably out of date though.

Personally I'd put the £30K off the price of a similar "done up" house as probably not being worthwhile.

As a developer friend of mine once said to me, they (the seller) wants the profit from the restoration.

trailingspouse

A few questions to ask yourself/things to think about -

• this is your first home, how long do you think you'll live there, realistically?
• every area has a 'ceiling price', above which houses will not go, even if they are perfect.
• do you have to do it all in one go? Do a bit, save a bit, do a bit more.

In your shoes, my aim would be to make it look as good as I could, for as little outlay as possible, with half an eye on reselling it. And if you're going to spend big money, spend it on things that will go with you when you move, that way you aren't wasting it.
My first ever house, with my first ever husband, was a lovely little place that we wanted to stay in forever. 7 houses, 2 husbands and at least two 'forever' homes later, I know it doesn't really work like that...

Doozergirl

If it's £30k cheaper then it's likely that it needs more than £30k of work.

Kitchens and bathrooms are not the intrinsic part of renovation, they are the icing on a very valuable cake, but the age of them is almost always the key to the last time anything else was touched.

The intrinsic part is the roof, the guttering, the heating and hot water, the electrics, the windows and the walls and floors (plaster, not knocking through - that is a desire and certainly not included in the £30k discount).

That is what you need to be looking at.

That house has been reduced for a reason and it won't be kitchens and bathrooms.

Jimmy_Neutron

The last house which was sold in your street will have the interior pictures on rightmove can you obtain the same with the difference in costs?

But as Doozy said kitchens and bathrooms are not intrinsic to the valuation of this property

SG27

The previous house I lived in had been renovated to sell. It looked lovely, beautifully decorated and great kitchen and bathroom. But over the years we uncovered all sorts of hidden bodges and cut corners. If you are doing it to live in yourself you want to do it properly and you probably won't get your money back when you sell.

How big is the house? My 3 bed semi we have a budget of £38k to renovate, including: full rewire, new boiler radiators and plumbing, new windows and doors, new garage roof, re plastering all ceilings and several rooms, new kitchen, two new bathrooms, carpets/laminate, plus many smaller jobs... I think we will end up nearer to £45k