Renovating neglected property

davidmcn

timeism0ney wrote: »

Doesn't the agency advertising this property have the responsibility of checking if this is the case, before putting it on the market as a 4 bed?

Not really. It's an old house, the chances are that none of it complies with any current building regulations. People tend to go a bit overboard with describing loft conversions as "illegal" or "not really bedrooms". Form your own view about what you'd want to do to it - judging from the floorplan at least the loft level has a proper staircase and doors to the bedrooms, rather than a big hole and a Ramsay ladder.

phill99

coffeehound wrote: »

Why would the buyers lie about their renovation costs - some sort of tax dodge?

Nothing to do with tax.


People often say on there 'I have a budget of £7k' when you know it will cost them three times that. A lot of people have absolutely no idea of refurb costs.

AdrianC

timeism0ney wrote: »

it's buying the place pre-refurbished

What would this mean/involve - can you elaborate?

Let somebody else have the ballache and expense. You buy it finished, when they have to sell it to cover all the loans and credit card debt they've had to take on to cover the spend above and beyond what they swore blind it would cost...

coffeehound wrote: »

Why would the buyers lie about their renovation costs - some sort of tax dodge?

No, they're just lying to themselves. And their wives. And trying to pretend to the viewers they haven't really just made a massive loss, because they're on telly, innit...

Positiveserenity

Hi,

Having been down this road I would say 30k.

If you’re handy you may be able to cut 5k off that but don’t forget that’s assuming your time is free!

It’s always a drain to begin with but kind of rewarding and you’ll get paid in the long run providing you do it right!:money:ô

Red-Squirrel_2

Don't buy it unless you will have over £50K to throw at it straightaway and a good disposable income going forward for ongoing maintenance. These houses are money pits!

The lower floor won't really be useful as living space, neither will the top floor. The height of the house will mean any sort of repairs to the exterior will need a lot of scaffolding making it really expensive. Its probably sliding down the hill, probably slowly enough that it wouldn't cause any major issues while you're in it, but who knows?

Thrugelmir

timeism0ney wrote: »

Doesn't the agency advertising this property have the responsibility of checking if this is the case, before putting it on the market as a 4 bed?

EA is dependent on the information privided to them by the vendor. That's why it's part of the solicitors job during the buying process. To ensure that everything is in order and advise you accordingly.

AdrianC

Look at the floorplan - there are four rooms with beds in. It's a four-bedroom house.

There is nothing magical that says "This room with a bed in is not a bedroom". It might be a miserable, cold, hacked-together excuse of a bedroom that you wouldn't shove the mother-in-law in, but...

Whether the work on that room met building regs at the time it was done, if BR were even applicable back that far, is another question entirely. A lack thereof certainly can't be enforced now.


TBH, if you're worried about whether the EA should warn you about whether that's a nice cosy bedroom or not, this is DEFINITELY not the house for you.

Davesnave

timeism0ney wrote: »

Doesn't the agency advertising this property have the responsibility of checking if this is the case, before putting it on the market as a 4 bed?

Estate agents are simply advertisers, not legal or building experts.


If a potential buyer appoints a qualified surveyor who says 2 bedrooms aren't safe, then the agent should take account of this, but until something like that happens, they're free to feign ignorance about the status.

timeism0ney

AdrianC wrote: »

Let somebody else have the ballache and expense. You buy it finished, when they have to sell it to cover all the loans and credit card debt they've had to take on to cover the spend above and beyond what they swore blind it would cost...

I don't get it. The house is on sale as is, presumably because the seller can't be bothered to do it up. So who can possibly be persuaded to do this work?

timeism0ney

AdrianC wrote: »

TBH, if you're worried about whether the EA should warn you about whether that's a nice cosy bedroom or not, this is DEFINITELY not the house for you.

We are FTBs. There are a lot of things we don't know. Which makes it risky of course, you're right. The risk would be minimised but not eliminated by involving a developer we trust - and only if he comes to a conclusion that this work is doable within the money/time constraints that we have.