What would you do?

amieloustew

If you had the choice, would you rather
1) pay more money for a property to have next to no work to do (just minor decoration needed)
or
2) buy a cheaper property and spend money redecorating from scratch (new bathroom, kitchen, all rooms needing decorated)
My partner and I are FTB's and I'm trying to decide what I would rather do. I'm up for the challenge of total redecoration and we are flexible as we both live with parents atm but don't want to bite off more than we can chew so to speak.
Thanks for reading and excited to see your responses
Property 1 - https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-76800148.html
Property 2 - https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-77465332.html
Property 3 - https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-77591320.html

SameOldRoundabout

It comes down to personal choice. I haven’t looked at your links, but I’m always drawn to a project. I love the feeling of making it my own and being able to look at pretty much everything and say, yep, I chose/designed that. It’s hard because we’ve always had to live in a bit of a tip while we save to do up, but it’s worthwhile. We’re buying our second house now and it’s at least twice as big a project as the first. 

Some people prefer to just move in and do nothing, some people don’t. 

SMR710

Having bought and renovated in 2012, personally i wouldn't EVER do it again! Everything takes you longer and costs you more than you plan!!! Even if you plan and budget well. You'll always find there's more to do (and more you want!)
But if you want to put the time, effort & money into it, do it! There are plus and minus points for both. Also consider how long you want to live there and Whether you'll get a good return on your renovation investment in the time you plan to be there.
Good luck whatever you decide!

seradane

For me there's definitely a cost-benefit analysis. How much am I going to have to spend to do it up? If the purchase price + cost of renovations is equal to or more than a done up house, I'd prefer to go for the one already done. Assuming it is to my tastes (not always guaranteed). There's a lot of stress and hassle to building works, and there's always unexpected surprises & costs. (And I'm a building industry professional...)

The only reason I'd see to take on a project is either you just can't find what you are looking for already done, or there's going to be a nice property value boost once the renovations are done that will cover your costs.

For the prices of those properties you've linked, there's not much in it, so if you can afford it, spending a little more for the nice one seems like the way to go.

SensibleSarah

Having done the latter when I was a first time buyer - never ever again. Living in a house with ongoing work has been horrible and no end still in sight. Next house will have no more than a tub of paint needed - preferably not even that!

amieloustew

seradane said:

For the prices of those properties you've linked, there's not much in it, so if you can afford it, spending a little more for the nice one seems like the way to go.

You're 100% right, there isn't much in it. 
SameOldRoundabout said:

It comes down to personal choice. I haven’t looked at your links, but I’m always drawn to a project. I love the feeling of making it my own and being able to look at pretty much everything and say, yep, I chose/designed that. It’s hard because we’ve always had to live in a bit of a tip while we save to do up, but it’s worthwhile. We’re buying our second house now and it’s at least twice as big a project as the first. 

I'm very drawn to the cheaper of the properties as I could see myself doing so much to make it my taste and I have family and friends who would definitely help out with the renovations but I don't want to have the joy of buying my first home to be tainted with lengthy work going on.
Gonna do a pros and cons and a cost-benefits analysis ASAP

iampetesmith

We bought a house that only needed our personal touches adding (change some of the wallpaper) as it hadn't long been done. Then Project 1 was to put network cable through it along with a patch panel, switch and shared drive for media. Then I decided I wanted to board the loft out, fit some ladders and change the lights up there to make a massive storage space, so that was Project number 2.

I'm glad I did both of these and it's really improved the house in the 3 months that we've owned it, but I think if I had to get the place renovated and do every room it would have been far too much. The next job is to sort the brick shed out as it needs a new floor, but that's for when the weather improves.

phoebe1989seb

Apart from our first flat, every property DH & I have owned has been a project as we're just not attracted to the idea of buying somewhere with someone else's (often hideous) design choices imposed upon it - so it would be the project house for me.

Having sold the flat, we moved into our first house when I was 22 and DS was six weeks old and that property needed virtually everything doing (gch - there was none, rewire, new kitchen, bathroom, garden landscaping & redecorating throughout). Tbh, sometimes it feels as though we've been living on a building site ever since.....and that was 30 years ago, lol!

We gradually moved up the ladder from a three bed terraced to a six bed detached and, having finally downsized, we are currently sympathetically renovating/remodelling a 400 year old three bed rural cottage that we bought two years ago as a repossession.

However, despite the inconveniences, every home we've owned has felt entirely our choice, both layout and decorating-wise. We've learned loads of skills on the way as we have DIYed the majority and although I haven't necessarily made it sound that way, it's huge fun (imho  )

franklee

I would go for the one with the best garden.

amieloustew

franklee said:

I would go for the one with the best garden.

THIS!!! however, gardens are very similar in layout.

Skiddaw1

I rather like the third one. It seems more spacious and light to me (and it has the largest garden). Doesn't look like it needs more than total redecoration.