Should I buy an absolutely run down property or avoid it?

davidmcn

user1168934 said:

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

Have you checked, assuming you aren't a cash buyer, that you can get a mortgage?  Certain things you've written suggest the house might not be inhabitable in its present condition; if it is uninhabitable then you will find it difficult, if not impossible, to get a mortgage.  

I had not considered that. I am not a cash buyer (I wish I had this much cash). The EA said that house is not habitable (although some elderly person was living there until recently).

Did they mean "not habitable" in the same sense as mortgage lenders would, or clarify which aspects made it uninhabitable?

user1168934

davidmcn said:

user1168934 said:

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

Have you checked, assuming you aren't a cash buyer, that you can get a mortgage?  Certain things you've written suggest the house might not be inhabitable in its present condition; if it is uninhabitable then you will find it difficult, if not impossible, to get a mortgage.  

I had not considered that. I am not a cash buyer (I wish I had this much cash). The EA said that house is not habitable (although some elderly person was living there until recently).

Did they mean "not habitable" in the same sense as mortgage lenders would, or clarify which aspects made it uninhabitable?

The EA said that at the moment electricity and water are disconnected, the property will require rewiring because the wiring etc is out of date and he said, "It is not in a liveable state at the moment, these things will need to be fixed before you can move in".

davidmcn

user1168934 said:

davidmcn said:

user1168934 said:

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

Have you checked, assuming you aren't a cash buyer, that you can get a mortgage?  Certain things you've written suggest the house might not be inhabitable in its present condition; if it is uninhabitable then you will find it difficult, if not impossible, to get a mortgage.  

I had not considered that. I am not a cash buyer (I wish I had this much cash). The EA said that house is not habitable (although some elderly person was living there until recently).

Did they mean "not habitable" in the same sense as mortgage lenders would, or clarify which aspects made it uninhabitable?

The EA said that at the moment electricity and water are disconnected, the property will require rewiring because the wiring etc is out of date and he said, "It is not in a liveable state at the moment, these things will need to be fixed before you can move in".

Physically "disconnected" (i.e. by the suppliers), or merely turned off? The latter isn't a problem (you just turn it back on!), and old wiring doesn't make something uninhabitable (as long as it works and isn't a deathtrap).

Usually estate agents are fairly clear if they know something is unmortgageable and say it's for cash buyers only (so as not to waste everybody's time), so they may just have been overstating things.

user1168934

davidmcn said:

user1168934 said:

davidmcn said:

user1168934 said:

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

Have you checked, assuming you aren't a cash buyer, that you can get a mortgage?  Certain things you've written suggest the house might not be inhabitable in its present condition; if it is uninhabitable then you will find it difficult, if not impossible, to get a mortgage.  

I had not considered that. I am not a cash buyer (I wish I had this much cash). The EA said that house is not habitable (although some elderly person was living there until recently).

Did they mean "not habitable" in the same sense as mortgage lenders would, or clarify which aspects made it uninhabitable?

The EA said that at the moment electricity and water are disconnected, the property will require rewiring because the wiring etc is out of date and he said, "It is not in a liveable state at the moment, these things will need to be fixed before you can move in".

Physically "disconnected" (i.e. by the suppliers), or merely turned off? The latter isn't a problem (you just turn it back on!), and old wiring doesn't make something uninhabitable (as long as it works and isn't a deathtrap).

Usually estate agents are fairly clear if they know something is unmortgageable and say it's for cash buyers only (so as not to waste everybody's time), so they may just have been overstating things.

I dont know any more details than that to be honest. He did not explicitly say that it was unmortgageable or for cash buyers only and he knows that I will be buying with a mortgage. He did say in his own words that the property will require £35K to £40K worth of work.

phoebe1989seb

For context, we paid around 40% less than the original asking price on a very rundown 1400 sq ft cottage in Wales three years ago, but this was after it had been on the market for ages and eventually repossessed.

We were cash buyers with money set aside for the renovations, but it's still ended up costing more than budgeted as old buildings (ours is 400 years old, not listed) are never straightforward.

However, I've seen the original marketing pics and tbh the condition at that time wasn't noticeably better so with the initial asking price they were kite flying imho.

We've spent around £80k on the property including rewire, new boiler, two wood burning stoves, new bathroom and kitchen (although both include fairly expensive components so the kitchen cost approx £20k), some timber DG windows, major reconfiguration, redecorating, garden landscaping and a borehole.

It would have cost far more but we've done a lot ourselves - plastering, building work and decorating including tiling.

robinwales

Your estimate of at least £40k for renovation sounds very low to me. Gas connection and CH install about £15k. New kitchen £15k. Bathroom £12K. Rewire £8k. That alone is £50k, plus all the other work you might need - new woodwork, plastering, flooring, garden landscaping. Or were you planning on doing a lot of the work yourself?

eddddy

user1168934 said:
The EA said that at the moment electricity and water are disconnected, the property will require rewiring because the wiring etc is out of date and he said, "It is not in a liveable state at the moment, these things will need to be fixed before you can move in".

Perhaps I'm reading to much into this.... but that sounds like the EA is subtly trying to talk you out of offering.  Whereas typically, EAs will encourage anyone/everyone to make offers.

Possible reasons might include...

• The EA doesn't think you'll proceed. For example, you need a high LTV mortgage which won't be given on a property like this, or maybe the EA thinks you'll back out following surveys, estimates of costs, etc.

• If the EA is dodgy, it could also be because they want the property to go to a developer contact, or similar. (Does the property have development potential - beyond doing a straightforward refurb?)

You can quiz the EA a bit more on the mortgage issues, if you want. (Some EAs will just talk complete nonsense, but an experienced EA should be able to give you useful insight.)

ProDave

I bought a house in that sort of state, because it was the only way I could get a house with a large garden and off road parking (and space to build a garage) for what I could afford.  And it was in a nice location in a nice village with an open outlook.

Everything else I looked at that I could afford was horrible little boxes with tiny gardens in over crowded housing estates that might have been warm and comfortable but would never have been anything other than a small box on a horrible estate.

Buy a house for the things you can't change. Everything else is fixable.

Dark_Star

Perhaps you can give us a clue where this house is as someone here may be able to advise if it is a fair price etc. I saw a similar property recently but when I looked at street view, it was on a horrendously busy road that led to an industrial estate & a train station. It will never be quiet. On the other hand, you'd never be late for a train!  I'd love a fixer-upper. The rest of the family probably would not though...    

seradane

robinwales said:

Your estimate of at least £40k for renovation sounds very low to me. Gas connection and CH install about £15k. New kitchen £15k. Bathroom £12K. Rewire £8k. That alone is £50k, plus all the other work you might need - new woodwork, plastering, flooring, garden landscaping. Or were you planning on doing a lot of the work yourself?

Agreed. I don't think it's possible to renovate an entire house for £40k, at least not in the south east, and not without doing a huge amount yourself. I've recently been getting quotes for renovation works to our conventional 3-bed semi (and nothing so involved as a rewire or services connections) and prices are double or more what I thought they would be based on fairly extensive internet research. Maybe it's Brexit/Covid/South East factors but either way it's gone from spending a bit to upgrade the house to having to consider whether we'd be massively over-capitalising on the property to do these things...