Buying a run down house help anyone have any experience

gingerbean88

Hi 
I've seen a property that I would like to buy. But it is quite run down. It has an over grown garden and rotted windows. It's not on rightmove, the owner has agreed to sell it to me for £100,000 which is really cheap for where it is. It's just I dont have £100k I have £50k saved up. Do you think a bank will give me a mortgage, with it being in a bad state of repairs?

Please help me or give me some advice. 

hazyjo

Does it have a functioning kitchen and bathroom?

moneysavinghero

The bank will value it, if they think it's worth £100k in it's current state then you should be able to get a mortgage. Overgrown garden and rotted windows will not be an issue. Bigger issues might be. Basically the house needs to be habitable. Is it really cheap because there are bigger issues than just a few grand needing throwing at it for new windows and a bit of hard graft to get the garden back in shape?

FreeBear

£50K of savings could quite easily be eaten up in refurbishing a property depending on what needs doing.

phoebe1989seb

FreeBear said:

£50K of savings could quite easily be eaten up in refurbishing a property depending on what needs doing.

This ^

We've bought/owned several run down properties - ranging in age from Victorian back to Tudor - and all have swallowed up vast quantities of cash to restore/refurbish.

Several were unmortgageable including our current 400 year old cottage that had no water supply when we purchased it as a repossession just over three years ago.

Another had several kitchens (it had previously been divided into four tenanted flats) and our mortgage application was turned down as a result. We were very fortunate that my parents could buy it for cash and we later purchased it from them 😉

We've completed majority of the restoration works ourselves over the years, learning skills as we went along. Nonetheless, I don't think in our last five houses we've ever spent less than £45k on materials/labour - and that was on a place we only half finished!

The average has been in the region of £100k......

FreeBear

https://search.savills.com/property-detail/gbedruedr100016 - Bought for £3m in 2009 as a wreck. Another £3.5m on repairs & renovations, and now on the market for £3.9m. Whilst a bit of an extreme example, it does illustrate the point that renovating a property can easily cost more than the original purchase price.

AdrianC

gingerbean88 said:

I've seen a property that I would like to buy. But it is quite run down. It has an over grown garden and rotted windows.

Garden - easy. Bit of elbow grease.
Windows - throw a little bit of money at them.

The question is what you haven't spotted... Yet.

Wiring, heating, plumbing, kitchen, bathroom - all pretty much guaranteed.
Insulation - definitely going to want improving.
Plastering - if it doesn't already, it will post wiring.
Ceilings and floors?
Roof?
Damp?
Subsidence?

Do you have a cynical friend who knows their way around houses, who can have a look round with you?

It's not on rightmove, the owner has agreed to sell it to me for £100,000 which is really cheap for where it is. It's just I dont have £100k I have £50k saved up. Do you think a bank will give me a mortgage, with it being in a bad state of repairs?

It all depends on how bad it is now - and what it'd be worth done.

Have you considered the cost of doing all the work it needs...?
How much are you happy to DIY, and how much will you want to point-and-pay?

AlexMac

hazyjo said:

Does it have a functioning kitchen and bathroom?

and if yes, a lender will consider it; so try a few for a mortgage in principle, beginning with their online affordability calculators.  I have been well-served by the Nationwide, and before that by the Halifax, although my own bank- Natwest - once refised me a loan , or rather, imposed a 100% retention - due to the awaful condition of an auction property I bought (yest, stupid me, but Halifax bailed me out).

If you're up for DIY it could be a fun project; I've done 3, spending up to £35k for a full re-wire, re-plumb (obviously by professionals) , new kitchen/bathroom and new roof, with lots of DIY en route, but that bidggest one was 20 years ago, so prices will have risen.

Lots out there on the web such as;
https://www.self-build.co.uk/how-to-renovate-a-house-pricing-up-your-project/

So start by trying for a loan; Nationwide also have procedure guides for the novice buyer; good luck