Experiences with buying houses needing work

ianmackay88

Hi all.

Just after peoples experiences on buying houses needing work.

I'm looking at this house www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/80132568#/ I have viewed it once.

I'm a first time buyer and after speaking to estate agents, I think an offer of £180k will be accepted. Done up well, the house probably has a potential value of around £210k.

It has a roof leak in the upstairs bedroom and and a penetrating damp problem on the external wall in the living room. I will have a full survey of course but after speaking to people, the most common issues that cause these will be relatively cheap to fix.

In order for it to be liveable for me I would also have to immediately replace the flooring and put a kitchen in. I have a budget of around £9k (a mix of savings with some small lending/finance after completion of course) to do the repairs and flooring/kitchen with a mix of tradesmen and DIY.

There are a quite a few other things I would want to do in the house but I can do these over the next 2 or 3 years while living there in order to maximise the value.

Really what I'm after is whether others have done anything similar and did they regret it or were they happy they did it. What issues should I consider etc. I'm a first time buyer and so don't have any experience in house buying etc. and am concerned I may be taking too much on for my first property.

SameOldRoundabout

It’s a little bit of a project house but certainly not a huge project. I’d have taken it on as my first if I liked it. If you can live in it as you save to do more then I can’t see why not. 

We live a couple of miles away and house prices in the Vale are just going up and up (although Llantwit slightly less so than closer towards Cardiff). Family live in Llantwit and it’s a nice quiet place to live, great fossil hunting too! 

ianmackay88

SameOldRoundabout said:

It’s a little bit of a project house but certainly not a huge project. I’d have taken it on as my first if I liked it. If you can live in it as you save to do more then I can’t see why not. 

We live a couple of miles away and house prices in the Vale are just going up and up (although Llantwit slightly less so than closer towards Cardiff). Family live in Llantwit and it’s a nice quiet place to live, great fossil hunting too! 

Thanks. I’ve lived in Llantwit my whole life and don’t want to leave because of house prices pricing me out so this seemed like good option, just a little wary, but you’re probably right it’s not like it’s falling down or anything. 

MovingForwards

Your proposed home is a lot newer inside than mine.
All I've done so far is remove the lounge carpet, paint the lounge to tone the woodwork down, one bedroom and hallway.
I'm saving up to do everything, but have some DIY knowledge and have done a lot of painting over the years.

Cut the bushes down / dig them out to let air circulate, live in the property before making changes and get a good feel for how it works for you. It avoids any expensive mistakes.

Have a read through the DIY section to pick up hints, tips and ideas on costings.

Rosa_Damascena

Its a nice first home, with plenty of scope for cosmetic improvement. I'd say"why wait?"