Buying a house that needs work.

Romepen

I am buying a house that hasn't been lived in for a year. The previous owner had 5 greyhounds and they were left to wander freely all around the property. It is a big house with 4 reception rooms and 5 bedrooms.  The odour is unbearably pungent, it is definitely dog urine and my sense of smell is terrible but is could smell it. 

How do I get rid of this smell?  The garden is a jungle , where would I start with that? Would I  have to take all the wallpaper down? I am sure the property has rats too,  I do intend on doing the cleaning myself, is it possible or should I hire professionals? 

ThisIsWeird

Surely eminently doable?
99% of the smell will be coming from the floor, so obviously remove all the flooring materials.
I suspect - but haven't looked - that there are tailored chemical cleaners that will help to neutralise those of wee and poo, so some deep scrubbing will likely be required. Then allow to dry, and coat with a suitable sealer - possibly just SBR will do, cheap and easy to use. 
Then an airtight floor sheet, sealed around the perimeter, before the new flooring of choice.
All wallpaper off. Sugar-soap. Again seal if needed, but unlikely to be required. 
Labour-intensive, so large savings if you DIY this. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Romepen said:

How do I get rid of this smell?  

Are there carpets, getting rid of any would be a good start, open all the windows, cover any wooden floors in baking soda and give everything a good scrub. 

Romepen said:

The garden is a jungle , where would I start with that? 

At the bit closest to the back door  

Hard to say what a jungle means, photos might help if you have any. Weeds and such should start dying off shortly, cut out everything else you don't want and once spring appears keep on top of the garden and slowly mould it to what you want.

Romepen said:

Would I  have to take all the wallpaper down? 

Does it look bad? Do you want to?

Romepen said:

 I am sure the property has rats too

In the house or the garden? If you clear the garden there will be less places for them to live and they'll hopefully move on.

If they are in the house look on your local council website and they may offer a service to come and lay poison, our council are surprisingly affordable with this. 

Romepen said:

 I do intend on doing the cleaning myself, is it possible or should I hire professionals? 

Anything is possible If you have the time and inclination clean yourself, if not and you have the money pay someone to deep clean the house, same with clearing the garden really. 

It sounds like you feel a bit overwhelmed but once you get stared and see some progress it will probably be a bit less stressful.
 

twopenny

Have you somewhere to stay at the beginning? Friend, family, hotel?
Don't move clothes or furniture in until you have cleaned 2rooms. The bedroom and kitchen first then you can sleep and eat as you go. Bathroom obvs but that should be quickest and easiest.

 Because you need to make a start somewhere.
I'd also clear enough space out the back door for a table and chair.

If you're thinking of moving in winter that's going to be tougher as it would be best to leave the windows and doors open. Layers of clothes. A boiler suit is comfy and keeps you warm.

Sale time after Christmas. Everything from furniture to bathroom stuff.

I moved into a place that hadn't been lived in for 15yrs and midwinter. Not fun but made a den in the bedroom, clean kitchen, eating at supermarket cafe because it was warm and out of the mess.

Garden hard work and easy to do skill wise. You may find plants and beds already under the wild. 

FreeBear

twopenny said: Garden hard work and easy to do skill wise. You may find plants and beds already under the wild.

Or you may find a mountain of junk that needs multiple skips to get rid of.

Brie

I got a gardener (with assistant) to come and do a major garden tidy - cost me £160 for 4 hours and another £40 for them to take away a LOT of prunings.  They didn't do any major renovation just made it look like some place you might like to walk around and think about what to do the next year.  I made it clear when I first had him to work that I was after a tidy so I could see what was there - not an expectation that it would be a putting green lawn.  That meant they could attack it with some vigour knowing I was going to throw a major hissy if they ran over something with the lawn mower.

I still employ him as he can do the hard work and I can just waft about picking roses or whatever and the garden is a joy to look at.  

oldernonethewiser

There are many cleaning/gardening/pestcontrol companies that will deal with all of the issues.

Depends if you want to spend money or have a go yourself