Should i take up this offer??

shopaholic2008

Me and my OH are looking to move into rented accomodation together very soon. We are in the progress of saving for a deposit and starting to look around.

A friend of the family has offered us a place a bit out of town but a very good size, it also has a huge garden. The catch is, it is in desparate need of doing up and we would get it cheap so we could do it up ourselves. They want £550 a month from us and then it would be up to us to sort the place out. When i say needs doing up i mean it hasnt been touched for two years and is very dirty, it really needs a new kitchen and bathroom but i suppose a good clean and they would be livable but not very nice. It needs painting but that is easy enough. The place really needs carpets aswell as at the moment it is old floorboards.

It would be a good place to start and the place is for a year at the max. We dont have much stuff so would be collecting stuff as we go and will be saving up like mad for either a place of our own or somewhere to rent in town.

We could just about afford it but it seems to be happening very quickly, im just not sure cause of the state the house is in?
Could anyone offer any advice i would love some different opinions!!

beecher

What are other rental properties in the area like? Could you get something cheaper? This property may be cheap compared to others that size, and with a huge garden but do you need those things? I wouldn't be happy about paying for carpets etc as the rent doesn't seem to me to cheap enough to warrant that sort of expense.

poppysarah

So you'd pay rent and do it up for them?

Can you come and do a few for me?

shopaholic2008

For that kind of price we could get a tiny one bed flat in the same area. Most properties are over £600 per month, that said though they wouldnt need any work done and would be closer to friends and family.

What im worried about is not being able to live in that kind of mess ~ but i guess thats for me to decide.
also im worried that we will spend a bit on getting it up together and nice and then 1) we will have to leave and 2) we could of spent the money on debts or deposit.

However we are both desparate to get our first place together.

poppysarah

shopaholic2008 wrote: »

first place together.

Don't add in the stress of living in a shed.

hearts

If it was long term I would say go for it. But the work involved would mean you living and working in it for a year then handing it back decorated and looking I would presume far better and ready for sale. Short term NO. Long term YES.

shopaholic2008

poppysarah wrote: »

So you'd pay rent and do it up for them?

Can you come and do a few for me?

I know it sounds stupid but we are getting the rent at about half price ~ after we go the plan is for them to knock it down and start again, however are waiting a year to do this. We wouldn't do it up to a high standard just very basic but clean tidy and nice. :rolleyes:

beecher

shopaholic2008 wrote: »

For that kind of price we could get a tiny one bed flat in the same area. Most properties are over £600 per month, that said though they wouldnt need any work done and would be closer to friends and family.

What im worried about is not being able to live in that kind of mess ~ but i guess thats for me to decide.
also im worried that we will spend a bit on getting it up together and nice and then 1) we will have to leave and 2) we could of spent the money on debts or deposit.

However we are both desparate to get our first place together.

Well if you're only going to save £50/month and stay for a year, then you'd have to be able to make it as nice as the other places for under £600. Doesn't sound like that's possible. I'd be more inclined to take the cheapest place going which needs no outlay and put everything towards clearing debts, but it wouldn't really bother me to live in a tiny 1 bed flat, and it may bother you.

beecher

shopaholic2008 wrote: »

I know it sounds stupid but we are getting the rent at about half price ~ after we go the plan is for them to knock it down and start again, however are waiting a year to do this. We wouldn't do it up to a high standard just very basic but clean tidy and nice. :rolleyes:

So the place would normally go for about £1200/month if it was in a better condition? I'm not sure I get the logic of looking at it this way - isn't the object to rent the cheapest place possible rather than somewhere you couldn't normally afford?

melee67

How does £550 compare with rent generally in the area? Is it well below the going rate? And have the owners of this house come up with some sort of budget for the renovation work? I'd definitely thrash that out with them - i.e., do they expect you to pay for all the materials yourself, or just for you to put in the labour? I shouldn't think you'll save any money over a year if you have to pay to put in a bathroom and kitchen yourselves. And what standard will they expect of any work?

I think you need to get a lot more detail about just what is expected on both sides.

chappers

Sounds like a pretty 5hit deal to me you pay them rent for an unrentable property and then pay to do it up so you can live in it only for a year.
You would be better off putting the money, you would spend on making it habitable, towards the rent on something you could actually live in close to your friends.

The other alternative is to just clean it and have cheap rent for a year.