Full on house refurb

[chrisroe]

just spent 5 months doing the above

if you want e mail me your e mail address and i will sent you some photos

etc

four weeks off then onto the next one

first step is

dont buy it unless you are well below market price

simply the best advice

watch Sarah beeny enjoy she does talk sense

 

[Scott]

I did hear through the grapevine you just done a big refurb chris Glad to hearits all finished and sold!

 

[macten]

Couldn't get that big old house in the end - can't get a mortgage on it as it is is such a state so it will no doubt go in a cash sale.

Have had an offer accepted on another house which is livable as it is but I still need to do loads of work to it. Apart from the obvious cosmetics of totally redecorating/tiling the more costly works are:

Full re-wire
New kitchen
New bathroom
Studding of a doorway and opening a wall out downstairs
Removing hearth and gas fire
Removing hot water tank/boiler and replace with combi - heating system seems quite new but need space to knock through into airing cupboard and toilet to make ensuite.

Lots of other stuff too and it all adds up but hoping to do as much as I can myself to keep costs down. That's where you lot come in as any advice/suggestions will greatly be received as I tackle each bit. Hope to be living in there by xmas, scared and excited as I can't afford to muck this up.

will probably get kitchen, bathrooms and all sorts of other stuff from B&Q as they have a 5 year interest free offer on purchases over 6 grand at the moment.

 

[jay]

live in it for a while and work out how to improve it in resale value try not to overcapitalise on it look foward to your new hobbie

 

[user123]

I have actually done this, twice!!

Check for building regs limitations

New roof, including joists, insulation..

Doors, windows

Damp-proof floors and damp proof course in walls

Check and fix new where necessary drains, manhole access, etc in acc to new regs, do land drains go into neighbouring properties and do you have permission now to have them there (minefield, trust me...:incazzato

If there is an extension, if it's single breeze block, knock it down and get new foundations for double breeze block insulated walls to take 2 storeys

Check staircase, new or old, for compliance with building regs... often they are too steep for the new laws... you don't want to find out afterwards..

Plumbing

Electrics

Flooring

Heating

Making good the walls (new or old ones :lol

And then the nice staff starts... new kitchen, bathroom, plastering walls... choosing pretty things... the order of things may change slightly depending on circumstances re drains etc.. but the roof is the main thing to make good first.

Good luck, look after your back and knees

 

[user123]

I just read, you're not getting that house any more... oh well,... good luck with the other one... :lol:

 

[mikethetile]

mac

do your sums carefully and have a realistic budget for this then add about 20%

anyone who has done this will tell you how hard it is especially when you were living in them as I was

I bought my first one years ago when I was in an estate agents looking at vicky terraces for around the 40k mark and a builder walked in and gave an address and said Ill give 6k cash and not a penny more

I quized the estate agent about this and he said it wouldnt get a mortgage due to the dry rot which had made it structurely unsound

I wanted one at 6k cash but ended up with one that was collapsing for 12k cash, it took over 20k and two years doing it myself. I made about 20k which was a lot of money then and I bought my next house and so on

lost the lot in the divorce but thats another story

im not saying dont do it as there is serious money to be made but go in with a realistic budget and timescale bearing in mind you will still need to earn a living while your doing it. get around all the estate agents and ask for them to let you know when they have a property they cant shift

I did go to a few auctions but never bought anything as the prices ended up not far short of the market value and there was little money to be made

 

[Scott]

We spent a long time looking for the one we are doing at the moment. With all the programmes on tv like Property Ladder etc there are so many people out there wanting to do the same thing. This has pushed prices up, even in todays housing market the houses that need work are priced higher than they should be as they know there are more people who want to try and make a fast buck.

Ask an agent for a realistic market value of how much it will be worth when its finished, get a different agent though as the one who is selling it will tell you whatever you want to hear!

My advice on a boiler would be for a mains pressure cylinder with a system boiler. Whilst the cylinders are more expensive its a hell of a lot easier to plumb it you get the system fit ones. Most can go in the loft and free up the space you need. I dont like the combi boilers in family homes as they dont always deliver what you need. You also get excellent showers off a mains cylinder, providing the pressure is there to start with.

Good luck with you new venture and i hope you make a buck or 2

 

[Deleted member 9966]

we bought our house as a repo. totally unloved as it had been a buy to let. leaking bathrooms, rotting window frames, jungle gardens. ours is a long time house (at least 8-10 years in this one) so we got it for just shy of 150k, 8k under the asking, and after having the windows and doors replaced, bathrooms re-fitted and tiled properly, nearly all the rooms are decorated, and probably spent a large chunk of cash in the gardens, it looks like it should considering it's now 7 years old.

 

[mikethetile]

your right with this scott

I gave up on this years ago as I couldnt find property cheap enough plus anyone could get a mortgage on anything which killed the cheap cash deals

but with the market the way it is now and mortgages hard to come by the cash deals should start emerging again

as your going through it you can testify to how hard it is to live on a building site 24/7