Buying a fixer upper

[vwdan]

Having spent the last 12 months renovating our house with most work done by yours truly - my advice is yes to renovation, but no to living there. It depends on what you define as a renovation - we knocked a wall through for the kitchen and then almost EVERYTHING else apart from the walls was renewed. So, that's all lath and plaster ceilings down, plaster off most walls, complete rewire with LOTS of chasing (We moved every single plug and switch), complete new plumbing, new bathroom, new kitchen, new flooring and joists downstairs, all new wood work (of course!), knock chimneys out (They'd been bricked up) and prep for wood burners, new windows and pretty much anything else you could think of.

The dirt, dust and muck I just can not describe. It'd be a bit different if it's a more modern house with plasterboard throughout, but lath and plaster is ******* something else. I can't even describe!

I personally, could not have coped with the additional stress of having to keep areas clean (Bordering impossible), keeping electricity and plumbing going (hard, very hard), living there and doing the work. Having a nice clean house to retreat to, with a nice clean shower was a god send. I mean, it was a literal building site in every sense of the word.

The other thing is that's it's very very tough to do something like a rewire in stages - you really want to get in there and rip everything out.

I'd do another renovation though - we're not quite finished, but just waiting on a bit of cash to get some of the final pretty stuff done. I absolutely loved it - a proper break away from computers and IT.

[Pip in a Poke]

Yes, the most important aspect is location eg: near train station etc.
Make sure it has a good roof and no large cracks. It is real is easy.
175k sold 350k

I know you say to buy at auction but I've seen a few properties on zoopla that would fit the bill.

Do you really get a better deal at auction?

[doconline]

We did this with our last house. Pretty similar to what CyclingProgrammer has done. We weren't looking to buy, do up and sell like you sound like you.

We've done bathroom, kitchen, downstairs electrics (as part of kitchen), added stud wall partition, plastered whole house except for stairs, downstairs cloakroom, entrance hall, flooring etc, 2 upstairs rooms extended in to the eaves. Took about 8 months in total (without starting on the garden - that's this spring). If you can get somewhere with a 2nd toilet that is a god send for when you replace the bathroom, as you could be without one for a few days.

If you are going to live in whilst renovating, be prepared to live in mess for the duration. Have a clean room or 2 if you can to get away from the mess. Store as much stuff as you can in the garage / loft etc so you don't have a lot to move around whilst the work is being done and expect things to take longer than quoted. If you are doing a renovation, there will always be little jobs that crop up / alterations you want to make when you see the space etc.

Profit you can make will all depend on how much you get it for etc. If you aren't going to make it your home do the renovation with your head not your heart and you will save some money. Keep things neutral but a good spec, not cheap and cheerful (unless the area allows it).

[Pip in a Poke]

Having spent the last 12 months renovating our house with most work done by yours truly - my advice is yes to renovation, but no to living there. It depends on what you define as a renovation - we knocked a wall through for the kitchen and then almost EVERYTHING else apart from the walls was renewed. So, that's all lath and plaster ceilings down, plaster off most walls, complete rewire with LOTS of chasing (We moved every single plug and switch), complete new plumbing, new bathroom, new kitchen, new flooring and joists downstairs, all new wood work (of course!), knock chimneys out (They'd been bricked up) and prep for wood burners, new windows and pretty much anything else you could think of.

The dirt, dust and muck I just can not describe. It'd be a bit different if it's a more modern house with plasterboard throughout, but lath and plaster is ******* something else. I can't even describe!

I personally, could not have coped with the additional stress of having to keep areas clean (Bordering impossible), keeping electricity and plumbing going (hard, very hard), living there and doing the work. Having a nice clean house to retreat to, with a nice clean shower was a god send. I mean, it was a literal building site in every sense of the word.

The other thing is that's it's very very tough to do something like a rewire in stages - you really want to get in there and rip everything out.

I'd do another renovation though - we're not quite finished, but just waiting on a bit of cash to get some of the final pretty stuff done. I absolutely loved it - a proper break away from computers and IT.

Yes, I know all about lathe and plaster from removing an old ceiling in my last house. Vile, black dust that gets everywhere.

You did the rewire yourself?

[vwdan]

Yes, I know all about lathe and plaster from removing an old ceiling in my last house. Vile, black dust that gets everywhere.

You did the rewire yourself?

Yep, that's the stuff - it was new to me and an experience I won't forget.

Kinda with the wiring - had a tame sparkie on hand for some pointers and finishing up. He told what cables he wanted me to use for each circuit and then I did my own thing for the most part - running cables, chasing out, fitting back boxes, sourcing components and he came and wired up the board and the bits I couldn't be arsed with (Wiring sockets is fiddly as ****) and checked and tested (Proper testing) everything. You're not strictly meant to do it that way, but no worse than setting an apprentice on it.

[Martin@AS Financial]

From a mortgage point of view for a fixer upper, you need to make sure the property is deemed to be habitable in the eyes of the lender. Essentially, this means that it needs to have a functioning bathroom and kitchen.

If you go down the auction road, once your bid is successful then you will normally be expected to pay an immediate non-refundable deposit of 10% of the purchase price. If you have not previously arranged the mortgage up front then you are parting with a lot of money without ensuring that

(i) you will be acceptable to the lender

(ii) that the property will be acceptable to the lender. You would therefore pay your deposit, subsequently apply for the mortgage and you could then hit problems.

The alternative to this would be to arrange the mortgage in advance. Most auction houses will typically allow a small window of viewing time prior to the auction where you could arrange for the mortgage company’s surveyor to visit the property to ensure that it will be acceptable security. However, you should note that the some lenders charge for their mortgage valuations and therefore you would incur costs without knowing whether or not you will secure the property.

[Pip in a Poke]

Yep, that's the stuff - it was new to me and an experience I won't forget.

Kinda with the wiring - had a tame sparkie on hand for some pointers and finishing up. He told what cables he wanted me to use for each circuit and then I did my own thing for the most part - running cables, chasing out, fitting back boxes, sourcing components and he came and wired up the board and the bits I couldn't be arsed with (Wiring sockets is fiddly as ****) and checked and tested (Proper testing) everything. You're not strictly meant to do it that way, but no worse than setting an apprentice on it.

How did you deal with building control? Did you notify them of the whole project and they charged a fee proportional to your spend or did you get them out on a more ad hoc basis? ( £200 a pop round here)

[sasguru]

...and living in it at the same time.

Anyone ever taken this on and lived to tell the story?

My rationale is that I'm in limbo with the proceeds from my sale & I don't want to enter into a long term rental.

Money down the drain.

Yes, there are obvious risks but fortune favours the brave and all that...

The main thing is to acquire something that I would be happy living in should I get lumbered with it through circumstances such as the market going belly up.

Yeah did this on current main property. Would NOT recommend.
It's a large 4/5 bed, 2 bath, 2 reception property that had been unchanged since the 70s.
Needed new plumbing, electrics, complete redecoration, including some plastering and total painting, knocking down walls, new windows etc etc.
Mostly done now after 4 years, in stages, but very stressful.
In the end, for a while, we rented another house (for 3 months at great expense) while they blitzed it.
Luckily had a superb Polish gang who finished everything to a high quality and didn't waste any time.

Problem is if you live there it becomes a slow process since you can't gut it straight away and have to have bits still working - this is impossible when it comes to electrics/plumbing (that's the point at which we moved out).
But knocking down walls and redecorating/reinstalling bits is bad enough.

I would seriously suggest renting close to property, gutting it and doing it all from scratch.

Having said which, now its done its been valued at > 7 figures, and we bought it 5 years ago at considerably < 7 figures. A few hundred grand profit after costs - it was expensive to start with based on size and location.

[vwdan]

How did you deal with building control? Did you notify them of the whole project and they charged a fee proportional to your spend or did you get them out on a more ad hoc basis? ( £200 a pop round here)

cough It got signed off by the spark like any normal rewire

[Pip in a Poke]

cough It got signed off by the spark like any normal rewire

When I sold my house recently, I was shocked at how many things I'd done that required building regs. The windows I'd replaced, electrics etc.

I just lied and said it was all done pre 2005.