Topic: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread

[Drinks Sangria]

My cousin's tiny two bed terrace in Hanwell was valued at £750k two years ago,god knows what it's 'worth' now.

That's mad. My first house was a two bed terrace, no parking but big garden backing onto fields, two really good sized bedrooms that could easily fit king sized beds and big wardrobes in, an en-suite in one as well as a downstairs bathroom, long but narrow galley kitchen and outdoor seating area, big lounge and big dining room. £95k. I wonder what it would be worth if you picked it up and plonked it in Zone 1 or 2.

[Slippers]

That's mad. My first house was a two bed terrace, no parking but big garden backing onto fields, two really good sized bedrooms that could easily fit king sized beds and big wardrobes in, an en-suite in one as well as a downstairs bathroom, long but narrow galley kitchen and outdoor seating area, big lounge and big dining room. £95k. I wonder what it would be worth if you picked it up and plonked it in Zone 1 or 2.

It's mad alright;the entire ground floor of his house would fit into my living room,the garden is tiny and there's nowhere to park.He probably paid around £90k for it in the eighties,sounds like a bargain now but at the time an identical house where I live would've cost £16k.

[BarryCrocker]

Absolutely. Even here in the arse-end of Bedfordshire (Luton) the value of my two bed semi has gone up so much since 2014 that I'd be looking at something twice the size up in Scotland, maybe for a bit cheaper.

It's the knock-on effect of the London property insanity. Lots of people have been forced out of the capital but want to remain working and retain social lives there so need somewhere with decent transport links back. From my house I can be in central London in less than an hour.

Same story in Dublin & Sydney. I think the low cost of borrowing money and reduced discretionary spending due to lockdowns means people have put more money to put into property. Supply  is also an issue which I believe is partially driven by people owning multiple investment properties and a lack of new builds.

House prices have increased 27% this year in Sydney. If you have a $1m property with a rental yield of 3% (Sydney average) and the property increases by 27% the yield drops to 2.36%. If that happens again (27%) it drops to 1.6% (assuming you increase rent by CPI of 4%).

What this means is that all investments are purely made on the assumption that there will be continued capital growth and not based on rental income. If there's a spike in inflation driven by the current supply chain issues and property prices go backwards there's going to be shit fight. Potentially much bigger than 2008.

I've said before that there should be either a limit or major taxes on owning multiple investment properties.

[Mark Walters]

Good luck mate.

Fingers crossed for you.

Fingers crossed!

Thank you, thank you. Still no news yet.

Where are the non-posh parts of Herts?

Ah right, Hemel.

I was walkiing down Berko high street with the gf yesterday and we were looking at the house prices in the estate agent windows... unbelieveable stuff to someone who lives in Fife.

It is unbelievable even for someone who doesn't live in Fife. We've seen so many bang average houses for ridiculous amounts of money. I reckon it's pure greed that pushes prices up: from sellers and estate agents.

[The G in Gerrard]

It's nuts, the divide in property values, as well as the increases. I live in a fairly remote rural area, in 2018 you could buy a small two bed house for £90k - £95k, which I did. They're now all £130k, untouched with nothing done to them.

We have recently purchased in what's considered a 'posh' area here in West Cheshire, a house needing a lot of work but still a reasonably sized 3 bed detached with a decent sized drive, private garden with fields at the back and on a quiet cul-de-sac. We paid less than £250k. Same thing would run you nearly double in the commuter belt of London, it's wild. They've said our areas gone up with the advent of more home working as people want to be in the countryside, and that we may get another boost when HS2 is operational. My worry is how long can this go on for? Other than a banking-caused collapse, there's been massive growth in property in the past 50 years. Younger generations are absolutely fucked. Someone like me, from a fairly impoverished background, who's never had assistance from family, as much as they'd have liked to, is never going to be able to afford property in 20 years time if it carries on.

Perhaps greater regulation of BTL markets are needed, or a rethink on how SDLT is calculated. Maybe concessions to purchases at the lower end of the market for first time buyers, proper assistance that isn't just a few extra thousand quid when people need to find £20k+ to put down on a house.

I think it'll come to a point where the help to buy scheme might be negligible In how much it helps first time buyers with prices going through the roof. Even 2 or 3 bed flats are circa £200k in some areas for 40/50% stake. It's mad.

[The G in Gerrard]

Absolutely. Even here in the arse-end of Bedfordshire (Luton) the value of my two bed semi has gone up so much since 2014 that I'd be looking at something twice the size up in Scotland, maybe for a bit cheaper.

It's the knock-on effect of the London property insanity. Lots of people have been forced out of the capital but want to remain working and retain social lives there so need somewhere with decent transport links back. From my house I can be in central London in less than an hour.

Yep I'm thinking of moving from Buckinghamshire area to Kent as I think there's slightly better value for property there and alot of people are moving away from London.

Finding a place that has reasonable commute time (& cost) to London is another factor also. Season ticket prices for rail is alot as well circa 5k to 5500 for year pass and that's not including underground.

[LiamG]

Had my completion date confirmed for Monday

Also paid my deposit and solicitor fees, handy got a nice sum off the government with my  HTB ISA as Well

[Drinks Sangria]

Had my completion date confirmed for Monday

Also paid my deposit and solicitor fees, handy got a nice sum off the government with my  HTB ISA as Well

Well done mate, great news. All the best in your new home.

I think it'll come to a point where the help to buy scheme might be negligible In how much it helps first time buyers with prices going through the roof. Even 2 or 3 bed flats are circa £200k in some areas for 40/50% stake. It's mad.

A flat being valued at £400k is just mind boggling in and of itself, that gets you a nicely decorated and modernised 3 bed detached round here with drive space and a good garden, in a nice spot.

Part of the issue is that with these shared ownership schemes, the house never seems to be worth the total amount that your weighted share suggests. Round here for example, on new build estates, £70k gets you 40% of a 2 bed end terrace. So the house should be £175k total right? Well no, because you can buy the exact same house, on the other side of the estate, but not in a shared ownership scheme, and it's £155k. Just not on really. More ways to take advantage of those without decent capital who need a home.

[The G in Gerrard]

Thank you, thank you. Still no news yet.

No news is good news?

[The G in Gerrard]

A flat being valued at £400k is just mind boggling in and of itself, that gets you a nicely decorated and modernised 3 bed detached round here with drive space and a good garden, in a nice spot.

Part of the issue is that with these shared ownership schemes, the house never seems to be worth the total amount that your weighted share suggests. Round here for example, on new build estates, £70k gets you 40% of a 2 bed end terrace. So the house should be £175k total right? Well no, because you can buy the exact same house, on the other side of the estate, but not in a shared ownership scheme, and it's £155k. Just not on really. More ways to take advantage of those without decent capital who need a home.

There's a saturation of flats in Bucks / London area. How the prices of them are meant to hold and not decrease, I don't know. I was thinking of renting my flat out when I move but literally around the corner from me is a block of new flats being made all for rental and where various things are paid for (fully furnished) in the rent which will have a knock on effect on rental properties around me.

I saw on right move a 3 bed in bucks for just over £250k and that's for a 50% stake in the property! Your spot on. I saw a development in Kent where they have reduced 3 bed by £15k to £375k. The same 3 build under shared ownership for 50% stake is £195k! So it reiterates your point that you're overpaying for something if you could get a mortgage by at least 15k. It's dreadful the housing market. Finding a house since the pandemic is such a tough task.

[Mark Walters]

No news is good news?

Unfortunately not.  We knew the minimum the seller would settle for and we knew we were up against another buyer who was also not in a chain.  Turns out that they blew us out of the water with an offer £20k+ more than ours! 😢 So our search continues...but with only 4 suitable houses out of the thousands we've seen on rightmove over the last 7/8 months who knows how long it will take for us to find the next one that matches our criteria?!

[The G in Gerrard]

Unfortunately not.  We knew the minimum the seller would settle for and we knew we were up against another buyer who was also not in a chain.  Turns out that they blew us out of the water with an offer £20k+ more than ours! 😢 So our search continues...but with only 4 suitable houses out of the thousands we've seen on rightmove over the last 7/8 months who knows how long it will take for us to find the next one that matches our criteria?!

Did think this would be the outcome. Sorry to hear that.

20k over?? Jesus you didn't stand a chance. My last offer on property was 5k less than asking price but they went with a first time buyer. It can be frustrating.

[Mark Walters]

Did think this would be the outcome. Sorry to hear that.

20k over?? Jesus you didn't stand a chance. My last offer on property was 5k less than asking price but they went with a first time buyer. It can be frustrating.

Our offer was £60k below the asking price so yes, not a surprise given how the market is at the moment.

[Slippers]

Did think this would be the outcome. Sorry to hear that.

20k over?? Jesus you didn't stand a chance. My last offer on property was 5k less than asking price but they went with a first time buyer. It can be frustrating.

I know a couple who offered £30k over the asking place for a cottage in Norfolk,they weren't in a chain and they were offering cash but they still lost out to another buyer.

[Mark Walters]

I know a couple who offered £30k over the asking place for a cottage in Norfolk,they weren't in a chain and they were offering cash but they still lost out to another buyer.

Happened to us as well. Offered nearly 40k over asking and lost out

[rob1966]

No wonder the housing market is fucked.

[The G in Gerrard]

No wonder the housing market is fucked.

Yep & it'll never be "easy" to get on property ladder now imo.

[Slippers]

No wonder the housing market is fucked.

I've been wanting to sell up for years but there's no way I'd even consider it at the moment.

It's fucking mental out there.

[rob1966]

Yep & it'll never be "easy" to get on property ladder now imo.

It's a disgrace

I've been wanting to sell up for years but there's no way I'd even consider it at the moment.

It's fucking mental out there.

Two bed just up the road from us sold for £235k the other month, the buyer lived opposite me and is doing property development - just gone up for £1k a month rent. He now owns 3 houses on our road. Its fucking wrong.

[Slippers]

It's a disgrace

Two bed just up the road from us sold for £235k the other month, the buyer lived opposite me and is doing property development - just gone up for £1k a month rent. He now owns 3 houses on our road. Its fucking wrong.

We're seeing a lot of sales falling through here at the moment,next door but one is now 'unexpectedly reavailable' at £10k more than the original asking price.

[Jake]

Lads and lasses:

Moving house because my next door neighbours dog won't shut up, too far?

[Crimson]

Lads and lasses:

Moving house because my next door neighbours dog won't shut up, too far?

Is the dog quoted in your signature?

[CraigDS]

Lads and lasses:

Moving house because my next door neighbours dog won't shut up, too far?

Few options.

Why is it barking for starters? Is it being left outside for long periods? If so you’ve a few ways to go in terms of reporting them.

[The G in Gerrard]

Does anyone know much or had experience of coach houses?

[Riquende]

We're seeing a lot of sales falling through here at the moment,next door but one is now 'unexpectedly reavailable' at £10k more than the original asking price.

My mate's chain which has been formed since the summer is still not resolved... he hears it's all down to the first time buyer at the bottom of the chain dragging their feet

Trouble is, the market moves so quickly that if you get to nearly 6 months without completion then the potential fees you'd pay to sell again would be covered by the increase in the value of the property. It's a selfish dick move to potentially collapse a chain and leave everyone out of pocket at square one, but if you're at the higher levels then the money could be tens of thousands more.

[Barneylfc∗]

Might be a bit difficult to say simply from looking at pictures, but what cost would you be looking at to make this house habitable?

https://www.propertypal.com/36-tennent-street-belfast/725495

[CraigDS]

You'd want to know about the big things to know for sure, so the roof (and any other damp), the electrics, and the boiler/plumbing. Depending on those a lot of the rest looks relatively cosmetic.

The walls look in decent condition so not like you'd have to replaster everywhere. Kitchen and bathroom look workable, but obviously depends if you want to upgrade / replace these.

[Barneylfc∗]

"Priced to allow for cosmetic upgrading"

So from that I'd assume there's no major work would need doing?

Wouldn't be buying it anyway, the area is a shit hole 

[Mark Walters]

Might be a bit difficult to say simply from looking at pictures, but what cost would you be looking at to make this house habitable?

https://www.propertypal.com/36-tennent-street-belfast/725495

Less than £10k.  Looks like it's mainly flooring and wallcoverings, whether paint or paper. (I have no idea of how much materials and labour cost in NI though. Could be a lot cheaper than London.)

[redbyrdz]

"Priced to allow for cosmetic upgrading"

So from that I'd assume there's no major work would need doing?

Wouldn't be buying it anyway, the area is a shit hole 

Could be either:
- we know it looks dated and needs decorating, but we can't be arsed doing it, so we pretend we have down priced it, even though we haven't
- there are actually major things that need fixing, but we are calling them "cosmetic" to make it sound better

[Drinks Sangria]

Could be either:
- we know it looks dated and needs decorating, but we can't be arsed doing it, so we pretend we have down priced it, even though we haven't
- there are actually major things that need fixing, but we are calling them "cosmetic" to make it sound better

Yeah judging by the price it's on at, I'd be very surprised if a conveyancer didn't come back to say there's some issue with the composition of the build, the roof, the wiring etc.

If it's sturdy, I'd echo what Mark said - under £10k. As soon as you factor in £1000 - £2500 for a rewire, £1600 - £3000 for a new boiler or anywhere from hundreds to £10k for roof work, you're suddenly looking at sinking an extra wedge on top to do that which is beyond cosmetics. That's as long as it doesn't need a damp course etc too.

We've had architect drawings and a discussion with our builder on price for our extension/ renovation etc. We would have a wall coming down, one going up to separate the living room off, rip down the conservatory, replace it with a proper brick extension, small shower room put in downstairs, new kitchen, aluminium bi-folds and velux in the roof of the new extension.

They've priced it at £27k (without VAT) before the kitchen and kitchen fit, which we can assume will be another £10k or so on top of that, so we're looking at £40k - £45k realistically, which does feel a lot. I think it'll be worth it, my partner is more reticent to part with what would essentially be all our savings (at this point). We're going to look at Kitchens this weekend and might consider 0% finance options to allow us to keep a buffer of savings for a while whilst we continue to earn.

[Jookie]

Might be a bit difficult to say simply from looking at pictures, but what cost would you be looking at to make this house habitable?

https://www.propertypal.com/36-tennent-street-belfast/725495

As others have said the bigger ticket items are roof, windows, kitchen, boiler, bathrooms, electric -  this is assuming no structural damage that needs attention.

Only photos but the kitchen and bathroom look serviceable and the windows look OK. Can't tell about roof, boiler or electrics from those photos.

If it is literally the cosmetic stuff then I'd say anywhere between 5-10k. Looks like it would need flooring and some decorating. Might need some re-plastering depending on how you want to decorate the walls.

If roof, boiler,windows etc.. needed work then it's going to be a lfair bit more than 10k.

[Jookie]

We've had architect drawings and a discussion with our builder on price for our extension/ renovation etc. We would have a wall coming down, one going up to separate the living room off, rip down the conservatory, replace it with a proper brick extension, small shower room put in downstairs, new kitchen, aluminium bi-folds and velux in the roof of the new extension.

They've priced it at £27k (without VAT) before the kitchen and kitchen fit, which we can assume will be another £10k or so on top of that, so we're looking at £40k - £45k realistically, which does feel a lot. I think it'll be worth it, my partner is more reticent to part with what would essentially be all our savings (at this point). We're going to look at Kitchens this weekend and might consider 0% finance options to allow us to keep a buffer of savings for a while whilst we continue to earn.

£40-45k is a lot of money. But based on personal experience and what you described it doesn't look over the top in terms of price. When you take down the wall do you need any structural beams to support? Or are they partition walls? Structural work is the expensive aspect from my experience and can really add on the price to any renovation.

Depending on size, what appliances you need, do you need a new floor, wall tiled, I think your estimate of 10k for a new kitchen looks quite low. It could be do-able but seems a stretch. Best way is to get some quotes and see what options you have. Also a good way of getting yourself and your partner enthused about the possibilities of the project and what difference the final fit might look like.

Feels like a luxury but I'd consider under floor heating in a kitchen. Particularly if you want it to be open plan and a big part of how you live within the house. Makes a big difference to the temp within a room without carpet and means you don't need the rads on all the time to warm that space.

A few years back we did a kitchen extension, knocked down walls to open up a kitchen diner and converted the garage to a room. It made a really nice open plan area of kitchen, a living room and conservatory whilst sectioning off part of the kitchen as a utility. Even though it cost an absolute fortune it made a massive difference to how the house functions.

[Barneylfc∗]

Cheers for the responses 

[Drinks Sangria]

Cheers Jookie, it is a lot of money. We purposefully bought something cheaper than the initial pricepoint we were looking at because the footprint of the house was great and in an area we really liked. The intention was always to spend the money, but I'd always budgeted £30k - £35k for it and likely would've got the work done for that had this been 18 months ago.

With the kitchen, we have all the appliances already, and all the tiles and flooring, so that price is essentially for the units, the island and their fitting. Current sink etc is fine. Our current kitchen is only a year old, installed by the previous owner to help sell the house, I'm hopeful we could flog that for £300 - £500 just for a little extra to put towards the build. The kitchen we want is about £6k, then it's going to be £400 per day for two fitters, who reckon they can fit it in 2-3 days tops. Under floor heating is something we've spoken about, but I'm not really sure of the cost and we're very much looking as if it'll be every penny of savings we have.

The structural work is part of the bulk of the cost, we're having just a partition wall put up to separate the lounge, but the wall coming out of the kitchen is a support wall, so a steel beam is going in to support.

From what you've said Jookie, it sounds like you don't regret spending the money and think it was worth it. We're looking to turn the house from a cosy but oddly dysfunctional layout to something that feels more modern and makes more sense as a space for us, with the added benefit of entertaining and hosting in a greater dining space. Plus the additional bathroom is very much needed.

[Jookie]

snip

Your 10k quote for the kitchen makes a lot more sense. That feels reasonable based on what you described.

We did similar to what you described in that we bought our house and purposefully kept money back to do the work I described. I actually sold my previous house for more than I bought this house for so that helped raise the funds. Location was the key driven even if the house was cheaper and smaller.

Previous owners had added a number of extensions on to this house and it didn't really work for us. It was a bit piecemeal and the house didn't flow right downstairs. Even though we knew we wanted to change things we lived in the house for 18 months before deciding exactly what we wanted. The costs were roughly split in thirds - 1/3 for extension, 1/3 for structural changes (to convert garage and remove walls in kitchen) and 1/3 for new kitchen.

Like I said it was a costly job and hard to know if it aded that much value to the house. But I don't regret it at all. Made that open living space the centre of the house for the whole family.  I would say the benefits probably depend on how much you envisage using the kitchen & dining area.

[Drinks Sangria]

Cheers Jookie, it sounds like you made the right call. It makes me feel a touch more relaxed about the commitment we're making. Having the open dining area is important to us with lots of family and friends in the area.

I've thought a fair bit about how it affects the value of the house, and it's a difficult one to assess. We bought the house during the start of the price rises, under market value by maybe £15 - £20k, beating someone who'd offered a little bit more as we had no chain. Then the prices continued to rise and I was panicking they'd pull out or demand more money, which thankfully they never did. Houses in the area with bigger downstairs and same amount of bedrooms routinely sell for £80k more than we paid, so I'm hoping that a £40k or so investment, along with the natural price rises will make the house worth the money as it were, though as I say I'm not sure that'll entirely be because of the build work.

You having no regrets about it is the main thing. We may end up having a family in this home so we'll be here for a while.

[west_london_red]

Might be a bit difficult to say simply from looking at pictures, but what cost would you be looking at to make this house habitable?

https://www.propertypal.com/36-tennent-street-belfast/725495

It looks like someone stopped work midway so I would want to know why.

Can see damp in two of the bedrooms (the room with the narrow window, the the room with the eaves which might be coming from the roof which would be a worry) and check the kitchen and bathroom for damp, from the pictures of the garden it looks like that part of the house will never get any light or sun.

[gazzam1963]

My lad bought his house in Liverpool in May and I’ve been renovating it since June when not working and up to now only had a plasterer in until this week when I’ve had a tiler in to tile the whole bathroom . Up to now the cost has been around 8.5k and that’s skimmed all over ( three bed semi ) new bathroom inc materials and new U shaped kitchens inc appliances , new composite door and frame .
 
Had a price of £750 to fit the kitchen excluding any worktops as they are going to leave that until the end to see what’s left and see what quality worktop they may get then , so if granite / quartz then another 2k , I expect the total spend to be around 12k

I’d recommend looking at these for kitchens https://diy-kitchens.com/ I’ve had two off them personally and have done wiring on about another three ordered from here and can not recall an issue with any of them . The lads one cost £2300 and about another £1000 on appliance which when shopping around you can get absolute bargains .

[SouthDerryLaggo]

It looks like someone stopped work midway so I would want to know why.

Can see damp in two of the bedrooms (the room with the narrow window, the the room with the eaves which might be coming from the roof which would be a worry) and check the kitchen and bathroom for damp, from the pictures of the garden it looks like that part of the house will never get any light or sun.

the sun does not shine on the shankill