Buying a home help and advice

[Nebbymoo]

Myself and my husband dream of owning our own home and have managed to raise a small deposit.
We dont have any ideas of what it is we want in a home except a big garden, although we do both agree that we want something that we can do up.

But how much is too much work? As a family with teen children we need something livable.
We are going to view a house tomorrow and although I know we more than likely wont be buying this house its given me a reality check that our dream of owning is more in reach.
Any tips or advice from those who have been there and done that will be helpful and appreciated.

 

[HoGi]

My best advise is to be realistic about your skills. If you have never plastered before you will probably be able to teach yourself to do a patch but will you be able to do a whole wall to a decent standard etc.

Me and my husband bought a fixer upper and learnt a lot of things from youtube etc. And have done everything from flooring, replastering the kitchen ceiling, small bits of plumbing like a new sink, complete redecoration etc.

However there will be big things that you can't do yourself. Namely boiler, roof and windows etc. These are all pricey things. So if the property needs these doing consider how you would be able to cover these short, medium and longer term.

Otherwise go for it! It will be so worthwhile in the long run. I love sitting down and looking at all the hard work we have put in

 

[Rippedjeanmaybe]

We bought a run down house for our first home four years ago now and we’ve really enjoyed doing it all up.

so far we’ve replaced the kitchen, the bathroom & the boiler. We are currently working our way through getting it all plastered and then we getting all new doors inside and out, plus a new fire.

we’ve done most of ourselves with help from family, aside from the plastering and the fitting of the boiler and other gas appliances.

we’ve really enjoyed it and it feels so nice knowing how much work we’ve put into it to make our home.

 

[Nebbymoo]

My husband is completely useless when it comes to anything diy I am the one with the tool box and skills out of the two of us we will be relying on my mum and her partner to help us with the renovation when we do find a house. I am getting a little bit over excited at the moment but its been a long 7 years getting to this point for us lol.
Thank you for the advice

 

[TheScarletgirl]

Depends on how much you want to spend fixing up. I am useless and always get trades people to do things for me. I wouldn't even paint myself.

 

[Milliehaha123]

I’ve just bought a house and we decided to have the best of both worlds. The downstairs is perfect but the upstairs needs a bit of handy work (probs a new bathroom, defo new carpets etc) maybe find somewhere similar so you can do a bit to your own taste and make it your own but not a full blown Reno!

 

[Kim Mild]

I wouldn't like to live in a home that was a complete wreck or in severe disrepair.
I could live in a house that needs a lot of updating, eg if it belonged to elderly people who hadn't done anything to it for 20-30 years.

Although there will be upheaval , bathroom/ kitchen/ heating/ windows can all be replaced while living there in a few days. Actual remodeling the house will take longer and be worse to live through .

Consider if you or the kids could visit family while renovation is in progress . Or would visiting a local caravan site be an option during the worst of the jobs so you aren't living there ( although there is the cost factor) .

Another thing to consider is the possibility of having to home school or work from home in the future.

Can you get everything done at once or will it be a gradual process?

I do appreciate that buying a do-er upper can be the difference between affording to buy and not . However a house that is x amount of £ below market value may need x amount spent to bring it up to scratch.

Ultimately, going through the difficulties of doing the house up will eventually be a memory. And you'll have your house .

 

[BettyCrockerr]

Myself and my husband dream of owning our own home and have managed to raise a small deposit.
We dont have any ideas of what it is we want in a home except a big garden, although we do both agree that we want something that we can do up.

But how much is too much work? As a family with teen children we need something livable.
We are going to view a house tomorrow and although I know we more than likely wont be buying this house its given me a reality check that our dream of owning is more in reach.
Any tips or advice from those who have been there and done that will be helpful and appreciated.

Before you start looking you really need to sit down and draw up a wish list of what you are looking for in a house. You might not think you really know but even the basics will help to narrow down the search.

how many bedrooms do you want?
How many bathrooms?
Do you like open plan style living or would you like separate living/eating/cooking spaces?
Do you want to live in a rural area or in a town and where would be practical for working/schools/colleges etc
Do you need parking spaces?

you say you want a large garden but what kind? A large lawn or something else? Do you have the time/energy/skills to keep a large garden maintained?


be realistic about how much work you can reasonably undertake - financially & practically , have you or your partner any experience in the kinds of work you would need to do?


Working all of the above out first will save you time, money & stress going forward and will make the whole process easier. Good luck x

 

[LinaLamont]

Following this thread with interest as I’m looking to buy an older property that needs a bit of work. I couldn’t take on a pure wreck though as I just don’t have the money (or patience) to knock down walls, repair roofs etc. One idea I love for keeping costs down is up-cycling kitchen cabinets which is a great option if, like me, you won’t be able to shell out a fortune after you pay your deposit. There are loads of videos on YouTube about it and other affordable home diy ideas that are super helpful.

 

[WilmaHun]

I work in conveyancing. If you're getting a mortgage then you'll need to have local and drainage searches as minimum (this is a requirement of the lender) however lots of people often don't want to pay for a survey. Although lenders don't always specifically require you to have one, we as a firm always recommend that people do spend that bit of extra money to do so. When buying, it's also really important to remember the phrase "buyer beware" - it is down to you as the buyer to ask the important questions and find out as much about the property as you can. I would recommend multiple viewings, even after an offer is accepted - lots of sellers will be happy to engage with you and allow you to measure up/view again etc. Whilst obviously the seller cannot legally make misrepresentations to you - they will also not go out of their way to tell you about the negative things about the property. It is down to you as the buyer to make sure you ask these questions, this is also why a survey is important.

 

[Nebbymoo]

Well we went to view the house this morning and the house itself is solid, very roomy and considering it's been empty for quite a while it's got no visible damp or problems structurally. Needs a new kitchen and redecoration throughout. My husband seemed impressed with it but from the moment I walked in the door I just got an overwhelming feeling that the house has a sad past. I know that some people may think I'm bonkers but I believe that your feelings are something you should listen to, and the house just felt overwhelming with sadness. And I know I wouldnt be able to settle there. So we will keep looking.

 

[Milliehaha123]

Well we went to view the house this morning and the house itself is solid, very roomy and considering it's been empty for quite a while it's got no visible damp or problems structurally. Needs a new kitchen and redecoration throughout. My husband seemed impressed with it but from the moment I walked in the door I just got an overwhelming feeling that the house has a sad past. I know that some people may think I'm bonkers but I believe that your feelings are something you should listen to, and the house just felt overwhelming with sadness. And I know I wouldnt be able to settle there. So we will keep looking.

I 100% believe in this too. I honestly think there are negative and positive energies associated with houses and you can feel it as soon as you step in. We viewed a gorgeous flat once, really modern and beautifully decorated but I just could not shake the fact that it had some really sad energy to it - we decided not to go for it (one of the reasons being this!) x

 

[Katherinex]

I have no advice for moving house as I've lived in the same house all my life. But when my parents bought it, they had a look around, took a note of all the practical things such as what they would change etc, costs and all that stuff but they literally looked around and said yep we'll buy it. They've now lived here longer than I've been alive and I'm turning 28 next month.

You'll know when you've found the right house for you and your family. You can research as much as you want but I definitely think that the "feeling" is a massive thing.

Definitely keep on doing what you did when you viewed that house. Intuition is a big thing. If it doesn't feel right when you're having a look I doubt it would get better if you were to move into it and do all your own improvements.

My only big purchase has been a car (that would have lasted a lot longer had I not got caught out in the snow and wrote it off) but I bought that because I fancied a change from the car I had before (which my Grandad bought for me). I'd researched lots and had lots of cars in mind, went and found my favourite car at the time, which was a Suzuki Swift, had a sit in it and something just didn't feel right. At the same garage they had the car that I've wrote off in January. I sat in that and knew straight away that it was "my" car.

Incidentally when I wrote off my Fiesta, again I researched lots of different cars, found a Corsa I loved, went to view it but the one I'd seen online had sold but they had the exact same one in with just a different numberplate, had a look and didn't like it. Got my mam to look at Fiesta's as I liked them and mine definitely saved my life, she found the one I've ended up buying and absolutely love it.