Renovating a five-bed

Russinating

Russinating

Russinating

Soldato
Joined
27 Dec 2005
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Location
Bristol
My grandparents are ageing and as a result have moved from Hull to South Wales to be closer to my aunt and uncle. They've bought an apartment straight out in Wales so don't need a quick sale to move on. They've also already moved, incl. all their home contents.

The house is a five-bed on the market for £290,000. The same street has a four-bed that's on for £345,000, the only difference being the decor which as you can expect for a grandparents' house very dated.

I've spoken to my dad who lives in UAE about the possibility of renovating it and he said he'd speak to the agent and family and see what they think. The main issue is distance: he's obviously too far away to be bothered, as are my aunt and uncle. I'm not exactly close (3h 30m away in Bristol) but it will be worth my time if I manage and do it all and get a share of the extra sale money it generates.

Property: http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/28453246
Photos I took of interior: http://i.imgur.com/wFVV8vB.jpg / http://i.imgur.com/g3zlFj8.jpg / http://i.imgur.com/2GWFXEP.jpg

Questions
1. How much, roughly, would it cost to carpet and paper/paint 7 average sized rooms and hallway/stairs? Nothing fancy, just basic and neutral.
2. How long would it take? I'm assuming professionals could do all the carpeting in two or three days.
3. How much would it cost to have one small interior attic wall knocked down? I think it probably is brick but thinner than a usual interior wall with no insulation.

Thanks for any advice. I'm not a builder or anything by trade but equally I'm not stupid and generally pick up most DIY activities pretty quickly. I'd be tempted to do all the wall decorating myself and certainly replacing all the fixtures.
 
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By fittings, I presume toilet, bath, etc, are they that bad.

Don't see the point in carpets, if floorboards are good, I rather sand them & use a suitable finish.

I seen it more than once where someone has had basic carpets fitted to tart the place up, then first thing buyer has done is rip out the carpets.
Don't see the point in removing wall in attic, you could leave that & use store for en-sutie, toy cupboard,etc.
 
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Sorry, I meant fixtures, ie lights. But yes the fittings aren't great; I think the bathroom set is green. Might be worth replacing but depends how much money I can get to do it all.

Not sure what state the floorboards are in. Won't have been seen in probably 30+ years, but yes, could be an option. I have a hardwood flooring company as a business contact in Bristol who I could hire a sander and polisher from.
 
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Polished wooden floors in victorian houses gives them character, especially if you have period fireplaces.
People like that sort of thing, they usually throw a rug here & there if needed.
Wow! green bathroom fittings, I was selling that colour fittings 30 years ago, just go for plain white fittings.

What the overall condition of the electrics, fuseboard, pointless decorating, & just replacing switches & sockets if wiring over 30 years old.
It can put a lot of people off buying a house, if they have to upheaval having a rewire.

That staircase is lovely, stain the steps same finish as handrail, & white risers would look superb, nice to see original plasterwork in hall, that needs to be kept.
You might find decorative quarry tiles under that hall carpet, would be worth getting them cleaned & sealed

Picture rail will have to go, so old fashion today, I like the paneling, might be a quality wood under the paint, but I would leave it painted.
 
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Totally understand. What's a likely cost for rewiring 8 rooms, a bathroom and a kitchen? And remember this is in Hull where everything is cheaper than down 'ere :p.

Done a bit of research in the meantime and it seems it can vary a lot, but going off a few sources it seems around the £4,000 mark and 3 weeks. Know any different?
 
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As this is your first project whatever price you come up with and whatever timescale you have.






Double it.

Whats the Kitchen Like?
 
Size and shape-wise fine, but like the rest of the house it's dated. But then you're talking about a massive project to redo that. I don't however think the cupboards are too bad and I would imagine re-topping them and replacing all white goods would get 80% of the job done.

6FkvXj8.gif

If I was renovating it for me to move in then I'd be tempted to convert the ground floor WC to a utilities room; it's always been a bit weird going to the toilet just off the kitchen and that area is dated, both in terms of the toilet itself and the sliding doors that lead to it.

However the place also has a double-length garage that could be used as a much larger utilities room w/ chest freezer etc, it would just mean going outside to get there which isn't perfect.
 
Old fashioned idea toilet off the kitchen.:(

Could you get away with just new doors on kitchen units, & may be new worktop & tiles if needed.
 
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Hard to remember what it looks like tbh as I only usually go there once a year, but I would think so. I think the fridge/freezer is fine but I would think a new oven wouldn't hurt.
 
Biggest outlay is rewiring, but I think it's worth having it done if it's over 30 years old, as some buyers are put off a property especially if it need major work like a rewire.

Not knowing the area, or had a look at your house, in my opinion,I consider your house is being under valued by a considerable amount.
It's a good size 5 bed family home for a professional, what has other agents valved it at.
 
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Nearer to £355- £360k, as it's victorian & has many period features, good garden & a good size house.
Plus it's location looks superb, quiet area, looks a rather nice area.
 
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That bathroom off of the kitchen,talk to the estate agents you're in contact with and see if they'd recommend changing it into a storage room of some sort, I guess it depends how big it is, but if it's quite small then just rip out the bathroom and put some shelves in and stick a door on it.
 
That's a cracking place, I love the period features especially, but what is the location like for sales right now?. It would be worth checking out something like:

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/house-prices/browse/hu13/?q=hu13&search_source=house-prices

and seeing how often places sell & what they are actually fetching price-wise.

Hull isn't exactly the most prosperous part of the UK right now iirc, I would exercise some caution personally. Again, a really great pad though it's a shame it wasn't in the S.E. somewhere.
 
It's a lovely property I'd be inclined to scrub it clean maybe strip the carpets out and get an estate agent to run a open house weekend as it is with sealed bids you might be surprised people are willing to pay for potential.

You don't even have to accept the offer just string the lying cheating two faced slimy estate agent along.
 
MatteH Oxford said:
Hull isn't exactly the most prosperous part of the UK right now iirc, I would exercise some caution personally. Again, a really great pad though it's a shame it wasn't in the S.E. somewhere.
Click to expand...

I agree, but listing it at £55k less than a 4 bed:eek:, either the other one is seriously over priced, or this one needs a bit of work, decorating, rewire,etc, & estate agent is being over cautious with valuation.

IF I had the money, I buy it today, a bit of work, & be making a serious profit, needs about 6-8 weeks to turn it around.
 
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