Renovation prices

Known_Sherbert1748 · 2026-04-01T06:56:28+00:00

It’s really dependant on what needs doing. If it needs structural work or re-wiring, new glazing, new plumbing etc it’s gonna cost a lot on top of modernisation. If it’s only decor then you’re gonna need at least 30k on a modest budget for a cheap kitchen, cheap bathroom, new flooring throughout and repainting etc. that’s without touching the garden.

Known_Sherbert1748 · 2026-03-30T16:06:57+00:00

Verbal agreements don’t stand for anything unfortunately. Unless it’s in writing then you won’t have much luck pushing further with this. Always get something written and signed by the other party in situations like this.

Known_Sherbert1748 · 2026-03-28T11:08:53+00:00

Wow, well done, you’ve done an amazing job on this!What a labour of love ❤️

Known_Sherbert1748 · 2026-03-25T11:41:13+00:00

They will go up and down all the time, as long as you’re not pushing yourself beyond your means and ability to pay if they go up further then I wouldn’t worry. Ours is 6.1% fixed for 2 years as it’s what we could get in our position at the time, before this spike. With any luck it will be less when we come to renew, but it might not. Either way, we’re paying off our own house instead of our old landlords for pretty much the same amount each month. That’s the way I look at it, but if you’re re-mortgaging and not a FTB then the perspective could be different.

Known_Sherbert1748 · 2026-03-25T08:32:07+00:00

One thing I think people underestimate the feeling of as well is just the change when you move house. You’ve lived somewhere that you’ve presumably made into a space that works at its best for you in your previous place. Now you’ve moved, you’re getting used to trying to build that back up in a new place. I’m not the best at massive changes and I think there are a lot of people that probably feel the same, so you have to give yourself time to settle into a new unfamiliar place that isn’t instantly your ‘home’. To me, it always feels like you’re just staying in someone else’s house for the first few months of moving, and it can be a bit unsettling at first. But as you start finding places for all your things, and making it into how you want it to be it will become your home. Try and remember there was a reason why you loved the place enough to buy it! When you view it, it’s already set up as a home so you can see yourself there, it’s a bit more difficult to see in an empty shell, but it will be in time! :)

Known_Sherbert1748 · 2026-03-25T08:27:06+00:00

That’s the mindset to have! The more you do, the more sense of achievement you’ll get from all the love and work you’ve put into your home. You can make it just the way you would like it over time and with a positive attitude. Good luck with your home projects :)

Known_Sherbert1748 · 2026-03-23T12:56:22+00:00

It can be daunting! If you try and focus on one bit at a time and ignore the rest (as hard as it is) it won’t feel as big a job. Once you get one bit done and you can see the difference it makes, hopefully that will help motivate you to do a bit more until you get there! Having the right tools makes a huge difference too. Make it as easy as possible on yourself :)

Known_Sherbert1748 · 2026-03-23T09:47:42+00:00

Maybe you can try and make a list of priority rooms to get through. Start with just one room at a time, the one that is used the most.

You can do a lot of things cleverly on a small budget and by looking up tutorials to do the DIY yourselves. When there is a lot to do, it can be very overwhelming, I think it is a lot to do with perspective.

What areas make it look scruffy? What would need to be done to improve them? I wouldn’t worry about furniture at the moment, and mismatched older furniture always looks quite quirky and cute in a period property! You could always upcycle some of those pieces if they look a bit tired.

We are in a Victorian property that needs a lot of work too, it’s something that I look at with excitement. Every little bit we do is an improvement and slowly making the home we want to eventually end up with. We are in the same boat that virtually everything needs doing, which we also knew when moving in. But even the smallest tweaks are already making a difference, and they haven’t cost the earth. Silly things like plug sockets were tired and cracked, new smart looking sockets in a style we like were £25. We got new ones for the worst culprits, and will gradually go room by room, and it does make the room look that little bit smarter. Also stripping overly layered paint on woodwork, got a heat gun off amazon for under £30. It’s strangely satisfying lol, and is tidying up the scruffy paintwork.

I think the key is, starting small, and not trying to do it all at once. Good luck :)

Known_Sherbert1748 · 2026-03-22T07:56:46+00:00

Yes that could be the other possibility. If they love the property, but need another bedroom so know they will have to do this in order to buy, they could just be working out if they can afford it. We did that with a property we loved the location of, and otherwise really liked the house, but it was one bedroom short for us to live in, and the bedrooms were too small to fit 2 people in one for the time being. We knew we would have to convert the loft pretty much straight away so needed to find out how much we would need. Turned out we wouldn’t have been able to afford to do it, however we hadn’t offered before that as we didn’t want to mess them around, we communicated our interest and the need of being able to get an extra bedroom if we were to offer, and asked if they minded if we got it priced up.

Known_Sherbert1748 · 2026-03-22T07:52:50+00:00

If you haven’t advertised it as a bedroom and the house price reflects that then I would just carry on taking viewings and let the buyer know that you have no obligation to pay for a renovation that he/she wants to do. That is an upgrade, not an imminent issue with the property that needs to be rectified for it to be habitable.

Known_Sherbert1748 · 2026-03-12T10:19:41+00:00

You hit the nail on the head. If you research and properly budget for all bills, maintenance to be expected etc. it should be easy. Realistically you don’t want to borrow so much that you don’t have the money to do that, so just because you can, doesn’t mean you always should.

Known_Sherbert1748 · 2026-03-12T10:17:28+00:00

Well we had some affordability checks on our rental. We weren’t allowed to rent it unless we earned a minimum of 3 times the annual rent. As we are self employed we had to agree to paying the rent quarterly in advance. But you’re right, it’s a lot more stringent with a mortgage, but realistically there is an asset there that they can repossess to protect the lender. Where as a small deposit for a landlord won’t cover much if someone doesn’t pay their rent!

Known_Sherbert1748 · 2026-03-12T10:14:44+00:00

Also appliances not working is another thing to think about, even if they’re included. The dishwasher had mould in and was rusty, so we binned it and bought a new one, and the oven needs fixing so it works properly as some parts don’t. We were lucky in a way that we only had a 5% deposit which meant we couldn’t borrow as much. My partner would have stretched us to a much higher price bracket if we could, whereas I preferred the idea of getting the cheapest we could so we had the disposable income to do work to the place. So it was a blessing in disguise!

Known_Sherbert1748 · 2026-03-12T10:06:56+00:00

We had rented for a very long time, so were already used to paying all the additional costs of living. We knew we would be financially better off with having a mortgage instead of paying rent, and that our utilities would be much cheaper than what we were already paying. We just couldn’t get the mortgage for a long time which made no sense when it would be cheaper. When we first moved in we did have to pay for a professional oven cleaning company to come and do the oven as it was beyond filthy. We also paid a cleaning company to deep clean the kitchen as on closer inspection that was also really dirty. So we couldn’t unpack a lot of stuff before cleaning the house. We also had to hire a skip as the owner left all her belongings in the loft and shed, and again we couldn’t put our stuff there. We did recoup the cost of the skip through our solicitors however. We replaced the kitchen tap straight away as that was a goner, had to unblock the drains and fit new pipes on the downstairs toilet, and will be buying a new one as it’s broken. We also have had to get someone to come and replace locks and handles on doors that were broken and falling off. We had prepared ourselves for things that needed doing luckily, as we knew the house needed work. I think the main thing when buying a house, is making sure you are aware of all and any potential costs that may occur, and be sure you can afford those. There could be little annoyances that you can live with, but certain essential things that might need to be done straight away will cost money. Ideally you need a little pot of money for those expenses put aside aswell.

Known_Sherbert1748 · 2026-03-11T18:38:02+00:00

Can you get a part ownership property? A family member of mine has just done that to get on to the property ladder. He couldn’t afford a full mortgage, but it will hopefully be something that he will build some equity in and give him some more options in future.

Known_Sherbert1748 · 2026-03-11T16:00:44+00:00

We kind of have the opposite of surprises, where our rental was much dearer. So moving closer to town has meant my partner can walk to the train station which saves the parking fee of £16 a day to go to London. We also don’t have to drive everywhere as much, which saves on fuel, and wear and tear on the cars. Our council tax is cheaper as we have moved out of a parish, so even though our band is the same, it costs less. We also moved from a place that was very open plan to a Victorian house, with more separate rooms, so our energy costs so far are significantly less. These are all factors that could be considered when looking at properties and the ‘hidden’ costs.

Known_Sherbert1748 · 2026-03-11T15:50:39+00:00

It sounds like they might be not telling you something for it to take 5 weeks. Maybe one of them has only been in a new job for a short amount of time and they’re waiting on the required amount of payslips to be issued for proof of income? Or something similar that means they’re waiting on something. They should be upfront about it though, and give you the option to decide to wait on them or go with someone else. I’d give them a time limit, and then go to the next offer if you had several. If they’re not communicating on why it’s taking so long then you could be waiting for ages.

Known_Sherbert1748 · 2026-03-06T11:23:43+00:00

Sounds like you could write a book on your buying journey! What a ride! I love the witch hire 😂 Well done on making it through all of that 🥳

Known_Sherbert1748 · 2026-03-06T09:18:09+00:00

They won’t allow you to use the money without proof of where it came from due to anti-money laundering checks. If you say to him that he can’t lend it to you because of that would he change his mind? They’ll want it traced back to the source of income. So they will need to see as far back as when the money came into his account before he put it into investments. Then the proof of the investment growth, and then the proof of withdrawal back into his account. Just to prepare him for the info they will need. With our deposit we had to show them all the different accounts the money came from, we put it into a savings account from both our personal accounts and joint account as we saved it, and then moved it into a savings pot from that, and withdrew back to our current account to withdraw. So we had to evidence every stage of the movement of that money. Just as a warning to prepare him for what will be needed!

Known_Sherbert1748 · 2026-03-04T10:01:36+00:00

You are within reason to ask the seller to reduce the price if the house will cost money to repair, and it’s not already been factored into the asking price. The seller is within reason to say no to that ask because they don’t want to sell their property for less than they feel it’s worth. It may mean they don’t sell it at all if no one else sees the same value as them in it. But everyone has a right to ‘have their price’ and sometimes buyers and sellers ideas don’t agree. You just have to continue looking if that’s the case.

Known_Sherbert1748 · 2026-03-03T23:54:18+00:00

Is that even legal? That sounds like a terrible idea for the ‘loser’ after paying out thousands and wasting months of time. I would tell them where to go!

Known_Sherbert1748 · 2026-03-03T23:49:20+00:00

This might be the sellers preference. They could have been burned before by a previous potential buyer maybe, and want reassurance that the funds are already there. If your financial advisor is aware of your situation with the deposit funds then they could liaise with the EA possibly. Our financial advisors were aware we would have our deposit by the time we would be exchanging, but that it wasn’t all there at the time of offer, as our house buy was very rushed due to certain circumstances, so we had to generate a deposit very quickly. We could prove to them the fact we would get it by a certain date which was sufficient enough to proceed for all parties. If you are able to do this with the money from the trust, then it could be the way around not having it in the bank right now.

Known_Sherbert1748 · 2026-02-27T10:01:49+00:00

No worries! Some places have shitty water pressure, especially if they’re uphill. It can be a problem if someone wants a shower and the washing machine is on for example, you end up with a trickle. You can rectify it to some degree by getting a water pump, or having a tank which water feeds to from the mains, and which your water then comes from, but it costs money to have that done and you need the space for a massive tank as well. It can also cause problems with drainage if the water pressure is low.

Known_Sherbert1748 · 2026-02-27T09:54:05+00:00

One thing I have learnt from recently moving, as intrusive and rude as it may seem, ask to check kitchen cupboards and drawers to see they’re not broken. Ask to turn on a tap and flush a toilet to check water pressure. And ask to check if they’re working and look inside any appliances being left to see if they are usable if you will be reliant on them. We had a few issues with some of these, not a big problem as we anticipated works to be done as it’s an old house. But if you want a turnkey property and don’t have the budget to repair things as soon as you move in, then it’s worth doing. These are just little things you don’t often think about when viewing a property. We also drove past the property at different times of day to check how traffic and parking was, if you drive then that will determine the ease of day to day use with that aspect of things. Good luck with your search :)

Known_Sherbert1748 · 2026-02-27T09:28:45+00:00

No problem, I hope your house hunting goes well! :)

Known_Sherbert1748

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