Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Come on Alan, that's such an open question there's no true answer.

More than obviously in some cases the costs are compensated and other cases they are not.

Without specifics you can't reasonably expect a useful answer unless someone lists all possible scenarios for you.

What's the property size/location/value/outstanding mortgage/general condition/freehold status/planning options/cost of works/projected sale value after works/anticipated quality of completed works/is it rented/loss of rental during works/anticipated duration of works/completion date of works/expected change in facilities or accommodation/additional borrowing you'll need to undertake the works ?

Alan if you want to chat on it PM me, I'm not an expert but have 2x such projects in various stages of progress so may able to help to some extent.

Rule of thumb is probably based on one's own needs / what exactly you're trying to achieve and in what timeframe.

My ex-neighbours had their house painted throughout and then the new owners gutted it. I think it's always good to ask as many people you can what they think. Sometimes it is not obvious to us exactly how others would view our homes.
Thanks for the offer KK and I may take you up on it a little bit further down the line. I've yet to tell the OH and son I'd like to move. We need more space and frankly that means moving out of ED, maximising the selling price and getting something further out of town that's bigger.What I'm not sure about is how far I need to go.

If your house hasn't been updated in a long while (10 years plus) but isn't a wreck, I've found that's when work adds the most value. Doing a light cosmetic update to kitchens, bathrooms, flooring and a lick of paint can add a lot of value of done fairly neutrally and taking into account what current buyers for a property your size are looking for.


If the place is a wreck (not saying yours is!) it will only ever appeal to someone looking for a project and is likely to be gutted and so anything you do around the edges is likely wasted money.


Structural work done cheaply is off putting so if you can't do something properly its best to sell your house as is. Unless your kitchen already needs replacing, you will probably at best break even on doing a side return extension. Loft conversions do add money, but if you could convert your loft, you probably wouldn't need to move for more space.

My other half is an estate agent. He says there is no point in putting in a new kitchen/bathroom etc. as most buyers will rip out what you have put in and your money will be wasted. keep it clean, tidy and uncluttered and spend your dosh on your new place.

That's not really true. Of the many people that I know who have bought homes in London, almost all would only look for a place that doesn't require any work. Most people hate doing work and most don't have the extra cash to do anything significant to a place right after buying it with prices what they are.


Some buyers are looking to put their own stamp on a place (my partner and I are like that), and like most people looking to put a stamp on a place, prefer places that need work anyway that are cheaper so you aren't paying a premium for a house with a new kitchen that you plan to rip out.

Once your house is worth more than 600k, then definitely. Even if you buy a place worth exactly the same (just bigger and further out) as you current place, the stamp duty, legal fees and agent fees will be in excess of 30k.


If you are looking to spend more than what your place is worth, then you have to find the extra deposit or take on a bigger mortgage on top of the 30k+ for moving costs. That's why there are so many cranes in the sky doing loft conversions at the moment! Creating space is often a good alternative to moving and add values if you do eventual move on.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • You're being a little disingenuous here. It is simply not true that "the area should remain suburban 2/3 storeys maximum" because: -> the area the development is in isn't 2/3 storeys maximum today - as evidenced by the school on the lot adjoining the development to the south, as well as the similarly-sized buildings to the north and east.  -> the SPG doesn't preclude this type of development anyway. This "genie in a bottle" stuff is desperate barrel-scraping. Now you're raising the spectre of a 9 storey building on the Gibbs & Dandy site (the chance would be a fine thing) but also arguing Southwark is too slow to approve things and opposed to development more than 2-3 storeys!
    • The sites in question though are not comparable to the builders yard by the station and less likely to be granted planning permission for 9 storey buildings. The builders yard fronts on to the railway line on one side and virtually no residential property surrounding on the other sides. The Gibbs & Dandy /Kwikfit and ED trading trading estate are surrounded at close proximity by residential, and in the case of the latter a Grade II building, so there would more stringent height restrictions. Both these sites are tired and sad looking, and in need of development to provide much needed housing.
    • Not sure if this is any help but was initally told to use google chrome as the browser and the code was the reference. However the person at Southwark parking took pity on me and did it for me 
    • I can see how it could've worked 20 or 30 years ago, when you couldn't swing a pool cue in the Foresters without hitting a sparks, a plumber or a chippy, but the area has changed somewhat. I'm not sure people around here have such trade-able skills these days. Have a word with someone in your local and you'll see. People are always going to need their boiler fixed, a damp patch sorted or their dimmer switch dimmed, but I can pretty much guarantee I'm never going need my corporate policy complied with, my social media planned, my data mined, my green transport tsared, my information architected or my analytics analysed. It reminds me of the great DIY con of the mid to late seventies. My Mum bought into it, my Dad didn't. Anyway, my Mum won out and we let the gardener go (he went on to be TV's Timmy Mallett, so that's a warning from history), but my Dad shorted the house out and singed his head when he cut through the flex on his new Black & Decker hedge trimmer. We all laughed, of course, but he got his own back when, because we didn't use a qualified electrician to do things properly, she electrocuted herself when she pulled the back of the plug off her Carmen heated rollers while it was still in the socket. Keep things professional, say 'No!' to this sort of nonsense. We pay people a decent rate of pay because they're specialists at these things. I did once barter my sister's space hopper and roller skates for twenty-odd square foot of crazy paving, though. That was a birthday present my Mum never forgot, and not in a good way.  
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...