Do Up The House Or Sell

yop

Lads

Parents inherited an old cottage, circa 50 years old, semi-d, 1/4 acre site, edge of small town in West of Ireland.
2 Bedrooms, large kitchen, scullery, NO indoor bathroom, no service (ie electric, water, sewage) but all run outside on the main road.
Roof is good, structure is excellent. Needs new floors, bathroom, windows etc.

There is a nice bit of ground at the back, site is very narrow, only about 10 foot to the side of the house, but the site stretches and narrows to the back.

So they were told by the auctioneer to sell as is, BUT 1) I do not trust the auctioneer, 2) I think that if they invested 10k to do it up they would make that back plus another 5 or possilbly 10k.

We can do a lot of work, jack of all trades, master of none!

So what would you do??

thanks

Sleipnir

I'd do it up and keep it as a renter for tourist Americans.
You can make a fortune doing that as they pay prima-dollar for 'quaint traditional Irish homes"
You could sell the site/garden to get some money to do it up.

silverside

If you take on the job of doing it up you will have fun & frustration. If you are in the trade yourself or know reliable people, I would take it on, but be prepared to sink a bit of money into it, I reckon you would make it back.

Beruthiel

if you invest 10k you’d defo get 20k plus. If you are up for the job, then do it, as you will be sure to get a lot more then you would in the condition it's in right now.
also
I presume you have done some sort of list to come up with 10k – I would add a few extra grand onto that for the inevitable unforeseen problem which without doubt will pop up along the way.

Be sure to do it up as inoffensively as possible, by that I mean, don’t go for what you would like, but rather what will appeal to a wider market. White bathroom suit, neutral bright colours etc…

yop

Be sure to do it up as inoffensively as possible, by that I mean, don’t go for what you would like, but rather what will appeal to a wider market. White bathroom suit, neutral bright colours etc…

You must be watchin all the DIY programs on SKY!

I am at the moment in the planning process(decision due next week!) and we will be doing a lot
of work ourselves, slabbing, doors, floors, skirting, kitchen, plumbing, dropping wiring, painting, tiling,
so you can see we can do a lot.
Only issue is that both of us work so our time will be limited so it may take ages to get work done, then
if we get tradesmen in it may blow away the profit!
I don't know it is hard to know.

Thanks again, it seems people here are of the same thinking as myself, would you trust the auctioneer
telling them to sell it or is he up to something??

Cheers

Victor

You could try getting planning permission to extend it to 3/4 bed (with indoor plumbing!) which would be the least cost / most reward option.

After that I would stick to the basics - concrete floor, insulate walls, update windows. Making it "fancy" isn't cost efficient.

Clintons Cat

Get an independant valuation done.

Also look at the area,is it a desirable place to live?

I would say that without basic amieneties it will make well under its selling price,especially at an auction,how much would someone pay on a house to **** in a bucket?

yop

Very desirable place alright, for the 2nd home owners.

To put up an extension that is not greater than 18ft at the back of the house we would not need planning.
The auctioneer reckoned that someone would be more interested in a shell of a house than a completed one. I think that they are actually keepin an eye on the house themselves (maybe I do not trust him!!!)

thanks lads

MF2HD

why not get a couple of different auctioneers to have a look at the place if you don't trust this one??

Doc

The auctioneers could well be right.
If you do the place up but don’t do a very good job on it then you could very well lose money. You say you are a jack of all trades, master of none so you’re going to have to get plumbers, electricians and more then likely builders in.
Having said this I would love to do up a property such as this but if it’s purely for finical gain then think long and hard about what it will cost you.My advice would be to get quotes from a number of builders for the cost of the project.