Tips on finding the right house to renovate

Still no news so here are my ideas on finding a good house to renovate.

Research

• Use www.upmystreet.com to research the social demographics. If you are going to add value to the house, it’s wise to make sure that those you’re targeting would actually want to live there.
• Research your target audience. A house for young professionals and a house designed for a family will turn out totally different. Large open plan spaces may be what a young couple would like but a family need spaces to hide away from each other (trust me on this – I have 2 kids). If you are in a good area where crime is low and the schools are great then this will have a greater pull on a family than a hip area that would appeal to the younger buyer.
• Are there any plans to build new houses in your chosen neighbourhood? These will be cheaper to buy and could make selling your house harder as the demand in decreased.
• Stick to areas you know. You’re more likely to understand local trends which will help you to tailor the house to local markets when you come to sell.

Find the right house

• Small changes, big profit – Some houses only need bringing in to the 21st century. Our first house was bought from a little old lady who was systematically ripping out the soul of the house. We added the Victorian features back, Reskimmed the walls and added a lick of paint. That would have been enough to get a small profit back but we bought it to live in. By the time we moved out we had converted the loft and cellar into rooms and gave the garden an overhaul.
• When converting any house, get a professional in to help with the building regulations. These will include: architect to design and help with planning consent, surveyor to cost the job and an estate Agent to help value your house. We found talking to an estate agent very useful to determine if we could justify the investment on our house and if there was an upper limit its value.

Diary - Killing time until the 17th - when permission may be granted

Submitting our plans to the council seems along time ago. I phoned to see how things were progressing to be told sign off will come around the 17th of Jan. So to kill time I’ve taken more photos, this time close up to show the horror of the house at the moment. The hanging wires, the mould, the chewed skirting boards and the ladder that is the stairs. So enjoy the photos and keep your fingers crossed for Wednesday.

Diary - Our Plans

These are the plans that were submitted on 1/12/07. The dotted lines are the existing walls and roof line. The Dormers are new as is the barn end style roof. One of the back doors will be converted into a window. All this is within the allowed 10% extension, but the dormers and roof alteration could cause concern at the planning office.

We’ve been told the a decision will be made on the 17th of this month.

Fingers Crossed

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