Hypothetical scenario: 2 houses of equal size in a similar area. One is a new build a

wherearewe45

Obviously take this with a punch of salt but consider 2 houses with equal no. of bedrooms in the same area. One is a new build/old house with no renovation required. The other is older and needs a lot of work. As a rule of thumb is it possible to say which is more cost effective to buy?

Samuel T. Cogley

Sounds painful, punching and salt.

It very much depends on the work, but in my own limited experience of buying houses/apartments, people in Dublin will pay a huge premium for a 'turn key' condition house. So much so that I'm surprised house 'dressing' services are not more widely used.

wordofwarning

It depends. The energy requirements of new houses can be quite small. Plus they are more airtight and comfortable to live in ie there is no draughts. New houses are currently exempt from LPT. But for how long is unknown.

IMO if I was not buying a brand new house with a modern styling, I would want a house in bits. I am talking straight out of 1932 with no renovations since. A lot of sellers are irrational and think you should pay a premium for their 'modern kitchen' installed in 1998, that looks 1968. A house that is extremely dated is price accordingly and you can renovate it to your taste. A lot of sellers think their late 1980s/1990s house is gorgeous and turn key condition and therefore commands a premium. You are paying a premium over the 1930s, despite you having to rip the house apart anyway.

A lot of people don't see potential in original houses and therefore they sell cheaply. Despite the fact, buyers will still do the exact same renovations as buying a house styled in the 1990s. Just a lot of buyers can't see themselves in a grannies house, versus a middle aged person selling a 1990s house due to a divorce.

There is a reason why showhouses have furniture. It makes it easier to see yourself in the house

Sleepy

We went for a fixer-upper and think we got it at a pretty decent price due to that (about 15% below the most recently agreed price for a non-extended house on the same road). With the exception of the windows, pretty much all the work required in ours is/was fairly cosmetic: new Kitchen, new Bathroom, flooring, utility room cabinetry, painting etc. The house had already had a double extension and while the interior was dated and run-down, the house had good "bones". It seems most buyers couldn't look beyond that. We're about 9 months in and, having thrown approx 25k and hundreds of hours of DIY into it (incl furniture and fittings) and it's a very comfortable family home now.

I have a long list of jobs to tackle when I can afford to do them (replace the windows, improve attic insulation, update the gas boiler and control systems, landscape the gardens / build a proper shed/workshop, replace the interior doors etc.) but that was a key factor in our decision to go for the house that needed work: had it been "done" it would have been way out of my price range. I couldn't have gotten the location or the space without being prepared to view the house as a long-term project and "buy the worst house on the best street".

PhoenixParker

A new build and an old house with no renovations required are very different propositions. The old house will come with flooring at a minimum but typically with a variety of other fixtures and fittings that add up considerably - curtains, blinds, shed, bathroom fully tiled, built in units, bathroom cabinets, an alarm etc.
It's easily €5k and typically €10k+ to get a new build where you'd want it.

That said the comfort levels in modern new builds are amazing. With me home all day with a new baby, the house consistently at 20C, all our heating, lighting & cooking topped out at €110 a month. To never ever feel cold and location being equal it'd be the new build for me all the way.

New build without doubt.

LirW

A lot of people don't see potential in original houses and therefore they sell cheaply. Despite the fact, buyers will still do the exact same renovations as buying a house styled in the 1990s. Just a lot of buyers can't see themselves in a grannies house, versus a middle aged person selling a 1990s house due to a divorce.

Made this experience too. A lot of people have very bad imagination on how something would look blank without anything. Gladly I worked in a field that required exactly this and I realized what a huge benefit this was.

We are just about to close on a house in a wonderful scenic location for seriously a laughably little amount of money and after being very cautious that there might be something seriously wrong, everything turned out fine and even the surveyor was quite surprised about that. The "hook" is that the previous owner has some very questionable taste and did the whole house in a harsh black and white-scheme with a matte black kitchen that is extremely tasteless. Also there are some pieces of slate plastered on the wall for whatever look but the house itself is amazing and it's just a bit of work and quite little money to invest to have it in a very nice condition.

When you're prepared to do certain things on your own and you really like the house, go for the older one. Just don't bite something off that you can't chew.

thierry14

New build

Tradesmen will wreck your head

Costs can spiral

Graham

New Build.

Too many people chasing fixer-uppers in the hope of getting a bargain (or getting under the mortgage limits) means there's little value in that segment.

Fian

Always go for a crappy house that needs work. the cost of the work will be far less than the discount off the price for an imacculate new build. Our house was originally built in the 30/40s I think, certainly pre 67.

Houses don't have engines - it is not like buying a car where an old one is going to give you constant trouble. An older house will often be much more solid in fact. Though with mine drilling anything into the walls is a horrendous job and often requires multiple drill bits. Don't know what the blocks are made of but I do know there are some stones mixed into the concrete that just can't be drilled through.

Our house needed new flooring, new wiring, new plumbing, new kitchen, new bathrooms, horrendous wallpaper to be removed (painful!!) and while we were at it we converted the attic and put in some en suites. We ended up with six en suite bedrooms (up from 4 bedrooms) and ended spending more than half of what we paid for the house in renovation costs. It was well worth it and had the house been in the condition it was in after renovations when we bought it it would have been well out of our price range. We had to put up with dust and dirt for months but it was so worth it in the end.

Graham

Fian wrote: »

the cost of the work will be far less than the discount off the price for an imacculate new build.

That's rarely the case now.

murphaph

Fian wrote: »

Houses don't have engines - it is not like buying a car where an old one is going to give you constant trouble. An older house will often be much more solid in fact. Though with mine drilling anything into the walls is a horrendous job and often requires multiple drill bits. Don't know what the blocks are made of but I do know there are some stones mixed into the concrete that just can't be drilled through.

Get yourself an SDS drill and bits when you see them next in Lidl/Aldi. You're wasting your time with a normal hammer drill there. It's mass poured concrete. We have the same in our new build house (the external cellar walls and roof are all poured concrete).

Fian

murphaph wrote: »

Get yourself an SDS drill and bits when you see them next in Lidl/Aldi. You're wasting your time with a normal hammer drill there. It's mass poured concrete. We have the same in our new build house (the external cellar walls and roof are all poured concrete).

thanks - what is an SDS drill? I have a good hammer drill which works eventually , though I often have to have a cup of cold water with me to cool down the drill bits every now and again.

edit NVM: google told me.

spaceHopper

murphaph wrote: »

Get yourself an SDS drill and bits when you see them next in Lidl/Aldi. You're wasting your time with a normal hammer drill there. It's mass poured concrete. We have the same in our new build house (the external cellar walls and roof are all poured concrete).

I got an SDS drill in Woodies for about 60 bucks and it flies into anything money well spent still on the same 8mm drill bit. Buy a bunch of 8mm wall plugs and an 8mm sds bit it's all you'll ever need

Graham

spaceHopper wrote: »

I got an SDS drill in Woodies for about 60 bucks and it flies into anything money well spent still on the same 8mm drill bit. Buy a bunch of 8mm wall plugs and an 8mm sds bit it's all you'll ever need

+1

Takes me about 5 minutes per hole using my (non-SDS) drill.

Takes about 8 seconds when I borrow my mates SDS Hilti.