Opinions on value of house

leahyl

Hi all,

Went to see this house this evening and I know it is very overpriced as a lot of work to be done. However it is a fine solid house, built in the 60s with a lot of potential. I’m not sure they will budge on the price but I might throw in an offer anyway - been on the market since before Christmas.

How much do people think is reasonable? I was thinking 235/240k?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.

Property is in an old 1960s estate in Mayfield, Cork.

Claw Hammer

It looks a kip from the front and there is a flat felt roof extension on the back. The radiators are not under the window in one of the berooms meaning the central heating was put in after the house was built and corners were cut in doing it. No sockets can be seen in the internal photos except for some peculiar looking ones in the Kitchen. I would think €200k.

votecounts

It is an overpriced house in a bad area, the boom is well and truly back.

leahyl

votecounts wrote: »

It is an overpriced house in a bad area, the boom is well and truly back.

Lol thanks, I’m from the area and it’s not a bad area but cheers for the reply :-)

leahyl

Claw Hammer wrote: »

It looks a kip from the front and there is a flat felt roof extension on the back. The radiators are not under the window in one of the berooms meaning the central heating was put in after the house was built and corners were cut in doing it. No sockets can be seen in the internal photos except for some peculiar looking ones in the Kitchen. I would think €200k.

Thanks, yeah I guess I’m thinking that it has potential but would take a long time to get it anywhere near where I’d like it to be. I’d probably be mad to put in an offer.

votecounts

leahyl wrote: »

Lol thanks, I’m from the area and it’s not a bad area but cheers for the reply :-)

Did not mean to insult, just my opinion of the area.

PCeeeee

leahyl wrote: »

Hi all,

Went to see this house this evening and I know it is very overpriced as a lot of work to be done. However it is a fine solid house, built in the 60s with a lot of potential. I’m not sure they will budge on the price but I might throw in an offer anyway - been on the market since before Christmas.

How much do people think is reasonable? I was thinking 235/240k?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.

<SNIP>

How much will you need to spend on this house to achieve the potential you see in it. Purchase price + renovation, is it still worth it? Only you can decide really.

leahyl

PCeeeee wrote: »

How much will you need to spend on this house to achieve the potential you see in it. Purchase price + renovation, is it still worth it? Only you can decide really.

Yeah over time I guess I’d probably need to spend 50k at least....like I don’t mind putting some work into a place but this could be a bit too much. I didn’t even think of the rads not being under the windows like previous poster said - what is the problem with this?

TheChizler

votecounts wrote: »

It is an overpriced house in a bad area, the boom is well and truly back.

Pretty standard throughout Cork at the moment I'm finding...

lawred2

That's a kip

Would cost 200k to make a modern house out of it

PCeeeee

leahyl wrote: »

Yeah over time I guess I’d probably need to spend 50k at least....like I don’t mind putting some work into a place but this could be a bit too much. I didn’t even think of the rads not being under the windows like previous poster said - what is the problem with this?

You may well know exactly what you're doing. If so then apologies. But 50k will do very little. Especially if there are bigger jobs. I'm not in anyway trying to put you off just playing devil's advocate.

I'm assuming he meant that it was retro fitted which if course comes with its own issues.

Creamy Goodness

I think you'd probably need to double that 50K

New windows
New bathrooms
New kitchen
New front door
New carpet throughout
New wardrobes
No photos on the heating system but consider the disrepair of the house that'll probably need to be replaced too.

leahyl

Thanks all, this house searching malarkey is soul destroying!

mickdw

No doubt it will need total modernising but it would make a nice house.
Get it at the right price, spend about 120k on extension and modernising and you would have a good property. Looks to be a lot of space in rear garden anyway.

handlemaster

leahyl wrote: »

Lol thanks, I’m from the area and it’s not a bad area but cheers for the reply :-)

Its in cork !!

leahyl

mickdw wrote: »

No doubt it will need total modernising but it would make a nice house.
Get it at the right price, spend about 120k on extension and modernising and you would have a good property. Looks to be a lot of space in rear garden anyway.

Yeah would need to get it a very low price to be able to afford to spend 120k on it! Think I’ll leave it. It’s little wonder it hasn’t sold yet - sure it was originally up for 265k, EA said that the vendors wanted to put it up initially for 300k! They sound cracked to me :-D

Graham

Mod Note

OP, I have removed the link to the specific property.

If you were the vendors, you probably wouldn't appreciate a thread like this.

previousmass

leahyl wrote: »

Yeah would need to get it a very low price to be able to afford to spend 120k on it! Think I’ll leave it. It’s little wonder it hasn’t sold yet - sure it was originally up for 265k, EA said that the vendors wanted to put it up initially for 300k! They sound cracked to me :-D

No harm putting in an offer of what it is worth to you. What is the worst that could happen? Just remember not to get too invested in a place until you have keys in your hands

Wesser

I dont think it looks that bad.
the windows could re replaced but could be done in time. no urgency. kitchen needs doing and other cosmetic work but can get good deals and go to ikea etc. some of the work could be done slowly over time.

The_Conductor

Cork prices have not slowed to the same extent that Dublin prices have done- and houses in some of the old 1960s estates- are, despite needing improbable amounts of work to modernise them, viewed as quite desirable- even in areas that might not be at the top of people's wish lists.

I can't see the link to the specific property- however, I'll generalise.

Even when a property needs extensive modernisation- this does not seem to be factored into the price.
Aka- if there was a fully modernised property next door- that they spent 100k doing up- it wouldn't be 100k more expensive than this property.

Armed with this information- I'd be looking at my finances and trying to decide- am I looking at a specific location or a specific budget (or both- in all probability).

You are not going to get a discount on a property that needs to be done up- commensurate to what its going to cost you to do it up. It is cheaper to buy a newer (or even a brand new) property- that doesn't need the work- than a 1960s house that has a long and bewildering list of works and upgrades needed.

Its your call really. As for the general area- it does feature in the news on a regular basis- its not the most desirable of areas- is sinking 250-300k on the property a good idea? Would you get more bang for your buck somewhere else? Or are you willing to accept, that for whatever reason, prices do seem to have run ahead of where they might otherwise be if there wasn't such a scarcity of property in the general area- and you are overpaying for a property- because of factors other than the inherent utility value of the property?

Finally- are you looking at buying a property that you're willing to live in long term- rather than a short/medium term solution to get out of renting? Unless its a property you can see yourself in longer term- esp. if your circumstances changed- I'd say- forget it- keep looking- find somewhere that you can make work- if all the unknowns come home to roost........

The big thing to understand is- just because a property needs 150k of work to thoroughly modernise it and bring it up to spec- does not mean its 150k cheaper than a commensurate property that has had all this work done already- on the contrary- clunkers that need to be done up- sell for values which wholly belie the amount of work needed to go into them.

TheChizler

The_Conductor wrote: »

The big thing to understand is- just because a property needs 150k of work to thoroughly modernise it and bring it up to spec- does not mean its 150k cheaper than a commensurate property that has had all this work done already- on the contrary- clunkers that need to be done up- sell for values which wholly belie the amount of work needed to go into them.

Looking to buy in Cork City myself and this is exactly what I've come to realise recently, the actual state of repair of the house has almost no bearing on the asking price. Price seems to be heavily weighted towards area and number of bedrooms, square footage isn't even that important. I've looked at houses in the same neighbourhood that are identical on the outside but one is totally modernised, might only be 20-30k difference in the price. A huge pity cause I've always had the idea I'd get a do-er upper and finish it the way I want, but the economics aren't there. Makes more sense for someone else to put the money into doing it up.

The_Honeybadger

TheChizler wrote: »

Looking to buy in Cork City myself and this is exactly what I've come to realise recently, the actual state of repair of the house has almost no bearing on the asking price. Price seems to be heavily weighted towards area and number of bedrooms, square footage isn't even that important. I've looked at houses in the same neighbourhood that are identical on the outside but one is totally modernised, might only be 20-30k difference in the price. A huge pity cause I've always had the idea I'd get a do-er upper and finish it the way I want, but the economics aren't there. Makes more sense for someone else to put the money into doing it up.

Yes and it’s not limited to Cork we bought years ago and found the same, doer uppers rarely make sense imo unless you inherit the house or something. We looked at a couple that needed work and none of them made sense financially. Vendors do not want to acknowledge repairs that need to be done.

We ended up buying a 10 year old house that had been very well kept.

Graham

To echo what other have suggested, I don't think fixer-uppers have made financial sense for some time now.

I suspect the strict lending multiples and lack of any kind of starter homes are a factor here.

If we took 2 similar houses, 1 recently modernised at €250k, the other in need of refurbishment at €200k, cost of refurbishment €100k.

Financially the €200k house looks like a pretty bad deal but it might be the only option if the bank will only offer you a mortgage of €180k.

lawred2

Graham wrote: »

To echo what other have suggested, I don't think fixer-uppers have made financial sense for some time now.

I suspect the strict lending multiples and lack of any kind of starter homes are a factor here.

If we took 2 similar houses, 1 recently modernised at €250k, the other in need of refurbishment at €200k, cost of refurbishment €100k.

Financially the €200k house looks like a pretty bad deal but it might be the only option if the bank will only offer you a mortgage of €180k.

Yeah but the problem is is that the one in need of refurbishment wouldn't be discounted that heavily

Graham

You're absolutely right lawred2, I used round numbers to keep the example clear.

Of any fixer-uppers I've browsed over, I'd guesstimate the discount is typically about a third of the spend required to complete a reasonable refurb.

I can't remember the last time I came across a fixer-upper that represented any sort of value for money.

The_Honeybadger

Graham wrote: »

You're absolutely right lawred2, I used round numbers to keep the example clear.

Of any fixer-uppers I've browsed over, I'd guesstimate the discount is typically about a third of the spend required to complete a reasonable refurb.

I can't remember the last time I came across a fixer-upper that represented any sort of value for money.

And you also have the double whammy of having to pay the mortgage while it’s being done up and probably pay rent somewhere else too. Depending on location that additional cost could run in to many thousands.

SozBbz

Totally agree, I've looked at a few fixer uppers recently and they just don't make sense.

Looked at one in Dundrum recently asking €575k (down from €625) which the agent said was based on prices in the area.... but it looked to me like even with the €50k reduction it would still cost a fortune to get right. IMO it was barely habbitable. It would have needed gutting throughout, who knows the story in terms of plumbing and electrics, and to my mind the layout was terrible too, so no point any spending anything on decoration until thats addressed. I couldnt see us living in it in the mean time, the stench of old was really strong and it would have been a horrible step down from our current living situation.

You'd easily need €100k to make the place right, maybe more. Its definitely not worth the asking price + €100k + time/stress/energy + paying to live elsewhere while the works are being done (months worth, I'd say).

I've been browsing Myhome since the beginning of the year and its been up the whole time, so clearly no one is having it at that price. Its an executor sale so who knows is anyone is in a rush, but while I accept that the house could be lovely, I'd only ever go for it if they'd accept a seriously cheeky offer. You can't neglect something for 50+ years and expect it to be worth full market value.