i looked at a prop over the weekend that was built in the 1940s. It is a deceased estate and we made a ridiculous offer. we wont find out till about midweek what their response is because its a public trust the RE agent said.
but in the meantime Im putting together the costs of doing the renovating so that I know exactly what Im getting into before we settle on a price.
basically – the whole thing needs a complete facelift. its very ugly – just how i wanted it ugly = lower price hopefully.
I have only two issues with the house taking it on face value without a building inspection yet.
ISSUE ONE: im worried about asbestos. this would be my first reno, apart from just a lick of paint in our only other IP.
apart from all new carpet/paint/bath/toilet/kitchen/fittings/fixtures the only structural changes we want to make is knocking down a wall to make the living/dining open plan. but are unsure if its asbestos. is there a way to check if it is without hiring a professional? am i right to be assuming that the roof and walls have asbestos?
if there is asbestos everywhere is it a matter of removing all the walls? Please excuse my ignorance!
ISSUE TWO: it seemed to us that the floors of the living areas were not straight. it was entirely carpeted but we are sure that the floorboards were either sagging or were sloped from the front of the house to the back, or both. the house is on stumps which are partially replaced. unsure about the state of the other stumps because they werent visible from the side of the house. how would you fix sagging and would it be worth the cost? if its gonna cost me the moon i just would let the prop go.
we didnt want to overcommit on our first reno. we would need to hire professionals to do the main jobs and with the help of our family do the other stuff like painting, replacing doors and fittings, laying tiles, assembling the two pack kitchen etc.
specifics:
2 extremely large bedrooms that are easily the size of a lockup car garage EACH – maybe a bit wider than a garage though. they really are excessive.
double-size livingroom due to a house extension many moons ago (which we intend to put up a wall to section off a third bedroom)
600 m2 block
4 blocks away from the CBD, extremely quiet street. two street access. fabulous block of land.
listed at $330k … but that is waaay above market value due to the disrepair of the house. in my opinion market value should be about $270k, agent agrees and had advised the vendors to drop the price but they didnt.
we made an offer of $200k because apparently they are keen to sell and will accept basically any offer (we will soon find out their real limit). i was going to offer more, but last week another house in the area sold for $205k so maybe i will get a bargain too
noone else has seen the house yet as its a deceased estate so not advertised. and was only put on the market on friday. I was the only person to go through over the weekend.
any insight/advice/recommendations are appreciated!!
oh … and just in case someone was wondering – we are wanting to renovate, rent it out at approx $350 a week, refinance the loan and use the extra money to purchase again.
or maybe we will sell it instead of refinancing, depends on the market.
In a 1940's house, asbestos "should" be minimal, but dont let that comment get your hopes up! You will find asbestos in various forms, but mainly in sheet form in a house. Common areas to find it include:
– under lino – behind any wet area surfaces(ie: behind tiles) – under the external eaves (mind you in a house that old – it probably has timber eaves
In other forms it is commonly found in lino, floor tiles, insulation over hot water pipes, etc etc!
I wouldn't expect to find it in the walls of a house unless it was renovated (sounds like it has been renovated from what you said above) as most houses built in 1940 would generally have brick internal walls or even timber stud with lath and plaster on top.
Personally if I was in doubt – Id just pay a few dollars to get it looked at by a pro. Asbestosis is a silent killer and its no point making lots of money in property if your life is cut short. On that note, you should wear a dust mask at all times anyhow because all dusts are bad for you! Asbestos is just the one they managed to prove was bad for you!
As for the floor, unless you really know what your doing then id probably be taking a builder with you to give you a quote, bearing in mind it probably wont be cheap as they will be wanting to cover themselves incase its worse than first thought.