She’s making a list, she’s checking it twice…

…and she found she’d left the electrician off it!

Yes, we’ve reached the planning stage.  This is a list (not quite in the right order) of all the stuff we think we have to do to Ethel’s House.

  1. Treat woodworm.
  2. Strip all rooms back to walls.
  3. Repair kitchen ceiling.
  4. Re-wire house.
  5. Enlarge fireplace in living room to take woodburner.
  6. Replace windows.
  7. Replace front door.
  8. Replace roof and all rainwater goods.
  9. Repair chimney.
  10. Enlarge two existing roof lights and add two more.
  11. Insulate all rooms and roof.
  12. Install underfloor heating in kitchen and bathroom.
  13. Install new kitchen.
  14. Install new shower.
  15. Lay solid wood flooring throughout ground floor.
  16. Carpet up the stairs and throughout upstairs landing and bedrooms.
  17. Install woodburner in living room.
  18. Decorate throughout.
  19. Furnish.

Just a bit of work to do, then…  We are really dependent on the electrician and the roofer, as a lot of the rest can’t be done until they’ve finished.  By the time we’ve got it furnished, hopefully the decrofting of the house site will have come through and I’ll be able to get it revalued and apply for a small mortgage to pay off all the money I’ll be borrowing to pay for the list above.  At the moment I have a home report that says it’s worth £77,500.  Compared to other 3-bed near-identical houses in the village currently for sale, that’s very, very low – although all those came to market after the home report was done.  Given there’s a 2-bed bungalow with no land 200 yards up the road that’s been valued at £125,000, I think we should do okay when it comes to getting a good low loan-to-value.

Take your marks…

Don’t move, don’t breathe, don’t speak, but I think we’re nearly there.  We’re down to ONE outstanding query with the seller’s solicitor, which they’re looking into, and my solicitor has asked me to deposit funds with them so that they’re ready to transfer them once it’s been resolved satisfactorily.

Village marketwatch – next door has gone up for sale.  It’s a little bigger than Ethel’s House with better outbuildings, similar views and 29 acres, and it’s been valued on the home report at £235,000, which is very cheering.  They’ve done a fabulous job of decorating it inside though, I’m not sure I’ll quite achieve the same finish, but I’m going to try.

And going to be nosey at their home report has a downside, as I think I’ve found project number 2.  If it’s still up for sale by the time Ethel’s House is done, then I will definitely be going to have a look at it (though you can guess what sort of condition it’s in by the fact that it’s being advertised in the ‘land’ section and is on at offers over £45,000!!).