Owning your own home

If it was £50k of work then a developer would be pricing it as:-

£50k + stamp duty + other buying fees + mortgage payments whilst work being done + profit

Although that's quite a variation from @NickCJ At 1,200 sqft that would come out at £360k against the £50k.

Yes sorry about that. Now I think about it the £300/sqft figure was for extensions rather than refurbs.

Yeah it's going to sell for what people think it is now worth. Helps to know roughly what the refurb cost but it's not going to help you buy it if there are other people in the running for it who don't have that information or do not care.

if it's any indication of things in general - that tap looks a lot like one B&Q sell under their Cooke & Lewis brand for £50 ('Katiki' - only know this as I've just bought the stainless (or stainless-look) version).

It's also one that appears to be re-branded by multiple companies on amazon like this one:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/GAPPO-Monobloc-Kitchen-Bar-Pre-Bathroom/dp/B07S3SQRZK/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=gold+kitchen+tap&qid=1578385508&sr=8-5

Anyone know a good plumber for west London?

Might need a couple for a leak of that scale.

I just need a U-bend removed. Some idiot previously used a second U-bend on the kitchen sink instead of properly joining pipes. So kitchen sink doesn't drain properly.

I went with the Stow Brothers, valuation seemed fair and I liked them best when dealing with them before. It's up and we've got quite a few bookings already so fingers crossed :)

So did our neighbours and I think they undersold themselves and could have got more for it.

But I've seen yours today and I think they've probably got the price right, you might even get another 5-10 on top of the guide price.

Windows. Anything to know? Half of ours are pretty old double glazed, several don't shut properly. Others are missing bits (broken handles etc). Was one of the jobs to sort when we moved and getting round to it now.

Is all glass the same? Presumably not. Is there a way to check quality of glass being installed? Triple glazing worth it? I note that in the bay windows at the front of the house the wall under and above the bays seems thin/hollow which I presume is a source for heat loss. Would this be filled at the same time? Heat retention would be important but the main reason we'd look to get new windows done is noise. We want the front rooms soundproofed as best as possible from the street (loud motorbikes live opposite and mrs cyoa is a very light sleeper). Currently the front window handle is broken and doesn't shut. Even with a handle the frame is warped so won't close fully.

Any reason to go for wood/upvc/alu etc?

Flush? Casement? Tilt & Turn etc? We have a toddler who likes to open windows and a house cat who likes the toddler that opens the windows.

Cheers all for the various thoughts. Looking at sold prices on the street I suspect it must have needed a bit more than a quick refurb as it was purchased for way cheaper than anything else in the vicinity.

I do suspect it is overpriced but maybe not as much as I first thought.

Was looking for Stow Bros listings on rightmove and just noticed our place was reduced yesterday. It sold last year!

Wonder what the story is here:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-88070900.html

Yeah that's the one!

Doesn’t look like a fire, squatted maybe?

They are everywhere... from a time when there were no building controls.
The folks behind me have a similar size extension to mine but it's room cuts across a sash window, as in, they didn't remove the window or change the wall, they just built up to it it, and now the top half of the window looks out over the roof and the bottom half into the extension...

My neighbours went for 40k or so over I think with Stow Brothers on first day.
They tend to attract an "enthusiastic" crowd.

They tend to attract an "enthusiastic" crowd

Christ I wish I could find an estate agents like that in Shepherds Bush!

Out of curiosity did your neighbours sell recently?

Ours went for 43 over asking but to be fair the asking wasn’t realistic, you know what they’re like

As in, they haven't taken it down despite the fact that it's sold, or it's back on the market already?

Well wouldn't say no to that! 16 viewings booked today which isn't too bad.

Think I've seen your extension on Eckford's IG?

Haven’t taken it down. It’s marked as reduced for some reason. Unusually they put the sold price on rightmove, rather than the asking price. My suspicion is that they’re using sold STC listings to stoke hype and up prices

A third of them prob won't turn up..

They are everywhere... from a time when there was no enforcement of building controls.

like now, for example.

Maybe they've got a place that isn't shifting in the same price range as yours, so they're using yours as a carrot.

"Well, that's not available any more, but we've got the perfect place..."

Where did you go after Walthamstow?