what an exciting opportunity to restore a local landmark...any old house can be a money pit but the inside photos suggest that the house should be safe and liveable while you do any work but instead of attempting a quick reno within a specific budget a house like this could become a lifetime project but, if it's in a favourite location, you and your partner are agreed and can afford the initial purchase and a giant reno budget and plan to postpone any renovations till you live in the house for at least 12 months to make careful research before planning any changes your success or otherwise at the auction will decide if it's the right purchase for you ...some thoughts in no particular order are...the real estate plan dimensions are inconsistent and need checking, you need a scaled site plan showing the location of the house and all outbuilding within the block, does the local council have any of the old plans? identify exactly which rooms are original and which ones are extensions, what are all walls, floors and separate roofs built out of... locate any asbestos, don't demolish any rooms úntil you have a very clear whole house renovation plan (extra space will be needed to collect replacements for all the character features and for workspace and storage for tools, paints etc and it's good to keep some clean spaces if you live in the house while renovating) don't plan to start on the inside until you make sure that the outside roof, walls, windows, plumbing and wiring are checked and in safe weatherproof condition and fix them first..is there an attic space and any sign of a staircase and/or is there likely to be enough headspace for upstairs rooms? have you considered keeping some rooms to rent out for extra income?... seems to be more than enough space for some variation of your proposed new floorplan but the displayed dimensions of the old kitchen won't work in your new arrangement and knocking out walls and keeping original plumbing locations are not always the best options and a pool should be closer to the house... hope the new owners give this lovely old house the care it deserves as it would be so good to celebrate it's 100thh anniversary with a whole new lease of life.. good luck with whatever you decide

Wow, thank you so much Oklouise! I'm blown away by your time and consideration of my long-winded question! That's really generous of you to share so much knowledge. I've seen you reply to many posts that I've read. Are you in the industry?

You're right, the house is liveable as is. We could consider creating a space for rental income for sure.

I think it's very good advice not to rush and to spend time living in it and carrying out careful planning before starting. Fantastic idea to keep spaces for storage of supplies and tools even if they're planned to demolish later!

I wanted to clarify a couple of your suggestions:

"...but the displayed dimensions of the old kitchen won't work in your new arrangement and knocking out walls and keeping original plumbing locations are not always the best options".

Oklouise, could you elaborate on how the dimensions of the old kitchen won't work in my new arrangement? Sorry if this seems really obvious! I haven't drawn them to scale, just had a little go on Paint but hope that with it properly measured and drawn up by a professional it could fit.

Why do you think that knocking out walls and keeping original plumbing locations isn't always a good idea? Do you think it'd be simpler keeping walls in place and introducing plumbing into a different location that doesn't require knocking out walls?

not in the industry we've just had lots of practice and experiences that we like to share.... the width of the kitchen is shown as only 2m (unlikely seeing the photos with cabinets and appliances on both sides of the room)...but your proposal shows an island that seems to take up the whole space with only very narrow spaces all around and the fridge is blocking walking paths...not impossible but uncomfortable unless the original kitchen is much wider and it's possible that attempting to remove the wall between kitchen and living is likely to be a problem if the kitchen is an old verandah, the dividing wall is load bearing, dividing wall is a thicker originally external wall and the ceilings may be different heights ...several of the photos show different ceiling heights but it's difficult to know if they are in later added rooms or false ceiling that may have been added beneath still existing older ceilings sometimes the old ceiling roses and cornice have just been hidden as it can be cheaper than replacing?? ... real estate plans are rarely accurate and risky to make only one renovation plan without a clear understanding of what you already (hopefully) will have .. we all agree that using existing plumbing locations can be good but only if that doesn't prevent the potential for a much better outcome, existing plumbing is still in excellent condition and you don't have to remove walls to change or add plumbing ..anything's possible but your proposal shows whole extensions removed when the photos show modern brick external walls...are the rooms too far gone to reuse and/or could the brick rooms be repurposed for eg a better garage connected to the house or short term rental rooms or walled courtyard or pool house or??? although as it's facing north it could be great to open up on that side of the house but you may find that removing the northern extensions could make the house subject to a lot more street noise from the busy corner position and maybe that could be a better location for the kitchen?? i usually make a copy of the original plans and then test different arrangements to try and understand the pros and cons for various options...imagine what an on site professional can do for you but i wonder about moving the kitchen or bathrooms or demolishing the dining room and/or future use of roof space and fitting in a staircase and best use of existing outbuildings etc so a good starting plan is essential but, it doesn't cost anything to play with ideas so if you can confirm rough dimensions (i usually take a clipboard with a few copies of the agents' plans and a a big steel tape measure and a mate to hold the other end so i can check dimensions, including width and length of smaller rooms and hallways and no agent has ever objected to me doing this as it tells them that i am a serious potential buyer) and i would be very happy to test some ideas for you ... such a big house has plenty of room for a 4 bed 2 bath 2 living room home but you could get this so much easier and much cheaper in the suburbs with a simple new build....this house has much bigger potential and could be well worth it if you and your partner think you will enjoy the process together ..but, not everyone is like some of us HOUZZERS who are so obsessed with building and renovating that we need to have an opinion about others' homes so feel free to ask any questions as there are many other's with excellent advice and experience to share eg siriuskey has renovated a big Federation home and converted attic space to bedrooms

As your family grows two separate living spaces are great. I was thinking demolish existing kitchen but leave the rooms to right.

Hi Kate, thank you for your input. I think your idea is a great one and could work well, especially since the wall dividing living and kitchen is the old exterior wall of the house, so leaving it there would probably be easier.

Yes, it would be good to work with original external walls and roofline as preference for retaining as this will simplify things and avoid having to add new supports if taking down only parts of extensions

Makes so much sense! As a totally inexperienced person in building/renovating I didn't consider this, so it's really helpful getting other people's eyes on it! Thanks again :)

Ooh one more thing for now. Do you know who would be best to take around the property for paid advice on the suitability/difficulty of renovations? A builder who does a lot of renovations? We have had building/pest inspections on houses before but they tend to specialise in inspecting for damage and don't always do a lot of building themselves.

We realise now $300k would fall well short for what we'd like to do, but could live in it for some years as is and do it in stages over years (we are a year off of starting a family which would bring a big reduction in income, so a large reno would have to take a backseat if going over $300k).

Hi Sasha,

What a beautiful house, have a plan to work towards, take a builder through the property to check for any problems with the building. if you are lucky enough to succeed, you have an immediate income booster to close off the rooms on the left front , paint and clean up and rent out the apartment. You don't need those rooms and that income will become a source to help finance your renovations. As OKL has mentioned dimensions don't add up, so take a tape measure or an electronic gadget to map out the rooms so we can offer suggestions, Like I can see that you need to work towards opening the kitchen up to the rear of the house and the future pool, cheers, love love the house.

Hi Siriuskey, thank you for your input too :) Much appreciated!

It is a beautiful home with great potential isn't it.

Closing off the left wing and renting it is a great idea. Only thing is it doesn't have a kitchen! I wonder if we could put in a little one fairly cheaply so it can be rented/Airbnb. Would have to be able to pay back the cost of any kitchen install fairly quickly to make it worth the hassle. I can't share my kitchen with anyone - I've had enough of house sharing in my teens/twenties! Hehe.

Will take a tape measure when we go tomorrow & hope to sus out price a bit more. Adelaide market is heating up right now, so much competition for properties, supply is low!

Cheers again Sirius!

I live quite near this house, and it is lovely, good luck. You are right the market is heating up here at the moment , unbelievable.

Consider a small Bunnings kitchen in the room next to the bathroom for easy access to plumbing and outdoors. Personally I would be looking to having a permmanet tenant over Air B&B. I will have another look at it over the weekend

so sorry, I just checked the listing and it said "sold prior to auction", houses like that don't last long on the market. looking forward to seeing what your next find is cheers

Sasha maybe the new owner?!?!

Oh gosh I'm so crestfallen! It wasn't us. I'm a bit annoyed because I offered to come see the house on my days off this week Monday, Tues, Fri and agent declined, so then I wait til the weekend and it's gone! They could have got a better price if they gave more people a chance to offer! Very frustrating. But shows us we need to be quick.

This is the second beautiful home to renovate we've missed out on in a fortnight :( Last one we came runner up at auction, they were firm about not accepting offers prior to auction. They got $200k more than they expected at auction, so private treaty in this market might not get the best price for vendors.

Oh well, there will be more with time and patience.

Thanks for everyone's support and advice! You're a lovely bunch.

Sasha :)

Oww, I'm sorry. Sucks ay. Keep going, something better and cheaper will now appear. A new door will open... Let us know on here if you get a house and start a new thread.

Yes! Fingers crossed :) Thank you, I will do!

I believe things happen for a reason and there will be another house just for you, it's almost like Gazumping has returned to real estate which was dreadful

Thanks Sirius, I'm sure you're right :) What is Gazumping?

Ooh just googled it. Yikes, sounds scary.

I now live on the Mid North Coast of NSW and agents in our area don't even list properties or have for sale signs put out as they already have buyers on their books. Make sure you have a solicitor who's prepared to act quickly and have your finances sorted, good luck

Same in nz. Markets gone mad!!

Thanks Sirius. I didn't know you needed a solicitor to draw up a letter of offer ... I need to look into this.

You need the solicitor to check through contracts etc before proceeding

Oops, I never did that when I bought my first house!

For the most part, REA don't care about getting the best price, they just care about turning over properties quickly. A good enough offer usually gets the property if you are ready to move asap. I offered on maybe 10 or more homes before i purchased one and my experience is the REA's do what is easiest to get their commission. If that is presenting one good enough offer and getting acceptance on it, then that's what they will do. They can be incredibly rude to buyers in the process. They love auctions on a hot market because it's a guaranteed quick sale with minimal viewing and little negotiation.

They don't work for the seller in getting them the best price they just want a quick sale and their commision

So true. And so bloody disappointing. The least effort and quickest sale seems to be the motivating factors for most agents. I actually just had a really positive experience with a lovely REA in Adelaide though! She has done a fantastic job, always transparent and honest with me and has made an effort to get me the best price. I got a fantastic offer just yesterday after 6 days on market and she's chasing up better counter offers now. I'm really lucky it's a hot market to sell, which helps a lot.

I'm considering writing letters to people in streets I love and doing a letterbox drop. I figure I've got nothing to lose and I know people who've bought houses this way! I think that people's distrust of REAs might make an off market sale appealing to some. Who knows...worth a try!

good for you, my sister inlaw did just that some years ago with excellent results

Oh that's so good to hear!! I have read mixed reviews of letterbox drops. So nice to hear of a happy outcome for your sister in from that method :)

we bought a property direct from the owner and saved us both money...make sure that your letter or better, a small card in an envelope, is short and sweet and includes your email and phone numbers and hand delivery gives you a chance to check out the area ...take your dog if you have one as it's amazing how many people will stop and chat to a dogwalker ...best of luck and look forward to hearing some good news

OKL I thought that was just a pick up trick, if you get what I mean

This what we did in the existing roof space of our Federation house, creating a teenage retreat, which they loved

Oklouise that's so great to know you purchased this way! How long ago did you do that? A little card is a really good idea. I'm going to hand deliver to mailboxes but feel shy to knock on their doors and interrupt their Sunday. I will leave email and phone, name and keep it short.

Oksirius, I love your attic retreat! I wonder if this is possible in old bungalows. When I'm getting any future houses inspected I will ask the builder about this as something to look out for! Such a cool idea.

If the roof has enough pitch, you look for a place to fit stairs on the ground floor ,we used prefabed that just had to lifted into place and ensure that they ended up in the attic space where you can stand up, as per my diagram, It's a great way to make use of wasted space, let us know what happens