Whether you are buying your first house or are working your way up the property ladder, house-hunting is often considered to be a long and stressful process. From bidding wars to unforeseen issues, it can taken months before you finally land your desired property.
Knowing the exact criteria you are looking for in terms of the house type, its size, your preferred area and budget can generally help to narrow down your options and speed up the process, which is how Charlotte and Andy Coleby came to find their dream family home.
The couple spoke to us as part of our Where I Live series, where each week we speak to a different homeowner across the north west to hear about their home buying journey, the costs involved and look at how they've renovated to make their house a home.
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Charlotte, 29, from Crewe and Andy, 30, from Sale bought their first house, a two-bed terrace in Eccles, for £86,000 back in 2014.
The pair got married in August 2018 and as soon as the wedding was over, Charlotte wanted to find their family home and get stuck into a renovation project.
The mum-of-one, who is an estate agent, had her heart set on buying a dated, doer-upper property that they could rip out and renovate to make their own, and knew exactly what she was looking for.
“I was bored after the wedding and wanted a project to keep my mind occupied," Charlotte told the Manchester Evening News.
"As an estate agent I’m always going to different houses and getting inspiration from them. I knew exactly what I wanted and what I didn’t want, and my husband very kindly just gave me free reign on that side of things.
“We were looking to buy in Urmston or Monton. We wanted a three bedroom house and I particularly wanted a period property with lots of original features."
Eventually the couple found a 1900s end-terrace in Monton that had all of the aspects they desired - and they ended up buying it for £205,000.
But as a run-down ex-rental, the couple knew they were taking on a huge project.
“When we went to view it it was an ex rental. It wasn't very well looked after, it was damp, the plaster on the walls was just crumbling off. It was really run down and the kitchen and bathrooms were barely usable," explained Charlotte.
"What made us want to buy it most was the area. It was just off Monton High Street so it was just a stone’s throw away from all the bars, restaurants and shops.
"Also the fact it was an end terrace, it had a big garden with a garage at the back, which in terrace houses is very few and far between."
The couple got the keys in December 2018 and began working on making the derelict house a home.
“When we got the keys we ripped out all of the carpets, we knocked off all the plaster on a lot of the walls and took it back to the brick," Charlotte said.
"The hallway and the landing were the first big jobs we did, then we actually went on holiday about two weeks later and gave the keys to our builders. While we were away they took down an internal wall downstairs to open up the living room and the dining room and make it one big room."
But as it often comes with buying a period property, it transpired that there were many more problems with the house than the couple first anticipated.
“We had a huge amount of issues during the renovation process, the fact that it was just an old house in general meant we just kept uncovering unforeseen problems," said Charlotte.
"When we had the wall knocked down downstairs we uncovered underneath the floorboards that the drain on the outside had been just draining underneath the house, so we basically had a swimming pool underneath the house which we had to pump out and redirect the drainage.
"We were just uncovering more issues than we ever imagined. Luckily we had the funds to do it but if we were on a tighter budget then we might have been screwed."
When deciding on her interior style, Charlotte said she wanted to retain a lot of the property's originally character.
“The original character for me is why I wanted an older house. We kept the original floorboards, used a lot of original woods and we’ve put in a lot of picture rails, dado rails and panelling," she said.
"We also added back in the cast iron fireplaces in the bedrooms which were boarded up. I salvaged using eBay and Facebook.
"I love having high ceilings and I love all the character that's in the house now."
Charlotte and Andy have renovated their home over the course of the last four years, but the new mum admits she has gone back and forth on her decisions a few times.
“Over the last four years we’ve completely redone the house whole from top to bottom. We weren’t planning on doing everything but when you buy an older house these things happen, you start one project and then you go onto another," she said.
“We finally finished renovating this year. We've just had a new downstairs toilet fitted and last year we had a loft conversion done to give us an extra bedroom - that was supposed to be an eight week job and it turned into a year.
"I’ve decorated all of the upstairs twice already in the last four years, and all the bedrooms have been redecorated twice. I've just convinced my husband that we should definitely do downstairs again now."
Charlotte says that the pair have spent more than £100,000 renovating their home over the years.
“The loft conversion was about £40,000 and prior to that we spent around £60,000," she said.
"Because we work full time, I just didn’t want to spend my free time doing it, so we got a lot of the work done for us.
"We probably could have saved a lot of money by doing it ourselves but I wouldn’t say we’re very handy either. I’ve got the vision but I just needed someone to go and do it."
Despite admitting spending quite a bit on renovating, Charlotte said a lot of her furniture is second hand.
"A lot of the wooden furniture that we’ve got is all second hand items that I’ve sourced on Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree," she said.
"We had a piano delivered a few weeks ago, I had some rubbish being collected and the guys had a piano on the back of their van and asked if I wanted it and I thought why not.
"I've always wanted a piano, my grandparents had one, my mum had on so yeah it fits perfectly as well. I used to play piano but now I’ll have to start again."
Walking us through the layout of their home, she said: "We've got an entrance hallway which leads into an open plan living room and dining room. That then flows into the kitchen with patio doors leading onto the garden, and at the bottom of the garden is the garage. We also now have a downstairs toilet.
"Upstairs there is the first bedroom which is used as an office and dressing room, next to that is the family bathroom, and then coming back to the front of the house you've got two double bedrooms, one which is the nursery and the other is our master bedroom.
"You then go upstairs again and there's the loft conversion which is a double bedroom with an en-suite. It also has a Juliet balcony looking out the back."
Charlotte and Andy's daughter, Olive, was born in November 2022 and the new mum says that the nursery is one of her favourite parts of their home.
"I love the nursery. Having a neutral nursery was always the idea, it's got a lot of muted tones. I'm sure most new parents realise that they don't actually use a nursery until they're probably about six months old, but it is a nice space and we do bath time in there and she still plays there if I’m upstairs."
With all the work that they've done on the house, the estate agent now estimates that her four-bed home is worth around £375,000 to £400,000.
"I'd like to think we'll move again in the future, but the problem is the house prices and it would cost a lot to get to the next stage up from our house," she said.
"Our house is probably worth at around £375,000 to £400,000 now, but to get a bigger home would probably cost around £700,000 to £800,000.
"That’s why we did the loft conversion so that we can grow into the house, if we wanted to expand and have more children then we've got the space to be able to do that now."
Giving advice for anyone homeowner wanting to work their way up the property ladder, Charlotte said: “If you're new to the property ladder and it's going to be your first home then don’t be too hung up on what you need and what you want, you kind of just want to get on the ladder.
"When we bought our first home it was £87,000 which was a bargain but we knew it wasn't going to be our forever home. There was work that needed to be done but we didn't do it in the end because we just settled on it.
"But when we came to move we’d made around £60,000 to £80,000 grand on it which then gave us the funds to be able to then renovate and make this home exactly how we wanted it.
Charlotte added: "You just need to just figure out what you need as opposed to what you want in your first home, stay there for a couple of years and then find your forever home.
"As long as you buy within the right area and you don't go silly on your renovations then you'll always make money. There's always money in property."
You can see more of Charlotte and Andy's home on their Instagram account @colebys.at.crawfordst.
Want to get involved in Where I Live? If you are interested in featuring your home in our weekly series, please email your name and details to phoebe.jobling@reachplc.com.
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