First thing I always do when buying a house and I have bought a few, is am I likely to get my money back when I sell. It may sound obvious but the cheapest house in the area is likely to retain its value more than the most expensive as some one else has already made the profit on the most expensive ones. Then I look at obviously cost first, then how long as it been on the market. My current house started at £1.25m but stuck. They reduced it down to £1,150,000 and a couple of months later I made an offer of £950,000. I always buy before I sell so it puts me in a strong position and it doesn’t then affect my business working from home.Now obviously the couple selling thought I was taking the piss but when I gave them the costings ( through the Agent) of £300k to turn it in to a £1.25m house they could see where I was coming from. It would never go higher than that value for the area. I was prepared to walk away with a take it or leave it non negotiable offer. The work has now been done and in normal times it’s now worth what my calculations said it would be. So the moral of the story is don’t over pay if work needs doing because you won't get it back when you subsequently sell. If your in it for the money you will make a lot more money on 10 £100000 terraced houses than 1 £1m pound mansion.