I'll take a somewhat contrarian position.

I hope I do not come across as being too harsh, its not my intent.

If you need to ask what to look for then I would say you are probably not
equipped to undertake, or even manage, such a project. I would recommend
that you back away unless you have a trusted advisor, consultant, project
manager, general contractor or whatever to handle the project start to
finish (AND you have deep pockets).

If you have deep pockets and you want an adventure, don't have, or need, a
job then go for it. Heating, water and electrics. That tells me this will
be, quite possibly, a gut job. Pull all wallboard, lathe & plaster, fix the
structure, put in all new mechanicals, etc. All this is, of course, done
once the outside is weather tight. Also, while the walls are open you will
probably be refurbishing or replacing the windows.

Good luck

"Chris Kernaghan" wrote in message
...
Hi,

My wife and I are looking at a derelict house as our second home, and a
renovation project.

We are going to view the property in a couple of days, and although I have
bought my current house and followed due diligence in purchasing it. I am
unfamiliar with what to look for in an older house.

The house is roughly one hundred years old, a red brick built by an
english company. It certainly looks like a middle class dwelling built to
a high specification.

The vendor also purcahsed the house for renovation, but does not appear to
have proceeded with the project (he appears to be filithy rich) but he has
said that it will need a new heating system, new water system and new
electrics.

One last thing, this house is not currently for sale, I contacted the
vendor after looking up the property on the land registry database, so any
advice on how to proceed with any sale would be good too.

TIA

Chris aka BoobBoo