At home with a real ESPC buyer: Ryan McNeely and Katie Duffy

Ryan McNeely, a mechanical technician, and hairdresser Katie Duffy, both 24, were planning to wait until the Covid-19 pandemic passed before buying their first home together in Fife. But in early 2020, when Ryan’s mother spotted an Edwardian property with potential aplenty on the ESPC website, this fearless duo decided to take the leap and take on a renovation project unlike anything they’d expected.

Eighteen months after picking up the keys and some extensive refurbishment later, the plucky pair show us the progress they’ve made on their dream Dunfermline home.

Congratulations on your first home! Can you tell us more about your property journey, and how ESPC helped?

This was our first property purchase, as we were both living with our parents beforehand. We’d been thinking about buying, but we weren’t actively looking at the time – although we were occasionally checking the ESPC website to see what new properties were on the market, as we didn’t want to miss out if the right one came up! We liked that the website allowed us to narrow down both our search area and our budget, to find the properties that suited our needs. There’s also lots of information and guidance on the ESPC website that we really liked – we found the First Time Buyer’s Guide especially useful.

That’s great to hear! What kind of property were you looking for, and how did you find this one?

We knew that we wanted to buy a home in Dunfermline, as we both work in the area and our families and friends are all local too. We always loved the look of period properties, with their large proportions and character details, and one of our specific requirements was that any house we bought had to have a garage or a space to build one.

It was actually Ryan’s mum who came across the house by chance, when she was searching on ESPC. When we saw it online, we knew we couldn’t let the opportunity pass us by. The house had so much potential, and with it being so close to the centre of town, we couldn’t resist arranging a viewing.

How did the viewing go? 

We’d love to say that when we viewed the house, we fell in love with it straightaway. However, this didn’t happen – the first Covid-19 lockdown was announced the day before we were due to view the property! So we had to resort to looking at the pictures online, reading the Home Report and trusting our gut instinct, and after many long nights discussing what we should do, we decided to go for it and bought the house blind.

What was it like to buy such a big renovation project, especially without seeing it first?

We had agreed that our first house was always going to need some TLC, but we weren’t expecting it to require quite as much work as this one! The house hadn’t been touched for decades, with every room in need of complete modernisation.

We are very fortunate that both of our families are in the building trade, so it made the process much easier having access to their help and wealth of knowledge. We eventually moved in the week before Christmas 2020, and we couldn’t have done it without them.

What’s been done to the property since you purchased it?

We went right back to the original internal brickwork and the house has since been re-wired, re-plumbed, insulated and fitted with an eco-friendly Air Heat Source heating system. We’ve also fitted a new kitchen and new bathroom, knocking down walls in the process. Renovating gave us the perfect opportunity to start with a blank canvas and put our own personal mark on it. Phase two of our renovations are currently underway, which involves a garage extension, basement conversion and landscaping both the front and back gardens.

What’s your favourite thing about your new home?

The open-plan kitchen is our favourite space, as it blends the modern feel of our home with the traditional features, like the original staircase. We both love spending time in here, especially when the sun’s shining through the stained-glass windows.

What are the biggest lessons you’ve learned, both from buying your first property and from doing renovations?

Seek professional advice from a mortgage adviser, so that they can guide you through the buying process and help you define your budget, so you don’t waste time looking at homes outside of what you can afford.

In terms of renovating, we’ve learned to expect the unexpected. There’s always the chance of uncovering some unknown issues, especially with an older property! We also learned that it’s best to just go for it and not be afraid of committing to big decisions, as you might regret not doing it later on – looking back, we’re so glad now that we decided to knock down two internal walls to create our open-plan kitchen/dining room, as we love it so much.

What advice would you both give to fellow first-time buyers?

Don’t be put off by the daunting prospect of a renovation – the long days and nights when the house is in total turmoil are draining, but it’s all worth it when everything comes together at the end. The sense of achievement is something that can’t be matched, when you look back on all your hard work and see what you’ve accomplished.

You can follow Ryan and Katie’s renovation journey on Instagram at @edwardian_renovation_.