Hey all.
Finally in my 40s I’m fortunate enough (with a lot of family help & a mortgage) to be buying a home. It’s end-of-terrace; just spoke to the surveyor today after he’s done most of the inspection and he’s found a lot of structural problems.
Feeling a bit defeated, it’s taken so long to get to this stage of having an offer accepted, and being close to exchanging contracts. It’s an old house so while I wasn’t expecting it to be fault-free, I’m quite disappointed and I guess looking for some advice / reassurance.
Not got the report in text yet but he mentioned potential subsidence; rising damp; cracked walls; problem with the chimney stack; window frames; and others. Said it’s all stuff that can be fixed, but potentially expensive. My plan is to wait for the text report next week, then contact the estate agent and attempt to negotiate a price reduction in line with the cost of the repairs, which imo will run into at least £15k. Considering it’s on the market for £85k, and the owner wouldn’t even put the electric on for viewing because she didn’t want to pay £1 a day standing charge, I’m anticipating some pushback.
But, should I even bother? Is this ‘sunk cost fallacy’ at play? I certainly feel like if they’re not prepared to negotiate re repairs then I have to walk away as I could buy a well-maintained property round here for the total cost of around £100k!
Any advice much appreciated.
If you aren’t comfortable with managing repairs, walk away. The repairs will likely take months and can be very disruptive.
It sounds like there are some very pricey repairs, chimneys are generally expensive and require specialized masons. Replacing windows can be expensive, but if the house doesn’t have double pane windows, the insulation benefits can offset the cost.
The biggest worry is the moisture issues, rising damp and bad window frames could mean significant water damage is discovered as part of repairs. Cracked walls can also be a big deal depending on the root cause, foundation issues are really bad.
I do have somewhere within walking distance where I can stay while works are being completed. Windows I’m not so much worried about, as estate agent said she had similar issues and just did the windows one at a time as budget allowed. The damp / potential subsidence though is my biggest concern. It’s likely the provider would pull the mortgage offer based on that, and there’s no way I’d get building insurance with issues like this.
If you really like the location you might consider trying to negotiate a vastly reduced price for the land and do a demo and rebuild.
Am not sure I’d be able to do that, it’s attached to another house; planning permissions I imagine would be a nightmare; it’s likely they’ll balk at any reductions in price let alone a massive reduction; and iirc the terms of my mortgage are specifically for a house purchase not a house build.
Dream idea though, I was looking at land the other day thinking how cool it would be to be able to just buy some land and build a house on it. Potentially cheaper than buying, just a huge project to manage.
I’d just recommend not settling for something in poor condition just because you feel beat down or overwhelmed by the grind.
You will be filled with constant regret if you wind up buying some dilapidated property simply because you’re tired of the back and forth because once you sign the papers, you’re stuck with it. The process isn’t enjoyable, but try not to let that get to you.
Not sure what the exact condition of house is nor what contractors charge for work in your area, but in my area of the US, $15k isn’t going to get you very far on most projects. One of my coworkers just spent $27k to have an HVAC system installed and $40k for new windows. I think he got fleeced, but even halving those prices, you’re still being given a rough quote equivalent to these somewhat basic tasks for what sounds like serious structural work.
Ok, I have to ask- what the hell kind of place do they live where HVAC costs $27k and windows cost $40k? Were these new installations where there had never been ductwork or windows before? Because those are way, WAY out of line for replacements in a typical single family home. By about an order of magnitude.
But to your larger point, yes, structural work can very easily (and quickly) hit 6 digits. I wouldn’t accept it unless the terms are that the original owner makes the repairs first.
As someone who just replaced all his downstairs windows for under $4k I also would like to know where this is so I can avoid it at all costs. Literally an order of magnitude difference is wild
Yes the HVAC was a full install as he had an oil burning furnace with radiant floor heating prior to this. They installed an AC/furnace and ducting. The windows were through one of those sleazy companies like Renewal by Anderson and like I said I think he got fleeced on both jobs.
Good advice re constant regret of being stuck with a lemon. I checked the prices for subsidence repair and the average in my area is £12500.
Walk away. Seriously.
Walk away unless you plan on doing a large, time consuming, and expensive renovation. Don’t fall in love with the idea of what the property could be. Make sure it suits your needs now and the seller is much more transparent.
Yea unless you’re ready to fix (or more likely redo /replace) a lot of existing things while you live there, I’d walk unless they make a really compelling offer.
Renovations are really time consuming especially when you have a job, family, etc. And living in a renovation can be exhausting as you have to work around all the fixes until theyre done or at least usable. I speak from experience unfortunately.
That said, if the place is liveable and you can break things down into more manageable parts, could be worth it if again, they make a really compelling offer.
Renovations are really time consuming especially when you have a job, family, etc. And living in a renovation can be exhausting as you have to work around all the fixes until theyre done or at least usable. I speak from experience unfortunately.
Am self employed, single so I guess that’s going for me in this respect. Writing music would be pretty difficult though with drilling and hammering going on through the rest of the house! Thanks for your advice.
As a fellow music maker i feel that. And absolutely, happy to help. Best of luck to you.
the seller is much more transparent.
Am trying to take the attitude of not taking it personally, it’s just business and the seller is trying to maximise what they get for the house… but it’s hard not to feel deceived. They surely must have known there are serious issues and clearly have not priced the house accordingly. It’s frustrating to have to dig out these issues, every buyer is going to pay for a survey and waste money finding out things that should really have been disclosed by the seller.
Apparently in Norway, the seller pays for and provides a survey to all prospective buyers. Seems a much more efficient and fair way of doing things.
In the US there are some things covered in the survey and some not. We paid for an independent home inspector to go top to bottom of ours before purchase. I tested the water, had the most recent electrician go over our system, and talked to the neighbors about the history of the property. It was very good to have all that information and worth the money to pay for. It greatly reduced the worry and I got to know the property before buying it.
Yeah peace of mind is priceless. Plus as I’m buying via a mortgage, there’s no question about getting surveys done… iirc the provider would be content with a ‘basic’ survey but I felt like it was worth the extra ~£80 to go for a more in-depth one!
Am trying to look at it not as £500 wasted, but a £500 expense that’s saved me from potentially making a very bad purchase.
Foundation/structural issues are ALWAYS walk away.
Unless it’s cheap to basically rebuild. Or absolutely must have that particular house.
Neither applies, I’m doing a Craig David and Walking Away for sure.
Walk away. If they’re cheap on electricity, they’re probably cheap on maintenance.
Agreed. I’d already had some thoughts that it wasn’t the one but after all the advice I’ve gotten here, there’s no way I can buy this house.
You say it’s priced at 85K, repairs 15K. Would you buy it if it was in perfect condition for 100K? If so, buy it. If not, walk.
I don’t know what your local market is like, but in most places a seller won’t entertain that much price reduction.
This is very sage advice. I mentioned this comment to my dad and we both didn’t take a heartbeat before responding “Definitely not” to the question of if we’d buy it in perfect condition for 100k.
Walk away NOW. If the issues are known ahead of purchase insurance won’t cover them. You do NOT want to have to declare subsidence on your insurance quotes - most brokers just won’t cover you. Almost everything you said is a huge red flag and there are probably more “nice surprises” to come. If you have a mortgage approved already then go and find another property.
If this is your dream house, at least get a building & contents insurance quote before you go any further. You don’t want any further surprises.
Edit: source: bought a money-pit house, thought we had subsidence, we didn’t but it was a huge hassle and a lot of stress regardless. We got a bonus moth infestation out of it, though!
The mortgage offer is until Aprl 2024, so there is still 5 or 6 months left. These responses are exactly the kind of experienced advice I was looking for, thanks
Happy to help! I wish I’d had as much foresight as you before buying my place…
Sometimes overthinking everything can be a curse, in this scenario it seems to be more of a blessing for sure!
When you buy something that’s going to be with you till your last day, it should give happiness. You shouldn’t be anxious and sleepless at night because of that.
Personally, unless you really love the house or location I’d walk away. I’d also be super surprised if issues found by a structural engineer can be fixed, particularly if you have to hire someone for a significant amount of that work, for just 15k, as after the structure is correct there’s a bunch of other aspects of the building’s construction that will have been disrupted and need fixing. If you need to hire a contractor for repairs it’d probably be more realistic to budget 50-80k for repairs.
If nearby homes exist in turnkey condition for 100k that’s your better bet. Not being willing to turn the electricity on in order to help a prospective buyer check out the place is a huge red flag with sirens attached as well. Structural problems can be very bad, electrical problems can burn the place down and kill everyone inside.
Walk away would be my suggestion.
There’s nearby homes in turnkey condition for £90k, forget £100k! Like I said I have to wait until I have the full report in my inbox but it kinda feels like they’re trying to pull a fast one, especially with regard to the electrics / unsigned electrical cert. What company gives an electrical certificate but doesn’t bother to sign it? I don’t see how either the estate agent nor the seller had no idea it’s in such a bad state.
Also in the US so it might differ.
Honestly, if you’re in love with the house and you really want it, go for it, try to get them to cover as much as you can. At least you are somewhat aware of what you’re getting into, but beware these kinds of things have a tendency to balloon in costs. What starts out as 15k in estimated costs could easily end up being 25k by the time everything’s done.
If you’re not that attached to it if it’s “Just a house” to you, try to get them to cover the full cost of repairs, if they say no walk away. In the US price cuts have already started happening, houses are sitting on the market longer and longer again. On top of that, you said you’re buying for 85k + 15k for repairs that ends up being 100k and you can get a much better maintained house for 100k? I’d take that option if it were me and save myself the headache.
Am definitely not in love with the house! I think I’m pretty desperate to be a homeowner after renting all my life and dealing with scummy landlords, plus while I’m living with my dad I can’t really work. There’s just about room for a table with my PC and one synth, but certainly no space for my giant monitor speakers, let alone any bass traps or room treatment (as this is essentially a rental for my dad, albeit housing association so he’s very secure).
So I prob need to factor in my emotional state, try my best to be as cold & calculating about this as possible. Thanks for your advice.
This is in the US so your experience obviously may differ but we recently bought a house that needed a completely new roof. We actually had to back out of the deal once because the seller refused to pay any portion of the roof. It took the house sitting on the market for another 3 months before they finally agreed to cover just half the cost of a new roof and at that point we were tired of looking and just wanted a house so we accepted the offer. Our new roof looks great and we’re happy with the house but paying for half of a roof was an expensive add-on to the purchase for sure.
That’s funny - not your roof troubles but that they came crawling back in the end, because they must’ve found that every other buyer was similarly unhappy about the roof. My dad had the same thing trying to buy a house last year, they wouldn’t accept his bid then came back months down the line to accept it… at which point my dad reduced his offer again by 5k haha.
I am definitely going to make the point to the estate agent (who was boasting she could’ve sold the house 10x over), that all other buyers are going to have a survey carried out and discover the same serious issues. So if the seller and her are serious about selling the house, then they need to sell it for a serious price that reflects those serious issues!
PS as a half-Malteser, cool username :)
Op… their transparent lie about not wanting to pay 1 pound a day to turn the electricity on should have told you to walk away let alone the structural issues.
Yeah I took the explanation at face value, at first… but the more I think about it, in conjunction with not turning the water on it feels very much like they’re trying to pull a fast one.
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Follow your gut and try not to fall for the sunk cost fallacy
Have to say my gut is saying to walk away. Of course it’s me that has to make the decision end of the day, but the responses I’ve gotten here have clarified all the subconscious worries I had and given me a lot more to think about. Much appreciated, glad I made this post.
I bought my current place a year and a half ago - it was the fourth one I’d had an offer in on and the previous three had major structural issues (turns out 100+ year old houses built on same are a nightmare), at least two had subsidence. I have friends and family in the building trade and they reckon they’d be wary - houses like a that reach a point where, to continue for another century, they either need to get snapped up by a builder who can get the work done and flip it or someone highly motivated who can take on a project like this.
Your mileage might differ but I’d just spent 6 months and 50 grand putting the previous house on a raft of concrete that would outlast the next I’ve Age which was then used as a stick to beat us down on the price. So I was not in the right frame of mind to undertake another building project. And that’s what you should ask yourself - are you the kind of person that thrives on camping in their new house for months getting work done (and getting builders is trickier after the pandemic and more expensive)? What’s your budget like because this is the stuff the survey found but tearing into the place could reveal more? It has clearly not been well-maintained for a long time and there’s likely to be all sorts of other issues.
What level of survey did you have done? Have you had a structural engineer look it over?
I certainly feel like if they’re not prepared to negotiate re repairs then I have to walk away as I could buy a well-maintained property round here for the total cost of around £100k!
You’re clearly up north! If they aren’t prepared to negotiate then everyone should walk, if they weren’t prepared to come down closer to £50-60k then I’d definitely consider walking, as the modest savings don’t outweigh the stress. To be honest, if it were me, I’d be long gone already. Just reading this is giving me flashbacks.
What level of survey did you have done? Have you had a structural engineer look it over?
We went for a full survey, the guy is RICS-registered but fairly young so assume he’s pricing cheap to get plenty of jobs and reviews under his belt. He did recommend a specific separate cavity inspection but at this point it feels like I’m probably going to be chucking more money down the drain considering all the other issues.
You’re clearly up north! If they aren’t prepared to negotiate then everyone should walk, if they weren’t prepared to come down closer to £50-60k then I’d definitely consider walking
Correct haha. Someone else said that a reduction of 15k is almost unheard of. Tbh I already was having a bad feeling, and reading all these responses has really crystalised that I simply cannot buy this house without a massive reduction… and even then it’s going to be a shitload of hassle, potentially more expenses that haven’t yet been uncovered. Will see what they say once we have the full report in writing. I don’t mind roughing it a bit, but managing a project like this I would think isn’t really in my wheelhouse and will be very stressful.
Thanks for your advice.
We went for a full survey, the guy is RICS-registered
Yeah, they’re chartered surveyors, you’d be wise to get a structural engineer to look it over if you were thinking of having underpinning and they might spot other things. I stopped getting chartered surveyors and asked a structural engineer I know to do the surveys - they a lot harsher.
Someone else said that a reduction of 15k is almost unheard of.
Percentage wise it’s a big chunk of change but, depending on the amount of underpinning required, it might not be enough.
even then it’s going to be a shitload of hassle
If the underpinning is not accessible from outside the floors will have to come up. Cracks in the walls may have to be dealt with by removing the plaster and tying the bricks back together then replastering. Depending on where the damp is coming from you might need a new roof - did they get up there or use a drone?
I don’t mind roughing it a bit, but managing a project like this I would think isn’t really in my wheelhouse and will be very stressful.
And money aside, this should be your deciding factor.
The surveyor said he was actually surprised to find the roof in quite good condition… seems like at least one area where it’s either been properly maintained, or had very high-quality work performed.
I’ll definitely do some shopping around for structural engineers in the area for future surveys, might as well go in deep for the most expensive & important issues before moving forward with any future potential purchase. Great advice, thanks.
