Should we buy this house?

[ML1706]

Looking for some advice, we are in the process of buying our first home.
The property is being sold for £250,000 and is a 3 bed semi detached in a lovely village.
The price is very good and we knew it needed modernisation and the garage will need rebuilding hence the price.
However, the building survey revealed many matters at the property needing urgent attention and we also had independent surveys done we are finding more urgent issues as well.

By the looks of it, there will need to be roughly £50,000.00 worth of repairs done just to get the house in working order before any kind of modernization or improvements. The main ones are:


-Removal of asbestos, removal & replacement of all gutters, £5,500

-New Windows, £6,000

-Loft Insulation, £1,500

-Fencing - £1,800 (current fence fallen apart)

-Demolition and rebuild of garage - £20,000

-Drain Repairs - £4,000 (following independent survey)

-Re-wiring - £1,500 (further testing may reveal other electrical issues)

-New Boiler - £6,000

-Rodent Extermination - TBD

-Ceiling Repair - TBD (currenty large hole in kitchen ceiling)


Of particular concern to us, however, are the Boiler, electrics and drains. In the property information form filled in by the seller it was stated that the boiler was in good working order and serviced in 2018 with a report to follow. We have since been informed by the current occupant that the boiler is not in working order and was told by two separate inspectors that the boiler could not be repaired and needed immediate replacement. We have also not received an inspector's report.

With regard to the electrics, it was stated that the electrics were tested, however, no year was listed and no certificate has been shown. To our knowledge from the surveyor, the last testing was in 2006.

An independent CCTV survey of the drains has shown significant cracking and root growth, much will need to be replaced immediately, and the quote was between £3,000 - £5,000.

All of this is before any decorations and we probably won't have any money left to do any..
We've been told to go back to the estate agent to either ask if the seller could get some of these sorted or to ask for the price to be reduced but then we'd have to go through the mortgage application again (we've received our mortgage offer)

Not sure what to do at this point, we don't want to spend more money than the property is worth, it's a good investement and has potential to extend but it's going to be so expensive just fixing it up , we want to open up the kitchen and put wood flooring throughout but we won't be able to do that either it seems...

Should we walk away? We really don't want to do that but I don't think the seller will deal with the issues prior to completion...

[ThisIsSunrise]

Walk away if you can bear to. If you can’t bear to do you have funds to get the work completed before moving? Will you get a mortgage?

[dancemom]

Offer a reduced amount and if they don't accept then walk away

[ML1706]

We do have money saved but those repairs will most likely use up all of it.. the mortgage is low and its a good investement but I would need to wait to make it nice and feel like home, we also have 2 young children so I was hoping to get the flooring and kitchen before moving.. 😓 my husband is keen on the price and he still wants to go ahead as he's thinking about future value

[wowfudge]

So how much is your mortgage offer? If the house has been valued for the mortgage company at the price you've agreed, you can still take the full amount of the offer, pay a lower price agreed now with the seller and use the mortgage money to fund the repairs.

[egontoste]

The cost of the new boiler is really high - what sort is it?

What's so wrong with the windows and gutters that they need immediate replacement?

Re-wiring came up on the survey when I bought this house over 30 years ago. It is still a job in waiting.

[ML1706]

The mortgage offer is £220000 plus our 30k deposit, we were told that if we can negociate a reduce in price we would need to tell the lender

The boiler is oil not gas, so a lot more expensive, gutters are falling apart and contain abestos, windows have been damaged by the leaking gutter

[Gingerkittykat]

How much are similar houses in good order selling for?

£50000 is such a huge amount of money that I would just walk away, that is before you even think about the amount of disruption this work would cause.

[sableandI]

What does the surveyor value the property at in the current state? If it's valued at lower than you offered then you should ask for the price to be dropped to match the current value. Considering all the problems you've stated I would definitely be asking for a reduction regardless. Good Luck

[ML1706]

A 3 bedroom semi detached in the area would normally be price around £320000,

I think the surveyor just said it would cost £210000 to rebuild the house but he didnt a valuation.

It is a good investement as we can put foundation fir a second storey extension when we rebuild the garage but we definetely want to go back to the seller as most of those issues weren't mentionned..

[Waterandlemonjuice]

The drains and boiler will be £££££££

If you can get a very good discount go for it

[Flumperama]

Are you sure £210k wasn't his valuation? £210 to rebuild a house that's on for £250k seems unlikely (as most of the value of a house comes from the land it's on)

[ML1706]

The rebuilding cost of the property is estimated at £210 000

[TDL2016]

Even if you got a reduction in the price, you’ll likely find more work that needs doing as you go along, on top of the work your survey found.
With two small children to manage whilst all that works going on, I wouldn’t even suggest living in the property so you had the best chance of getting it all done as quick as possible.
If you can get the £50,000 reduction, go for it, if not, walk away.

[inwood]

I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole! Imagine living with your two kids in that, way too stressful.

[TDL2016]

Why are you concerned about the insurance reinstatement figure of £210,000 he’s given you?

[MoonlightBonnet]

Just go back and ask for a price reduction. You won’t need to do a whole new mortgage application, they’ll just recalculate it for you. It’s quite normal for purchase prices to be renegotiated after survey.

Did you have a survey done through the mortgage company? If you did and they haven’t asked for a retention then the house has been valued at what you’re paying.

[filka]

So you buy for £250k, renovate for £50k and then it's worth £320k - overall sounds OK.

Rebuilding costs and selling price are completely unrelated - during recessions you sometimes find that the rebuilding cost is more than the selling price. Rebuilding cost is needed for insurance purposes and includes demolition and clearing debris etc.

Some of the costs look quite high - loft insulation is potentially a DIY job for £200. Do you need to replace the oil boiler with another oil one? Is there no gas main? What about LPG?

Could some costs be deferred, do you need to replace the garage immediately, or could it wait a year or two? Or perhaps demolish now, rebuild later.

You could get an EICR report on the electrics for about £250 but need a good electrician to do this, there are some cowboys about who don't test everything they should. Ask on www.electriciansforums.net/ if there is anyone in your area. Regulations have changed over the years so even if the wiring is OK some parts may need upgrading, especially circuit breakers and earthing.

[ABingThing]

With two small children to manage whilst all that works going on, I wouldn’t even suggest living in the property so you had the best chance of getting it all done as quick as possible.

I second this. We're in this position currently as there were more works needed that we discovered once in. We certainly couldn't have the kids there whilst doing the work and it is one painful and expensive slog. I'm not sure I'd recommend it unless you have a good discount, plenty of contingency and a lot of determination.

[ML1706]

The propert is priced at £250000 instead of the average £320000 for the area so we won't get another £50000 off the price.. We're hoping to get the £5000 for the drains off through

[ML1706]

Not concerned with the insurance figure, someone thought that was the value of the property and that we shouldnt pay more than that

[BarrenFieldofFucks]

Tbh, you don't need to rebuild the garage there and then. The main things I would focus on would be the asbestos, wiring and boiler. (Which could be cheaper). Windows when you can. Fence when you can.

[ML1706]

We wouldn't be living in the property while the work in going on, we are renting at the moment.

The garage will wait as we want to convert it into a bathroom and guest bedroom, because we have to rebuild it'll be priced as an extension

[FAQs]

I agree with @filka and having renovated two houses what you’re staying wouldn’t put me off. But you need to be prepared for upheaval for a while.

[73Sunglasslover]

I think you can bring some of these costs down, just based on your extortionate boiler quote. But a margin of 20K after these background works is not enough to make it worth the while buying this one. You can lower your offer now. They might not take 50K off but you could ask for 25K off the agreed price based on this new information.

[baffledbeyondbelief]

Do you plan on doing any of the work yourselves? It can be extremely stressful living in any kind of building site even if you're having some work done before you move it and can take time.

Is this what you want for the next 18 months / 2 years?

Saying that, I would. Do you have relatives nearby in case your hot water / loo / kitchen is out of action... that makes a difference too.