Going from a new build to a well lived in Victorian terrace. WWYD?

[HighlightedTrees]

We have been to see a Victorian terrace mill cottage today. 4 bed. Big garden. Extended, so extra downstairs space. Downstairs is great. New kitchen, new dining room (in extension), new roof, very good new boiler (very warm, despite high ceilings), new wood windows, log burner. We can afford it.

Upstairs - hmm. Extension bedroom was nice. Dual aspect. The 2 bedrooms were shabby, including main bedroom, I could feel the floorboards sagging where I stood. Walls were patchy, carpets grubby, they had LOADS of stuff as they have lived their for 14 years. The attic bedroom was bad - eaves weren't boxed in, loads of clutter, terrible paint (dark blue), stains from a roof leak (hence new roof!), no door to attic (which would be where DS1 (17) with all his guitars and amps would be going. Bathroom was same, patchy walls. Suite was fine though.

We currently live in my 2.5 bedroom shared ownership new build which is tiny as it was all I could afford on my own. Has lovely views. Immaculate white walls but probably I need to face up to the fact it's cheaply made.

DS2 (13) and DP loved the house. DS1 didn't come view it but is desperate for his own room as sharing with his 13 year old shouty, PS playing ADHD brother is driving him mad. DD (9)said she thought upstairs was 'ugly' and she doesn't know. I think we should probably go for it but I'm worried about hating the upstairs. DP says there's lots we can do to it but because they had so much stuff it was so hard to visualise.

Did anyone else buy a house that they partly loved, partly made them ? WWYD? I am stuck! Please help me with your tales and of house buying.

It sounds lime a bargain OP. You just need new carpets, reskim the plaster and decorates, and add a door.

Was planning permission for the loft needed, and did they get it ?

Subject to survey and your builder friend giving you a realistic cost that you can meet for fixing up the attic room I'd go for it.
Also in a new build and like pp the not being able to hang things on the walls where I want is frustrating.
The mainly good things about new builds are heat/decent extractors/modern appliances.
But if they have done the kitchen and a new efficient heating system in sounds lovely!

I agree with posters raising questions about the loft conversion. Don't trust the estate agent - I've viewed properties where the loft conversions clearly didn't meet regulations but were still marketed as a bedroom. Other agents are more scrupulous and will only list as occasional space. Obviously how you use the room 8s up to you, but you could be paying over the odds, the house may be downvalued by your lender, and it could lead to problems when you eventually sell. Plus, the regs are there for a reason...

You would need to look at the regulations about where the loft stairs need to be enclosed. It depends on where they are relative to the main stairs but there is usually a landing and a fire door at either the top or the bottom, sometimes both.

Walls in old house are never really smooth unless you have them reskimed. The paint may have been whitewash so you can paint over that. Once it is all stripped back it will look so much better.

I've always had older houses and whilst there is work involved I did love them.

Sorry, I am back.

So we sent an email saying we'd like to put an offer in but wanted clarification on age of boiler, whether the chimney was lined for the log burner, the age of the loft conversion and whether the roof was insulated. This was the response from the agent:

'Hi XXX,

I have spoken with the vendor regarding your enquiries and he has responded as follows:

He believes there is insulation in the roof.

To the best of his knowledge the fire in the living room does work although he never uses it.

He isn’t sure how old the boiler is but it has been the same boiler since he bought the house

The loft conversion was done prior to him buying the house.

Hope this is of some help and we look forward to hearing further from you.'

The evasiveness seems...evasive. So my question is, would a full building survey (a proper one that I will pay for) be able to answer the questions re the loft, boiler and flue? Sorry for all the questions. I am very green when it comes to house buying, obviously.

@HighlightedTrees a full survey should give you more info on the loft, roof and flue (esp if you ask them to look at it) won’t be able to give you the boiler info apart from an idea of how old it is

I’d be asking about their loft conversion, when it was done, and whether they had it signed off

I’d always consider offering 10k less than asking (subject to survey) esp if there is some obvious work to be done, worst they can say is no. If pushed by the agent I’m always honest ‘looks like a decent amount of work needs doing, could be the clutter, hard to tell ‘

Yes, that makes sense. Thank you @LittleMy77

I was going to start with an offer of 190k so you are on the same lines as me