Dream house but needs work. Is this a viable offer?

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We have found our dream house in our dream village. It’s perfect but does need considerable work.

people on here seem really good at calibrating what is a decent offer. So on this house do you think in the current climate we will lose credibility with the sellers if we offer 10% less than asking?

the house is here. Lots of pics but they hide the ones showing the need for interior work until close to the end. I know it’s pricey and we would have to do a lot of work to convert the house and outbuildings so we could run it as a home and holiday business. www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/152048501#/?channel=RES_BUY

Wow that's isolated & a lot of house for the money. 10% under is pretty standard to me.

it's been for sale since Aug so I would suggest it's too expensive or sellers are unrealistic.

It's been on the market for 7 months so yes I'd definitely put in a minimum 10% off...in fact I'd go 20%.
Doing up the houses wouldn't phase me at all but managing 40 acres could be more of a pain (I only have 11 but have had a right faff with tenants).

Surely the house would have been priced by the estate agents with this in mind? Had it been in tip
top condition, it would have been priced higher?

However, it has been on the market a while, so worth offering less, unless there’s a valid reason (ie. Sale fell through).

Pretty house.

Looks like a complete refurbishment is needed, kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms, flooring, walls. Presumably you'll need to rewire and upgrade heating as well. Beautiful location and a lot of potential but years of work! How does the asking price compare to the market? If it's not already competitively priced then 10% under is ok as a starting point

20% feels scary, I don’t want to annoy the sellers but maybe 15%?

yes the amount of land is daunting. We think it’s viable to rent out some of it to a local family. We are not farmers or used to having land. That is an understatement as we have lived in zone 1 London for over twenty years.

i would be going 20% under

We are not farmers or used to having land. That is an understatement as we have lived in zone 1 London for over twenty years.

Have you ever lived this rural?
40 acres is a lot.

before everyone says that as Londoners we will be unable to cope with rural isolated life can I just say I grew up very nearby and lived on Dartmoor for the first 20 years of my life. I do know what it’s like.

No harm in offering at all and 10% is entirely reasonable....and I think the price is high given the condition. It is beautiful but keep in mind that it is within the national park so any planning (if you want to modify outbuldings etc) will have to be approved by the NPA.

Sorry that was a cross post frilly!

There's a huge amount of pictures of fields!

It will cost more than 10% to do up so it depends on your total budget.

Yes I think they got over excited taking pictures on a sunny day! I love the little conical ash house at the end so much.

Fair enough @accountdetailschangeusername

I grew up in z2/3 & spent summers abroad in a rural part of France. It was idyllic but I personally couldn't live like that, I hate having to drive all the time.

I love the little conical ash house at the end so much.

it's so cute

You are basically buying land with a house on it. No idea how much to renovate but factor in everything , as every room needs to go back to brick ( or stone in that house ) so plastering in every room ( possibly specialist ) all new ceilings , all woodwork , electrics , heating , plumbing , kitchens , bathrooms , flooring , any structural work , roofing , drainage , the lot !
Then to a lesser degree the outbuildings almost certainly will need work .
Get a couple of specialist builders in that have the experience of dealing with rebuilds of this type for quotes , not just ones that do average 3 beds,.

Its lovely.
The upkeep and maintenance will be massive.
10-15% off asking price minimum.
I hope you've got extremely deep pockets.

i would def go in at 10 per cent under.

However, you have to be realistic about how much it would cost to do it up as building/ electric/ plumbing costs have absolutely skyrocketed in the last few years.

We are just finishing our second renovation project and the costs have doubled since we did the last one 10 years ago.

You will also have the challenge of having to work within conservation guidelines. As the PP said you will need planning but we have found that getting the correct tiles, bricks etc significantly adds to the project.

Basically if it needs a new roof I I would
not touch it with a barge pole.

You could spend £300k on it without really trying

Remember the holiday let market is absolutely on the floor at the moment! It may pick up but that could take years. Oversupply is still very much a thing.

I moved to a place like this from London but that had only 10 acres. And the buildings were already converted so it was up and running as a holiday business. (They are long lets now).

You do a lot of driving if you have children.
You relationship has to be absolutely 💯- my marriage didn’t survive.
I would have done things differently but I had young children which made things much harder.
Now I live town centre again.

I wouldn’t worry about the land, you could always sell it if it’s too much. The house is amazing and will be incredible once you have finished (if you ever get there 😂). It has so much potential.

15% below asking sounds reasonable. They can always negotiate up from there.

plus when you look at the location on a map it’s not that remote.

We would concentrate all our energies into renovating the main house first before touching out buildings. I’m budgeting £250k for main house renovations.

if we could sell some of the land that would be ideal but I haven’t looked into the million of that.

Luckily we don’t need to rely on a let business for a few years. I will stay in London with those of our kids who are still at secondary school until they finish a levels. I have a job I love and am the main bread winner. DH will move down and do a lot of the work himself but obviously with a lot of help. He would live in a caravan on site until the main house was ready.

We would only look at lettings once I move down which is a few years away. DH also doing a PhD a nearby uni so will have stimulation and a community outside renovations. Plus by moving now he can be nearer ailing parents who need him.

It's a beautiful house and location, but you need lead with your head on this, not your heart. What is your overall pot of money for everything? Then if you minus the property purchase cost, can you still afford to do the renovation? What is your contingency when it goes over budget as you find more problem surprises.

If you are staying in London will you sell there and rent? Otherwise you will have additional stamp duty and other second home costs.

For what it's worth, i hope you do buy it and post here in a few years when it has been brought back to its former glory. Not me paying for it all though!

If you do buy it, you'll fit right in. Lustleigh is full of Londoners 😅

Not totally fair as we were both born and raised within twenty mins drive of there.

Are you serious?

You know nothing about land management.

Nothing about being a farming landlord. Or selling off the land. Do you know what restrictions are in place on it's use? Access? Permitted development? Farm land? Any associated outbuildings?

It's 40 acres of land. That's enormous.

Your husband is doing his PhD but will be project managing a renovation whilst living in a static caravan on the site.

You won't be joining him with the kids for several years.

Once your kids have done A levels etc, there will be two of you in that house is that right? With all the land you don't know what to do with? How will you upkeep 40 acres?

What on earth are you doing? How on earth is this your dream house when you know nothing about it and won't even live in it for years to come?