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

That's a wonderful house and also- bliss!- unlisted which will make everything far easier and cheaper. I would offer £1.1 with a view to going up to £1.15 if necessary.

You do need a plan for the land though. Do you know how it's currently used? My parents had a similar situation- 60 acres that they didn't really know what to do with- and let it to a local sheep farmer in exchange for him undertaking all the upkeep and management to a high standard which I think was an excellent deal for both parties.

I don’t think you’re realistic setting a budget if £250k for the main house!

Gorgeous but a money pit. It has 4 bedrooms, so presumably any holiday let business would be in as yet unbuilt/un renovated buildings on site. That’s a huge commitment on your money pot.

But to answer your question, definitely 10% less doesn’t sound cheeky.

Wow. That is stunning. If you do end up getting it, make sure you do your homework before renovating as old buildings need to breath and damp roofing things can cause a whole load of issues if not done in the right way. Lots of advice over on this forum
https://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/forums/period-property-discussion-forum.1/

I don't think it needs to go back to brick. I think it needs the damp sorting first and then repair and insulate and decoration, new kitchen floor and a new bathroom. Maybe new electrics? Not cheap to do but you can definitely do some yourself.

It is not being used to living in the country, it is being used to living with that much land. Fencing, alone, is a huge yearly cost, let alone the work needed to maintain the actual land, keep trees and hedges under control. It is a ridiculous amount of work and unless you are immensely wealthy and can afford a team of workers, then you will be doing nothing but maintaining the land. Ideally, sell if to someone else and keep enough to be a good sized garden.

Lovely money pit. 40 acres is substantial to manage. The listing states that work is needed so it has been priced accordingly.

Have you spoken to the agent about what kind of offer they would be likely to accept?

You can’t buy it OP! I have had my eye on it since last year, just waiting for that euromillions win to pay for it 😂
In all seriousness I think an offer of 10% or possible even a little less is reasonable given how long it has been on and the work that needs doing.

I think your budget of £250000 is realistic. We own a similar property in Kent though 6 ares rather than 40, and added up what we have spent on renovations over the years, it came to just shy of that figure. Bearing future costs in mind and as it’s been around for a wile with no takers, an offer of 15- 10% under asking is fine.

I'd be concerned about the extensions to the back of the main house that house the bathrooms and boot room. They seem to back up to a raised bank. I can almost smell the damp looking at it. They look like flat roofs too. Not ideal.

I'd say the survey could make for sobering reading. You'd need to be brave!

Have you factored in how much tax you will pay once you sell up in London. Forget your 250k for the house, how much do you have for the rest of it? The upkeep generally. I grew up rurally so know what it’s like but not in a farming family, it’s not remotely the same. Are your family farmers, landowners?

Renovations are costing approx twice what they were ten years ago in both labour and materials.

I just had a very small bathroom (smaller than 2x2m) ripped out and redone and it cost me £6k. When I first got the quotes 3yrs ago it was £4k. It's was mostly a jump in materials, but the labour was also higher. I'm close to this location in Devon, so the costs will be reflective of the area.

I’d pass. Find something with less land. It’s not the reno it’s the reno and the land that makes this unmanageable. We have just a few acres and Reno project nowhere near as in depth as needed here and I can tell you it takes up all of our time. I haven’t been able to work since we moved.
It is a lifestyle and a full time job.

After your update…

if this was a TV show this would be the point that everyone in the audience would start yelling ‘Noooooooo!’ at the telly.

Ha ha ha. Maybe.

We have definitely budgeted for all the taxes and sales charges etc. we have some flex in the budget and DH is very practical and worked as a builder for a few years so will be able to do some things himself.

If we offer under then our budget obviously gets bigger.

It's been on for 7 months? 1.1 is entirely reasonable. I'm not sure what you mean by 'lose credibility'.

If they don't like the offer, what are they going to do? Say no, boo hoo you meanies we deffo won't sell to you.
No, they are going to say, I'm sorry, that offer is too low, can you go any higher?

(I imagine they are holding out for a hotel chain or hospitality company with very deep pockets. That doesn't seem to have happened yet, so you might well be their best bet).

I would be asking you, based on your comments here:

Can you easily afford it? And by easily, I mean, do you have a consistently high level of income and/or capital to be able to repair stuff when it needs doing.

And also: are you really cut out for living somewhere like that?

I only ask, because you seem to think that offering a reduction of 20 percent seems 'scary' and you don't want to 'annoy' the sellers.

Screw your courage to the sticking place, because you are going to have to woman up if you take on a project like this!

(As an aside, those walls are making me itchy).

Believe me my whole career is based on me “womaning up”. But what I want to do in the board room is different from how I want to build local relationships in a tiny village. But I take your point that offering low isn’t going to impact that.

I don’t think the fact it’s been on the market seven months is at all remarkable for that price bracket in that area with the need for work. I’ve seen places on Dartmoor over the million mark take many many many months if not years to sell.

We will see it again this weekend and decide what to do.

I don’t think it’s overpriced at all. That’s a lot of land (40 acres!) and a very good location. No surprise that it’s been on the market for a while though as it’s going to have a very limited pool of people who are interested given the amount of work required and the amount of land. It’s quite probably a money pit to be frank.

If you’ve no experience of country living / land management, you might be better off looking for somewhere a bit more manageable as you’re in for a LOT of work.

Oooh, it's beautiful! I've nothing useful to add. Except 40 acres is way too much to manage asca hobby alongside ft jobs.

my gut feel is that because of the potential the owners will be unlikely to accept 10% lower but if they need to move or the market there is really slow then they may bite. National park with internal potential plus such good outbuildings is quite a big deal though so I'm sure someone knows its worth Current owner clearly older but well off based on the listing details so I wouldn't assume distress sale, but I doubt they will be too offended to listen to further offers if you try.

hugely jealous of whoever can afford that with the time or resources to manage it!

What would your London teens think of a move to rural Dartmoor op?

and I will stay in London with those of our kids who are still at secondary school until they finish a levels. so you won’t need to sell yours before buying this?

With no experience of this kind of property before

and teenagers