Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

Would you buy this house?

48 replies

Badbadtromance · 25/04/2017 08:23

I have the chance to buy the large family house from my mother for a £10000 discount. Its quite large with room to add more bedrooms and in a suburb location. my problem is it needs a lot of work. One of the neighbours hates me and as I have mh issues I'm not sure if I am making a good choice. It needs rewiring, plastering, new windows, new bathroom and kitchen etc. I am also worried that my mother may give trouble as she is a bit toxic. I'm selling mine as want to move on. But is buying this a good idea?

OP posts:

MrsWhiteWash · 25/04/2017 09:31

No.

We did a list like that - never got to do kitchen - everything cost way more than initially thought and more than 10 K and it turned out couldn't wait as long as we'd hoped. It was also stressful finding reliable people, getting money to do the work and then living in house with it being done.

Just as we should have got to having benefit of all that work - we had to move for work reasons and then house was still worth less than we paid for it as house prices there had dropped.

Bright spot was moving away from neighbour - she decided few month after us moving in and saying we didn't have the cash for the fence which later turned out to be her's that she hated us and me in particular. She made it very stressful to live there - for years.

I didn't realise the negative effect she had on my mental health till we moved - the relief was a surprise. Have lovely neighbours now who try and be friendly but I'm still very wary which seems to come across in my interactions with them.

CoraPirbright · 25/04/2017 09:34

10k isn't enough to put up with all the shit that could potentially come your way. The work that needs doing will far exceed 10k, plus your toxic mother and horrid neighbour - I would run a mile. Your mum really isn't doing you a favour by only lowering the price by that much - if it really is that run down, the market will decide its worth and I would be willing to bet she will have to take more than a 10k price decrease to get it sold.

NewDOOFUSfor17 · 25/04/2017 09:37

My mother is also toxic and I wouldn't even borrow a tenner off her, let alone buy a house off her, due to the fact it will always be a stick that she could use to beat me with at every opportunity!! I couldn't imagine my mother believing she had a stake in something for the rest of my life because she was the one that sold it to me.

There is no problem with doing a doer-upper as long as it is priced to reflect this with no ties.

BlowingThroughTheJasmineinMyMi · 25/04/2017 09:43

Good idea to get three valuations and if your serious about it - also get surveyor in to asses work properly.

How close to you is the neighbor that hates you, ie can you live there and avoid them successfully or do you share boundaries, noise issues etc.

From what you have said and with your dm I would say = steer cleer though.

peachgreen · 25/04/2017 09:44

I mean, that's more like £50k worth of work. Rewiring, replastering and repainting alone would take you to £10k, easily. Plus it's years and years of your life turned upside down (unless you can afford to get it all done immediately - but even then it'll still be the best part of the year).

readthethread · 25/04/2017 09:53

10k discount, no. not worth it.
what % discount is that, obviously a lot more valuable if the house is worth £100k than if £500k.

blankmind · 25/04/2017 09:59

It needs rewiring, plastering, new windows, new bathroom and kitchen etc

OP have you ever renovated a property before?

If not, voice of experience here, there are always jobs that come to light when you start a renovation that no-one could have forseen or budgeted for, but which have to be done before your original project can go ahead.

You need to also budget for the currently unforseen problems because they will show up. Those problems also put you behind schedule as well as costing a lot of money.

That, plus already known problems with a neighbour - who is hardly going to be delighted with months of building work inconvenience so how would that affect you - would likely make me look elsewhere.

Original poster

Badbadtromance · 25/04/2017 10:02

Just to confirm £10000 is 5% discount and the neighbour shares a boundary but i can sort of avoid. I'm moving house anyway

OP posts:

MrsWhiteWash · 25/04/2017 10:04

also get surveyor in to asses work properly.

Ask around to get a decent company - we paid out for a full structural survey waste of money - seemed mostly an attempt to sell us even more specialist surveys.

PeaFaceMcgee · 25/04/2017 10:04

Presumably the EA valued it in its current condition, so the £10k isn't a reflection of how much renovations would cost as you'd think the recommended asking price already reflects its unrenovated state.

Do arrange more agent appraisals though, and cross reference with Zoopla price estimate (not always accurate) and sold house prices in the area. EA appraisals tend to be inflated in most areas - they flatter the client as they want to get the house on their books.

MrsWhiteWash · 25/04/2017 10:07

I'd look at right move - see what else you can get for the same money and being aware people will may less than asking price depending on the market in your area.

You'd have to do the kind of avoiding neighbour thing every days for years as well - which I did as much as possible as it still affected me.

Newtssuitcase · 25/04/2017 10:07

5% discount is about what you'd expect on most house purchases. I can't see that your mum is going you any great favours here.

Newtssuitcase · 25/04/2017 10:08

doing you any great favours

llangennith · 25/04/2017 10:18

Get your own valuation done.

Paperdoll16 · 25/04/2017 10:25

Crazy!! Many houses sell for 5-10% off the asking price anyway!

I first read it that you can buy it for 10k.

I bet anyone that looks at it will offer lower than what you've been offered it for, in view of the extensive work. Plus you'll forever hear the 'we did this for you' almost as if you've had a big favour!

Say nooooooooooo

ExplodedCloud · 25/04/2017 10:32

If the neighbour hates you they can cause no end of trouble that could suck up £10k in legal or reselling issues.
If your DM is likely to have an opinion on the work or cause trouble it will be bad for your MH.
The work will probably cost more than you think.
Don't do it.

Semaphorically · 25/04/2017 10:41

The problem with a £200k house that needs that much work is the work will still cost the best part of £50k (or more depending on fittings). It would cost about that on the same sized house anywhere, whether the house was valued at £100k or £700k.

If there are no similar houses in the area that have sold recently for £250k plus I would decline your mum's offer.

Doublechocolatetiffin · 25/04/2017 10:47

A 5% discount on an estate agents valuation isn't a discount at all! Most houses sell around 5-10% below asking price. Effectively you mum is asking you to pay at least market rate (potentially more if the estate agent has overinflated the price). I really wouldn't do it. Neighbour issues are awful and it doesn't sound like buying from your mum is a great idea.

Also renovating a house puts a massive massive strain on you and I would avoid if you have mh issues. It's by far the most stressful horrific experience of my life. I'd give birth a million times over rather than do house renovations again (and I had a difficult labour!)

RomanticWalksToTheFridge · 25/04/2017 10:51

Yeah- she's asking you to pay market rate or more, as Double says but it means she gets to avoid agent fees etc.

Your mother is doing no-one but herself a favour. I'd avoid.

Finola1step · 25/04/2017 13:03

Your mother isn't doing you any great favours in chopping off 5%. She really isn't. She's looking for a quick, easy sell.

NavyandWhite · 25/04/2017 13:12

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

purplecollar · 25/04/2017 13:16

We took on a property needing exactly those things. It's stressful sorting it all out and costs way more than £10k. I hated having workers in my home so frequently.

I also have a horrible ndn. I hate having to negotiate with her over things - we needed a new fence as well.

So on the whole I would say see what else is for sale and have a look. It's not an easy path to do up a property to that extent, especially with dc. Unless you have a shedload of cash and can live elsewhere whilst the work is done. Just knowing that it all needed doing was always on my mind.

We have done pretty much everything but the windows and are now selling. I look forward to moving into something that needs nothing doing - it's taken up a lot of our weekends and holidays over the past decade.

readthethread · 25/04/2017 20:03

5% is taking the piss considering most buyers would negotiate at least that off the asking price and your mum is saving herself estate agent fees.
estate agents often over inflate their initial valuation to get the business and then encourage their clients to reduce the price to get more buyers through the door, due to "increased competition" "difficult time of year" blah blah they always trot out a list of reasons.

avoid avoid avoid.

Flip

1 2