Would you write this house off or still be interested?

[emma2939]

Sorry posting on here for traffic.....

Went to view a house yesterday in the area, been renting for years and managed to save a decent deposit to put down but we don't earn enough to buy a lot of houses in the area plus we have two children aswell.
We viewed the house, was suitably happy with it downstairs, then looked upstairs, inside the bathroom boiler cupboard was a packet of rat and mouse killer cheese.
We then went into the main bedroom and the floorboards were sagging in the middle, enough that my partner could fit his fingers underneath the gap, the beading attached to the skirting board has also dropped with it. We went back downstairs and OH examined room directly below it and noticed slight dipping in the corner of the room there aswell.
Obviously being extremely new to this house viewing business we have no idea what we are dealing with here.
The house had been for sale since January then in may it came up sold stc, then this week it popped up back for sale which is why we viewed it quick as we were interested a few months ago, we informed estate agent we saw it had been up for sale earlier this year and she said oh yes, the owner was flitting between selling and renting the property.....but now we are thinking maybe someone did buy it as it came up sold stc but maybe pulled out after a survey? Any thoughts or anyone bought a house with these issues, I thought we would just walk away no regrets but I didn't wanna loose a chance of buying in the area if the problems are easily rectified. Thanks.

You need a survey - it’s the only way to know.

Avoid!

I would assume that the previous buyer pulled out due to a dodgy survey. If you are still considering going ahead the things you have mentioned are red flags that need to be inspected by a surveyor who can advise you how much it would cost to rectify and decide whether the repairs are worthwhile for your circumstances or not.

I have bought houses with far more issues than this but the key is to know exactly what you are buying. To do this you need a full structural survey - not a mortgage survey. and from this you will be given a list of works. you can then get builders round to give you quotes. some things will be cosmetic and can wait, some things will need attending in the short term and some will be urgent. based on all of this you can then go back to the vendor and renegotiate the price if that is appropriate. but make sure you employ a good local surveyor who knows the area, knows what kind of problems property in the area has and will give you a good full report. Yes, it will be expensive but several hundred pounds now could save you thousands in the future.

I am thinking subsidence - we looked at a place with a corner sloping down and that is what it was. If you are really keen (and have the money), invest in a surveyor and then recommended builders to get a quote to fix it. I think it unlikely that you would get a mortgage on it as it is. Good luck with the house-hunting if this one doesn't work out.

Any kind of sagging, cracks big enough to get your finger in or unlevelness/bulging in the walls, honestly, walk away. You will spend a fortune trying to fix it and will grow to hate it. And probably never be able to sell on. I'm speaking from experience!

If a previous purchaser had a survey and they pulled out and told the seller why they are legally obliged to disclose this.

Fuck no. Walk away.

If this stuff was easily fixable they'd have fixed it before starting viewings.

Just no

Don't write it off if you want it. Put in a cheeky offer and invest in a full structural survey, you can always pull out. If it was subsidence there would be big cracks in the walls

Sagging could be rotten joists or the flank wall needs tying. Either of those are major

Definitely walk away. Nothing good can come of sloping.

You could go back to the estate agent with feedback, and say you noticed there was a problem and you'd consider the property if you could see that the issues had been fixed.

The estate agent is under no obligation to tell you why the previous sale fell through but they cannot lie to you

So ask them yes/no questions
"Did the previous sale fall through because of issues from the survey?"
"Did the previous buyer's survey throw up any issues?"

How old is the house?

I would probably walk away. It sounds like a black hole for money.

But if you want peace of mind then you could email the estate agents direct questions like tenbob suggests. If they don't answer or are vague then that will let you know.