would you buy a unmortgageable house.

[flirtygirl]

Hi i have seen a house come back onto the market, nice area and road and right size house, was previously out of my budget. It was sstc in October and had a structural survey done. It is now back on and is marketed at 20k less and to cash buyers only. I will be a cash buyer when my house completes as im not taking out another mortgage, im using my equity.

I rang the estate agents who said it was unmortgageable due to structural problems. They may have a copy of the survey that was done and i asked that when i book to view could i see it, they said they would ring me back.

I would negotiate more money than even the current asking price as still high considering what i may need to fix and the hassle but thats fine as looking for a bargain to completely renovate.
Has anyone bought a house with structural problems and fixed them, any advice greatly appreciated?

Structural = probably subsidence. Very costly to fix £100k plus.

All depends on the survey? You could get the deal of the century, or it could be a money pit.

Go check it out, take your time and do your research.

If there are structural issues, then it may also be uninsurable, so check that out too.
Tread carefully.

Nope, wouldn't touch with a barge pole but I know someone who did.

He bought a house for £26,000 in an area where houses were about £250,000. It had major subsidence issues which turned out to be basically impossible to fix (well they could have been fixed but it'd have meant about 20ft of concrete foundations which would have meant diverting the main water and gas pipes and re-routing the whole area's drains).

They ended up knocking down the house that was there, selling off the bricks for about £5,000 and selling the land for £16,000. Plus, they'd spent a few thousand getting surveyors, architects etc. involved.

If the drop in cost is equal to, or more than the cost of putting whatever it is right, then maybe. But not sure I'd live in it until it's declared safe.

Thanks for all our responses, im hoping not subsidence and im going to view it next week. A quick google said unmortgageable could mean dry or wet rot or structural cracks, all which can be fixed but put banks off lending money. Im hoping for something like this.
I suppose this is the type of property that gets sold at auction and people repair those.

But thanks as you have given me a dose of realism, that was needed.

It could be down to non-standard construction. In areas where there aren't large numbers of non standard construction houses (usually steel frames with concrete walls) then it will be unusual for a mortgage lender and there's nothing to compare it with.

Structural issues can usually be fixed. As long as you have your eyes wide open in terms of cost, time, and insurance as well as future mortgage ability for if you want to sell it.

But no wouldn't put me off straight away.

If completely fixed and i sold in say 5 years, would it be mortgageable? I would do the repairs under building regs so all paperwork would be correct.

Anyway im getting ahead of myself, i will view it and hopefully get a copy of the recent structural survey. then i can get the repairs priced out and see if it worth going forward. If it is worth it, i will put an offer in.

I have time to do the work as ive planned all along to do a renovation and live with family through the worst stage. A fixer upper is my only way of purchasing in a nicer area than i could otherwise afford. Structural problems are an extra thing but if factored into any offer, i can deal with it.

It could be mortgageable in the future but maybe not - non-standard construction wouldn’t but a fixed dry rot would (I think). However, with bad history, it could be off putting to buyers and you could struggle to sell a decent price.

Its a 1930s brick and tiled roof construction semi detached.

Fingers crossed its not subsidence.

If it is, buyers usually get spooked, even when fixed. Make sure you'll be able to get insurance if it needs underpinning as otherwise you won't be able to sell it on.

Which I always think is mad MrsP because there are so many things you have to get to prove it's all fixed it probably more reliable that a house that didn't have it! (As long as the cause has been sorted, rather than a mine shaft or other randomness).

I generally buy unmortgageable properties. Once the issue is fixed and you have the correct paperwork, you are generally ok to resell providing that the mortgage company don't have a minimum ownership/resale period. If it is subsidence, and as you are not an experienced property developer I would proceed with extreme caution given that these costs can run away quite easily as unknown factors reveal themselves.

I would put in a cheeky offer after you have had your own full structural survey done. The amount of cash buyers outside of an auction is often not as many as you think.

“Semi-detached” not in a million years. Issues are probably in both sides and you won’t be able to force the other side to fix their half.

Structural issues are the only type of unmortgageable properties I won't even bother looking at, way more trouble than they're worth usually.

Here in cornwall we have many properties constructed from mundic block which means they are unmortgageable. Provided they are kept dry they don’t deteriorate and are perfectly habitable. They are much favoured as buy to let properties as the purchase price is low yet they achieve market rental rates.