To buy or not to buy? We can’t decide please help weigh up

[Shadowboy]

Long story but we fell in love with a house in June/July. Managed to sell in time to secure it in August. We are now nearly 14 weeks into the legal process of purchase. The thing is the survey raised about £50,000 worth of work. (Late survey report due to 7 week wait time for the survey then 2 weeks for the report!!) None of it essential today but does need doing as will only deteriorate as time goes on- woodworm in roof and new flashing and needs lining and new tiles, work to the dining room to make it habitable as currently has issues; the septic tank is illegally draining into a water course etc...

We don’t have £50,000 we have £12,000 left over so can do the more important aspects but fixing the rest will mean no holidays for the next 4/5 years etc.

We’ve also since found that the house has been in the market twice prior to current sale since 2017 so the work is clearly putting off potential purchasers as it has not sold previously or if it has the survey cost the sale.

The house has land (4acres) and we have horses so it is ultimately what we want and now there are very few left- there were about 12 in June/July when we first started looking but market has dried up.... if we break the chain and go into rented we will lose the excellent 1.4% interest rate we have (we were porting the mortgage) current rates are a full 1% more plus we will have to pay £3600 to get out of the mortgage.

But ultimately we don’t have the money we need to fix the house at this current time.

What would you all do?

Would the sellers accept a reduced offer? Was any of it obvious or predictable before the survey, or has it come as a complete shock?

If it was a forever house and perfect and you could live with the issues as you pay for them over time, then I think I'd still go for it, but if not and you have alternatives and can wait to find somewhere equally nice then I'd do that.

If you're happy to do the work then ask for money off. If these issues had previously come up in surveys then legally they should have disclosed it.

I’d speak with the vendors and see if they’re willing to negotiate on price given the survey. It is tricky though as we were also looking for houses with land for the horses and in our experience they don’t tend to come on the market between the end of September and early spring, but I guess if you don’t have the funds to cover the things that have come up in the survey your only options are to try and negotiate or walk

We bought an Edwardian house in 1994 and survey suggested the original roof would need replacing in due course. We moved in 2011 having only done small repairs to the roof which was still sound and i dont think the new owner has replaced the roof yet!

Most surveys are very OTT with these things to ensure they cover themselves. However, that is not to say they should be ignored. Have you actually had a builder round or relevant specialist to cost it up? Might be worth it. I would also renegotiate on price.

Yes carpenter went on Wednesday and confirmed it. Vendor won’t renegotiate because she knows there are no similar properties at this time.

Definitely renegotiate, though of its been on and off the market then she must be in no hurry to sell. If it's not worth it then move on.