Freshly painted top floor on house I just viewed. Huge red flag?

[blueskyday12]

Hello fellow mumsnetters. My house hunt as a first time buyer continues, and I just saw a house (3 bed mid terrace) that I am interested in, but two things are making me cautious:

1. The house was purchased in Feb 2020 for 165K, but it is being sold now for 300K. The only work done in that time appears to be carpets have been installed. When I asked the agent about huge price difference in such a short time, they told me that they "believe" that the vendor purchased the property from their parent, hence the discounted price in 2020. I guess that could make sense, but I didn't like how they said they "believe", as this type of language does not really confirm the situation.
2. The top floor was freshly painted (could smell it) and in the corners, the paint job looked textured/not entirely flat and crisp. Naturally, my thought was that they are trying to cover damp/a leak, as the paint job was done right before the viewing (and this is not a "flipped" or recently renovated house). I asked the agent if there was a problem with the roof, and they said they were not aware and it was "priced appropriately as seen".

This is why I think we'd be better off following Scotland where the owner of the house has the survey done. If the house needs a new roof, I'd want to factor that into my offer price.

So now my question....what would you do? Would you run away? Offer on it at a price that assumes there is roof damage? Offer on it assuming there is not roof damage and hope to renegotiate after the survey?

If it is damp, just have the roof Inspected. It might just be an old roof and needs a tiny bit of maintenance/slipped tile etc. I certainly wouldn't write the house off for that!!
Top corners of rooms are often a cold point in a house (edge of loft insulation/wall insulation if there is any) and can get condensation if the indoor air is humid - it could be nothing.

Thanks all, this house has potential given its size, and it is one of the more affordable houses I'm looking at which it why I'd love for it to work, but I feel uneasy about it given the obvious paint job. If the top floor corners looked fine, I'd be happy with the house. But I'm nervous it will be a disaster/an expensive problem to inherit.

I'll also a first time buyer who is an expat, so I'm not familiar with victorian houses and what is vs what isn't a huge problem.

I've been looking for almost year and a half (and have had the pleasure of watching house prices increase by ~40K in this time) so I'm just ready to be done!

For those who say its damp, run away, would you still run away if the vendor agreed to sort the roof/reduce the cost to compensate for the issue that I would need to sort?

Since living in the UK I've learned that some damp is normal (I even get it in my ~30 year old flat from time to time at the widows despite my efforts to air it out).

If you believe the agent, then perhaps they are just trying to cheaply paint over a tired house to freshen it up.
Nothing wrong with that.
However 2 things:
Check the structure very, very carefully. It could, but not necessarily be hiding horrors.
Check out the neighbours. The most common problem people have that makes them sell up quickly is nightmare neighbours. You can learn a lot from a "Hello, we're thinking of buying next door. What's it like to live in this street?"
Best of luck.

We did a full repaint before marketing as it hadn’t been done for 5 years and looked tired. Was well worth doing as we sold for a good amount.

But your pictures show some sort of water problem. I’d offer based only on having to redo the roof.

Got any mates with a damp meter ? You just stick the prongs into the wall and it gives a reading …but yes, does look like damp.

www.amazon.co.uk/damp-meter/s?k=damp+meter&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

It could be damp, but what I think it could also be is where the walls actually need replastering, but they don't want to do it, so they've lined the walls and painted over the liner with a water based paint which has loosened the wall paper paste, making the liner paper start to peel. You should paint over wall paper with an oil based paint to avoid this. So, if it's not a new roof, it could be a replaster job instead.

As its mid terrace I would be a bit concerned if its the adjoining side; as it could even be a neighbours roof and prove unfixable.

For what its worth, the house on the left of it was bought in 2020 and it has scaffolding up, so they are doing some roof work there.

Is it acceptable to offer contingent on the issue being sorted/the costs to resolve it being deducted from the final price after the survey? I would imagine the owners understand what the problem is and roughly how much it would be to fix it, right?

@blueskyday12

If the survey said it needs a new roof, is it common to reduce the offer price by the price of the roof? I don't even know how much it would cost. I've heard it can range from 7k - 20k, which is a big range to me (in Yorkshire - 3 bed terrace).

Two bed West Yorkshire stone Victorian terrace cost DS 5k for a new roof 18 months ago, so I would say 7-8 wouldn’t be far wrong. DSs did have the original stone, not slate, tiles on and he got a bit knocked off as they were traded in for reuse on period properties.

@SpeakingFranglais thanks for this info :)

Hi everyone, thanks again for all the comments and suggestions. I just received a call from the agent saying that the house is no longer on the market as someone offered 340K. Second time I've had a call like this in the past 2 weeks. I can't with this market...

Anyway, hope those who are house hunting have better luck than I am having :)

Don't give up. We are not far away and my dd is house hunting. People seem to be making offers prior to viewing then withdrawing, we've had several viewings cancelled then a week later the property is back on the market. Keep an eye on that property the offer may fall through.