feeling really depressed about our house and think we def HAVE to move but dont know how it will actually sell

[belcantavinissima]

its very old- about 300 yrs old, its been in the family for about 150 yrs. we moved in about 5 and a half yrs ago and have spent loads putting in central heating, redecorating it, new kitchen bathroom etc and doing up the garden. BUt we have a damp problem. and its getting worse and worse. dh redid my wardrobe in my room recently as it was damp and it was fine for a couple of months now have taken some of the xmas pressies out from it to wrap and there are huge wet patches all over the inside walls with white fluffy mould over everything. my wedding dress and ballgown are ruined as well as loads of everyday clothes. the kids' pressies are soaking. there is damp in the kitchen, a huge black mouldy wall under one of the units, black spotty damp creeping up the walls and onto the ceiling. i cant keep up with it
i think alot of the prob is its mainly cob but it has been concrete rendered. and it cant 'breathe'. we had a quote to have the render stripped off and it to be lime rendered but it was going to cost £16,000 {shock] which is way out of our budget. it also has no foundations due to its age and it is built on springs.
no-ones going to buy it are they? what can i do to make it saleable? oh, and i also think the roof is leaking as wet in loft the other day- roof is asbestos tiles. oh fuck fuck fuckety fuck. we have a massive mortgage as have remortgaged twice to do stuff to the house. but its all been in vain . what if we cant sell it and end up with neg equity? never thought i'd say it but i want a new build, dont even caqre if its on an estate. just dont want the problems anymore. but we cant afford to pay out more than we are at the moment. dont know what to do or where to start.

just uploade a pic of the house onto my profile, in case youre nosey like me. lovely isnt it ?

is that all? are you sure? I'd get estate agents round and just double check

PS I think you look really beautiful and like someone I'd like to get to know .. gorgeous warm smile .... (shit, that sounds like I'm coming on to you, I'm not honest .. I'm a hetero girl, wiv DH, kids and everyfink)

I like the house .. the right person would snap that up as a doer-upper .. advertise in London as a 2nd home .. just play it right with the right agents

lol magrat! i will take that as a compliment!

you can sell at auction too - get advice about putting a reserve on so you dont commit to anything - you would get an idea of what it is worth as it is

very pretty house I desire one like that... gosh you're a very good looking family

I'm in Devon with a damp house too and about the same sized mortgage. We could sob together.....

morning girls, feeling a wee bit more positive this morning, despite the fact the house is still falling apart. dh came home last might and stated the action plan. which is
put all stuff we dont need into storage
get tradesmen in to do up what they can
sell up
move to the country to a a more modern house with loads of land and get chickens. thats what sold it to me.

though am feeling sad because imy mum came over yesterday aand was having a bad day as you know and said we wanted to sell up as its all going wrong and we cant afford it. now i think she is depressed over it (some of you might know about this depressive manipulative thing from another thread). so i had had that sorted now i have something else to stress over. its difficultt as she was born in the house and her mother died ooh 4 yrs ago and she was her only 'friend' really and of course it was her house before she sold it to us. BUT i dont think this is about the house really because they actually put the house on the market with an agent before we decided to buy it. bloody families.

Your dh is right. I really think sorting out the damp problem before you sell is the right way to go about it - you would lose far more than £16k selling it in its present state. Best of luck - it does look very pretty and I am sure someone will want it once it has dried out.

Ok, as others have said get more quotes and also think about quotes to removes some of the render as a remedial measure. If you get someone to chip off the bottom two feet you may find its wet enough to chip away at the rest yourself and it will mean the render is 'off the ground' and not sucking up ground water.

I did this in an extension in the house I had, chipped off the bottom 18 inches approx, had a builder make it smooth, painted it white and gave it six months to dry out and it was fine. Your quote was probably for taking the whole lot off, making it good, repointing.

And definitely sort the tiles in the roof, I had that over the summer, was frankly terrified at what the cost might be - got two quotes - one at £650 and one at £80. My roof is now fully fixed for £80 - had a ridge tile and 3 other tiles slipped and a supporting piece about 3 foot long replaced.

HTH And I think your house is worth £300,0000

By the way I'm very at how gorgeous you are, how tasty your husband is and how beautiful your kids are

Have you had a builder around generally, (ie not just to quote to re-render it)? Ask him for his opinion on what is causing the damp, it could be due to lack of ventilation, a leaking gutter, leak in roof getting into the walls or something like that. If you have more "bodies" living in the house, central heating, showers etc. lack of ventilation could make a difference. It seems strange your gp's didn't have a problem before so may be worth checking out these possibilities before getting any-more stressed. (And get that de-humidifier going, you can hire large ones from hire centres if you need a bigger one).

It sounds like you have fallen out of love with your house and got stressed by all the current publicity about the housing market. It looks like a very popular style of house to me, (says she who lives in a 3 bed 1970's semi on an estate, ), and am sure it would sell when the market picks up.

ps Our own house has been on the market for a month now without a single viewing, but no surprise there I suppose, .

Keep your chin up, i'm sure it's not as bad as you think!!!

lauriefairycake- thank you .
good idea about stripping back the bottom bit of render, hadnt thought of that at all. and am hopeful now about the roof. bet mines not going to cost £80 though esp with it being asbestos. hmmmm. well am going to wait til after xmas and then try and start sorting things out.
i do love the house, its lovely and if i do say so myself looking pretty good on the inside but the problems are getting me down.

Oh Bel the house is beautiful! Don't be hasty in selling up, after living in such an old house a new one will be a bland box....

I think once you rectify the problems in this house, and spring comes and the garden looks lovely and the sun shines in through the windows you will fall in love again.

I live in a victorian semi, during the winter months I loathe this house, it is cold, dark, and we spend all our time in the front room which faces a busy, messy little road, because it is the warmest one with the sofa's and throws.
Come the spring, the house fills with light and we decamp to the back of the house (coffees at the breakfast bar in the kitchen instead of on the sofa) and we open the french doors to let the garden in, and I love love love the house.
It is a seasonal thing.
Dh now knows to never take my cries of 'I want to move' seriously between October and March [fwmile]