Buying a house but concerned about the amount of repairs

[Molly22]

We are in the process buying n selling house but think we may have to withdraw from purchase. I know its an awful thing to do but financially think we can no longer afford to do the work it needs.
The house we offered on needs a lot of work, lintels, new doors, artex ceilings done in the 70s so possibly asbestos in them, needs a new kitchen and decorating n carpets.
Garden has hedges so will need to fence to secure for dog.
There was a bidding war on our sale but our buyer reduced their offer by £20000.00 2 months into the process, which we reluctantly accepted as didnt want to loose the house.
But with the price of everything going up and the cost of building works, just think we really cant afford to all the work it requires.
Not in a big chain property we are purchasing is empty.
Feel I cant withdraw because of the impact on our buyer and seller, but dont feel.we can proceed either.
Just dont know what to do.
I know you will all think Im awful to want to withdraw at this late stage.

Withdraw. They will find another buyer. Don't saddle yourself with something you can't afford in the middle of a cost of living crisis.

Will you sell your house or put it back on the market?

I would withdraw.

You can't move into a house that will financially hurt you and leave you worrying and living somewhere unsuitable because you don't don't want to offend/upset someone that you don't even know.

I won’t think you’re awful if you pull out as we all have to do what’s best for us with such huge purchases. But I do think you don’t have to do all those jobs immediately. IF you still love the house I would personally go ahead with the move but reevaluate the timescale so that certain jobs are put back a year or two.

Just pull out, you aren’t angling for more money off your can’t afford it- perfectly legal

If you need to withdraw, then withdraw. You cannot feel pressured into buying something you cannot manage. No-one else in the chain would act to benefit you, so don't worry about them.

I think you should withdraw. It sounds like it'll just cause you a lot of misery and headache.

I agree with PP that it doesn't sound like all those jobs need doing immediately. You will need to make the garden secure for your dog of course. Are the doors that need replacing internal or external? Having secure external doors is important, but you would wait to replace internal. Are carpets clean-ish? If they are beyond cleaning you could take them up and be carpet less until you can afford to replace. Artex ceilings may not be what you want long term, but leaving them as they are for now wont do any harm.

If you are planning to stay in the house long term you can wait years and years to make it beautiful. Work out what it will cost to make the house secure, dry, safe and warm and make your decision based on that.

Withdrew and keep looking for something else.

Your buyer reduced the price for yours by £20k no wonder you need to pull out…! Why on earth did you accept that? Can you get a discount too?

I wouldn't have accepted £20k less if you had a bidding war. Withdraw and remarked your own house too.

Go back to your buyer and say that they will need to go back to their original offer or you can no longer afford the sale (and will need to withdraw the property from the market)?

Thank you for all your replies, I was so scared to post as thought Id would get awful replies.
The offer on.ours was originally £45000 over the offers over price so our agents said we were still getting £25000 and we could have the same issue. The other bidder had found another property by then.
We didnt want to loose the house we have offered on.
Hubby will be retiring soon and doesnt have a big pension so dont of lots of years to do the work.
I had doubts when the survey came back and should have pulled out then.
I can live with carpets but would need cooker, fridge freezer.
Its the external doors, lintels n chimney repair have to be done.
Electrician wont do.lights until artex ceilings have been checked.
So much stress on top of everthing else.
Unfortunately we do vaguely know the sellers.

I think the key thing here is do you love the house enough to (a) put up with some of the things which need doing in the long term for a bit (while you save some more money) and (b) sacrifice things like holidays, new cars etc to pay for the repairs? Many people think that you have to do everything on day 1 these days but lots of people live with the non urgent stuff for a while and do it gradually. From your list above I agree that fencing the garden in sounds important (but could you use chicken wire along the hedge for a while?) but I’m not sure about the other stuff. Does the kitchen work? Are the lintels causing structural issues (will the wall fall down if you don’t replace?). Could the carpets be cleaned, or could you pull them up and live with rugs for a bit? The artex ceiling won’t be dangerous as long as you don’t start sanding it. If you love the house then I’d work our what needs doing really quickly and then perhaps ask for a reduction yourself? If you don’t love the house then yes, pull out ASAP.

Artex is often best just skimmed over. You won't know for sure if there is asbestos unless you test for it, it may not be.
Otherwise, the only things that would bother me personally as things I'd not like to undertake as DIY are the chimney (Is it just repointing or something more serious?) and the lintels (what's wrong with them?). But if your budget is too tight, and/or you are not keen DIY people, then I think it's best to be honest and say so. I think everyone now appreciates that having work done on a house is now costing on average about double what it did even a short time ago, and though maybe you should have thought about this before making your offer, things like energy, mortgage interest rates, and other costs have shot up even more recently and I suspect that shortly a lot of people won't be able to carry through with their offers.
Don't saddle yourself with years of worry and possibly even debt at your time of life because you're too embarassed to say 'I can't afford this now' if you really can't.

The chimney has loose and damaged bricks which need replaced and then needs repointed.
There are no lintels above the doors n windows n upper brickwork has move n needs lintels put in and repointed.
We did add on extra 30% to the cost of works and had a contingency amount but the increase in prices have been bigger than we expected.
Its has taken a while for the sale to.progress and the costs of the work has risen.
Our disposable income has reduced due to cost of food, petrol, fuel etc

I have really appreciated everyone input.
I havent ate or slept for 2 days now trying to work out what too do.

Don't move into a house that needs work when you're on the breadline.

What happens if the boiler packs in or chimney is worse that you thought?

I have taken all your advice on board.
We are going to work the costs for what must be done.
Then what we can do ourselves andany cheaper options. Cross of what can wait.
Make sure we still have money for emergencies.
That should make the decision easier.

Thanks everyone

I think you would be very unwise to go ahead with the purchase if it will mean that finances are tight.
The cost of everything has risen and will rise more. You don't want to end up in serious financial difficulties or unable to fix things in the new house. The cost of work is another thing that has risen hugely.

Why are you moving? I would go back and revisit that question. Are you moving up or down the ladder? What will you gain from moving? Will this be a final move to a house which you can see out your retirement in or is this a temporary shorter term move?

I'm sorry to add to the negativity but the comments are well founded and you would be advised to listen before you end up with a complete albatross around your neck.

We have done a number of these type projects over the years and also now have some rentals. There is no way, if I was in your position financially and proximity to retirement take in a project such as this. Costs are currently astronomical. Demand for trades is huge and getting any to commit is difficult. We manage as we put so much business their way so have some clout.

I'm afraid you will continue and have an utter albatross around your neck and no way forward. Get out now whilst you can and take a couple of years to reflect and see if things calm down

so you are going to buy something that’s going to financially screw you
“
that hashtag #bekind has got a lot to answer for .
Don’t #bekind - #besensible
I wouldn’t move
The expectations of gas / electric is going through the roof
an old house that needs massive work is unlikely to be well insulated
you could be paying upward so £500 a month in electric / gas for a place you aren’t sure of and would be living in a building site