Victorian maisonette that needs some work: would it be a mistake?

[FreeBeeBird]

We saw a victoria maisonette last week and we are seriously considering whether to put an offer on it.
Pros:
-price is very good, way below our max budget
very spacious
-has great potential, some lovely spaces and spacious rooms
-has its own private garden

Cons:
-it’s going to need some work
-we noticed cracks on some parts of the ceilings and walls, some have been badly replastered and some are still there. Is this a concern? We’d obv get a full survey but don’t want to waste money and also cannot afford to embark in a major renovation project
-I am scared of mice and have heard that these types of properties are likely to have them

Should we walk away?

All properties can have mice and rats. Mice and rats live everywhere. Our cat brings in mice a lot

The main focus should be, location, leasehold fees, whether the work is structural or decorative. A victorian maisonette, assuming its been lived in, is likely to be very solid.

@soupfiend owners have lived there for 20 years. I don’t know of structural or decorative, we will have to find out. It’s a share of freehold.
Location is nice, in a lovely street, opposite a shop but on a very quiet and residential road

Things that matter are

Location
Potential
Can you afford to do the work needed to give you the home you want

Get a full survey and check the cracks are not structural. Victorian properties often do move a bit (they are designed to do so) but as it has been up for over a hundred years already it is likely fine.

There are vermin everywhere. You should get a cat.

I had a Victorian maisonnette and loved it. Never had any mice.

There were unexpected structural issues though. We found out that the front wall was not connected to the rest of the wall and we had issues with water ingress due to bad pointing on the outside.

I would buy the property again in a heartbeat, I loved it so much. I live in a soulless 80s semi now.

Agree mice can appear anywhere.

The property sounds good @FreeBeeBird but yes you would be wise to get a full structural survey to look at those cracks and see if evidence of subsidence or not.

Thanks all. Yes we’d have a cat, hopefully that might help.

We've always had Victorian/Edwardian houses and cracks in the plasterwork are common and usually only old plaster drying out. Polyfilla will fix it.

Never had any mice or rats.

Is it upper or lower?

If lower the biggest concern would be noise- quite a few Victorian maisonettes have no sound proofing and also lots of upper maisonettes will have wooden floors even where it’s prohibited in the lease. Even if the current neighbours are quiet what would happen if you get noisy ones- you wouldn’t believe how noisy everyday activities like running a washing machine, TV etc can be for the person living below.

With upper I’d consider it but I’d want to be sure about the condition of the roof, access to garden and if you want to do a loft conversion check if you own the loft. I’d also be worried about the noise issue with the downstairs neighbours complaining about your noise especially if there are wooden floors.

Is it definitely Victorian? I had an Edwardian one and it was very solid, no sound problems.