Ask Lemmy

owner wouldn't even put the electric on for viewing because she didn't want to pay £1 a day standing charge

I bet the real reason is that turning on the power would reveal more trouble.

Once you have the written report in hand get a quote from the best remodeling firm around. Have them check over the report and give you an estimate based on how much it will cost for everything.

Use that report and estimate as your bargaining position. Be prepared to walk away, as it already sounds like this lady isn't taking very good care of the place.

If you aren't comfortable with managing repairs, walk away. The repairs will likely take months and can be very disruptive.

It sounds like there are some very pricey repairs, chimneys are generally expensive and require specialized masons. Replacing windows can be expensive, but if the house doesn't have double pane windows, the insulation benefits can offset the cost.

The biggest worry is the moisture issues, rising damp and bad window frames could mean significant water damage is discovered as part of repairs. Cracked walls can also be a big deal depending on the root cause, foundation issues are really bad.

I'd just recommend not settling for something in poor condition just because you feel beat down or overwhelmed by the grind.

You will be filled with constant regret if you wind up buying some dilapidated property simply because you're tired of the back and forth because once you sign the papers, you're stuck with it. The process isn't enjoyable, but try not to let that get to you.

Not sure what the exact condition of house is nor what contractors charge for work in your area, but in my area of the US, $15k isn't going to get you very far on most projects. One of my coworkers just spent $27k to have an HVAC system installed and $40k for new windows. I think he got fleeced, but even halving those prices, you're still being given a rough quote equivalent to these somewhat basic tasks for what sounds like serious structural work.

Walk away. Seriously.

Foundation/structural issues are ALWAYS walk away.

Unless it's cheap to basically rebuild. Or absolutely must have that particular house.

Walk away unless you plan on doing a large, time consuming, and expensive renovation. Don't fall in love with the idea of what the property could be. Make sure it suits your needs now and the seller is much more transparent.

Walk away. If they're cheap on electricity, they're probably cheap on maintenance.

Walk away NOW. If the issues are known ahead of purchase insurance won’t cover them. You do NOT want to have to declare subsidence on your insurance quotes - most brokers just won’t cover you. Almost everything you said is a huge red flag and there are probably more “nice surprises” to come. If you have a mortgage approved already then go and find another property.

If this is your dream house, at least get a building & contents insurance quote before you go any further. You don’t want any further surprises.

Edit: source: bought a money-pit house, thought we had subsidence, we didn’t but it was a huge hassle and a lot of stress regardless. We got a bonus moth infestation out of it, though!

You say it's priced at 85K, repairs 15K. Would you buy it if it was in perfect condition for 100K? If so, buy it. If not, walk.

I don't know what your local market is like, but in most places a seller won't entertain that much price reduction.

When you buy something that's going to be with you till your last day, it should give happiness. You shouldn't be anxious and sleepless at night because of that.

Op... their transparent lie about not wanting to pay 1 pound a day to turn the electricity on should have told you to walk away let alone the structural issues.

Personally, unless you really love the house or location I'd walk away. I'd also be super surprised if issues found by a structural engineer can be fixed, particularly if you have to hire someone for a significant amount of that work, for just 15k, as after the structure is correct there's a bunch of other aspects of the building's construction that will have been disrupted and need fixing. If you need to hire a contractor for repairs it'd probably be more realistic to budget 50-80k for repairs.

If nearby homes exist in turnkey condition for 100k that's your better bet. Not being willing to turn the electricity on in order to help a prospective buyer check out the place is a huge red flag with sirens attached as well. Structural problems can be very bad, electrical problems can burn the place down and kill everyone inside.

Walk away would be my suggestion.

This is in the US so your experience obviously may differ but we recently bought a house that needed a completely new roof. We actually had to back out of the deal once because the seller refused to pay any portion of the roof. It took the house sitting on the market for another 3 months before they finally agreed to cover just half the cost of a new roof and at that point we were tired of looking and just wanted a house so we accepted the offer. Our new roof looks great and we're happy with the house but paying for half of a roof was an expensive add-on to the purchase for sure.

Also in the US so it might differ.

Honestly, if you're in love with the house and you really want it, go for it, try to get them to cover as much as you can. At least you are somewhat aware of what you're getting into, but beware these kinds of things have a tendency to balloon in costs. What starts out as 15k in estimated costs could easily end up being 25k by the time everything's done.

If you're not that attached to it if it's "Just a house" to you, try to get them to cover the full cost of repairs, if they say no walk away. In the US price cuts have already started happening, houses are sitting on the market longer and longer again. On top of that, you said you're buying for 85k + 15k for repairs that ends up being 100k and you can get a much better maintained house for 100k? I'd take that option if it were me and save myself the headache.

Sounds like it comes down to your approach on risk management. Others have pretty clearly laid out the risks and frustrations of living in a house that's being fixed/renovated, but if the seller is as negligent as they sound then I'd expect to find even more issues. If the inspection couldn't cover anything pertaining to electricity then that'd be a huge red flag for me, that stuff can get real expensive real fast. Follow your gut and try not to fall for the sunk cost fallacy, it can be hard when you focus on how many hundreds of dollars and hours of time you've spent so far but it sounds like you're looking at at least another several thousand dollars in repairs, and that's only for the problems you're currently aware of. Everybody's situation is different so maybe this whole thing is right for you, but don't ignore the red flags just because of how much you've already invested

We need more information. Structural issues can be small or very big. Remember, the person doing an inspection has to over report everything possible because if they don't , and something major happens after the sale, they can be sued. For me, I would take a look at how serious the issues are and decide if working on them is worth the time/effort/investment. I wouldn't buy a car that had the front end crushed in an accident because, even after the repair, the final product is not something I would want to drive or have to deal with.

I bought my current place a year and a half ago - it was the fourth one I'd had an offer in on and the previous three had major structural issues (turns out 100+ year old houses built on same are a nightmare), at least two had subsidence. I have friends and family in the building trade and they reckon they'd be wary - houses like a that reach a point where, to continue for another century, they either need to get snapped up by a builder who can get the work done and flip it or someone highly motivated who can take on a project like this.

Your mileage might differ but I'd just spent 6 months and 50 grand putting the previous house on a raft of concrete that would outlast the next I've Age which was then used as a stick to beat us down on the price. So I was not in the right frame of mind to undertake another building project. And that's what you should ask yourself - are you the kind of person that thrives on camping in their new house for months getting work done (and getting builders is trickier after the pandemic and more expensive)? What's your budget like because this is the stuff the survey found but tearing into the place could reveal more? It has clearly not been well-maintained for a long time and there's likely to be all sorts of other issues.

What level of survey did you have done? Have you had a structural engineer look it over?

I certainly feel like if they’re not prepared to negotiate re repairs then I have to walk away as I could buy a well-maintained property round here for the total cost of around £100k!

You're clearly up north! If they aren't prepared to negotiate then everyone should walk, if they weren't prepared to come down closer to £50-60k then I'd definitely consider walking, as the modest savings don't outweigh the stress. To be honest, if it were me, I'd be long gone already. Just reading this is giving me flashbacks.