1st time house buyer, potentially serious structural issues found... anyone have advice re negotiating price reduction / if I should pull out?
1st time house buyer, potentially serious structural issues found... anyone have advice re negotiating price reduction / if I should pull out?
Hey all.
Finally in my 40s I'm fortunate enough (with a lot of family help & a mortgage) to be buying a home. It's end-of-terrace; just spoke to the surveyor today after he's done most of the inspection and he's found a lot of structural problems.
Feeling a bit defeated, it's taken so long to get to this stage of having an offer accepted, and being close to exchanging contracts. It's an old house so while I wasn't expecting it to be fault-free, I'm quite disappointed and I guess looking for some advice / reassurance.
Not got the report in text yet but he mentioned potential subsidence; rising damp; cracked walls; problem with the chimney stack; window frames; and others. Said it's all stuff that can be fixed, but potentially expensive. My plan is to wait for the text report next week, then contact the estate agent and attempt to negotiate a price reduction in line with the cost of the repairs, which imo will run into at least £15k. Considering it's on the market for £85k, and the owner wouldn't even put the electric on for viewing because she didn't want to pay £1 a day standing charge, I'm anticipating some pushback.
But, should I even bother? Is this 'sunk cost fallacy' at play? 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!
Any advice much appreciated.
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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.
What level of survey did you have done? Have you had a structural engineer look it over?
We went for a full survey, the guy is RICS-registered but fairly young so assume he's pricing cheap to get plenty of jobs and reviews under his belt. He did recommend a specific separate cavity inspection but at this point it feels like I'm probably going to be chucking more money down the drain considering all the other issues.
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
Correct haha. Someone else said that a reduction of 15k is almost unheard of. Tbh I already was having a bad feeling, and reading all these responses has really crystalised that I simply cannot buy this house without a massive reduction... and even then it's going to be a shitload of hassle, potentially more expenses that haven't yet been uncovered. Will see what they say once we have the full report in writing. I don't mind roughing it a bit, but managing a project like this I would think isn't really in my wheelhouse and will be very stressful.
Thanks for your advice.
We went for a full survey, the guy is RICS-registered
Yeah, they're chartered surveyors, you'd be wise to get a structural engineer to look it over if you were thinking of having underpinning and they might spot other things. I stopped getting chartered surveyors and asked a structural engineer I know to do the surveys - they a lot harsher.
Someone else said that a reduction of 15k is almost unheard of.
Percentage wise it's a big chunk of change but, depending on the amount of underpinning required, it might not be enough.
even then it’s going to be a shitload of hassle
If the underpinning is not accessible from outside the floors will have to come up. Cracks in the walls may have to be dealt with by removing the plaster and tying the bricks back together then replastering. Depending on where the damp is coming from you might need a new roof - did they get up there or use a drone?
I don’t mind roughing it a bit, but managing a project like this I would think isn’t really in my wheelhouse and will be very stressful.
And money aside, this should be your deciding factor.
The surveyor said he was actually surprised to find the roof in quite good condition... seems like at least one area where it's either been properly maintained, or had very high-quality work performed.
I'll definitely do some shopping around for structural engineers in the area for future surveys, might as well go in deep for the most expensive & important issues before moving forward with any future potential purchase. Great advice, thanks.