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.
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.
There’s nearby homes in turnkey condition for £90k, forget £100k! Like I said I have to wait until I have the full report in my inbox but it kinda feels like they’re trying to pull a fast one, especially with regard to the electrics / unsigned electrical cert. What company gives an electrical certificate but doesn’t bother to sign it? I don’t see how either the estate agent nor the seller had no idea it’s in such a bad state.