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Should I buy this Maisonette?

245

Comments

  • Cakeguts
    Cakeguts Posts: 7,627 Forumite
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    greenhouse28 wrote: »
    The issue I have is it is the only one in the area I can afford, and I've already paid a lot in solicitor fee's, surveys and the mortgage application. Santander done their own valuation and have agreed to lend.
    The Tree is not protected.
    Technically the tree and the cracked brickwork belong to the downstairs owner, but I feel they are waiting for me to fund the fixes as I'll be a new owner and maybe more desperate to get it fixed than themselves.

    It is the only one in the area that you can afford because it has got something wrong with it and no one else wants to buy it. That is what makes it cheap.

    Do you want to buy a property that is cheap because no one else wants it because there is something wrong with it?

    The money that you have spend has done its job in showing up the problems with the property.

    The area that you are looking in is too expensive. Find a cheaper one if you want to buy a property.
  • Doozergirl
    Doozergirl Posts: 33,813 Forumite
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    edited 7 February 2018 at 7:16PM
    pinklady21 wrote: »
    Shared drain might not be the water company - depends where it is. I have lived in properties where the drains are shared up to the boundary, and then the water co is responsible for them.
    I agree, it is facts that are needed to be able to come to a sensible conclusion about the right thing to do.
    The issues may of course all be minor and the property is a good buy for the O/P. Alternatively, the only property in their price range could turn into a money pit costing far more in the long run in angst and repair bills.

    Since 1st October 2011, any drain that is shared is the responsibility of the water company. It does not matter where you are. If it is your own drain to the boundary then it is your own business to deal with. Beyond that, or at any point on your own land that your personal drain is joined by another, it is that of the water company.

    The problem is presently small and the professional advice received so far perfectly sensible. There is no need for it to ever turn into a money pit if things are maintained. All houses move, all houses carry risk, many of us live near trees, not all houses near trees are at potential major risk.

    Facts. And professional advice, not inaccuracies and scaremongering.
    Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
  • Doozergirl
    Doozergirl Posts: 33,813 Forumite
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    Cakeguts wrote: »
    It is the only one in the area that you can afford because it has got something wrong with it and no one else wants to buy it. That is what makes it cheap.

    Do you want to buy a property that is cheap because no one else wants it because there is something wrong with it?

    The money that you have spend has done its job in showing up the problems with the property.

    The area that you are looking in is too expensive. Find a cheaper one if you want to buy a property.

    Firstly, there!!!8217;s no evidence that no one wants it. It passes security for a mortgage and the surveyor hasn!!!8217;t told the OP to run.

    There!!!8217;s also the old adage of buying the worst house in the best area that rings true for many people.

    All houses present problems. If people think they!!!8217;re ever buying something perfect or that an independently commissioned survey isn!!!8217;t going to flag something up then they are deluded. If a survey doesn!!!8217;t flag something then I!!!8217;d say that a surveyor wasn!!!8217;t doing their job at all. It is perfectly okay to have something flag on a survey and then investigate and arm oneself with knowledge instead of lurching from one house to another.

    No one has seen this crack except the OP and yet people act as if the house is falling down. All houses move, none are plumb after time. My house has cracks within the roof from movement, I have no worries about it at all. It is within the realms of normal.
    Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
  • greenhouse28
    greenhouse28 Posts: 28 Forumite
    Does anyone know how much a willow tree 6 meters away from a house will effect drainage?
  • Cakeguts
    Cakeguts Posts: 7,627 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    greenhouse28 wrote: »
    Does anyone know how much a willow tree 6 meters away from a house will effect drainage?

    Willows tend to suck. They can be a problem if there are dry periods.
  • greenhouse28
    greenhouse28 Posts: 28 Forumite
    I've now been told that the crack in the building is due to a concrete window lintel, when it should have been an RSJ. And I'm having a CCTV Drainage check done on monday to see if the tree roots have intruded on the drains. Apparently there are no other real signs of movement or subsidence so hopefully all will go well on monday. Thanks for the replies everyone!
  • Doozergirl
    Doozergirl Posts: 33,813 Forumite
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    I was going to suggest that it could simply be down to the lintel itself but presumed it had been established that it was the tree.

    One less thing to worry about anyway and the CCTV idea is always a good one.
    Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
  • greenhouse28
    greenhouse28 Posts: 28 Forumite
    Hello again all, drainage check has been done, they've said its still the original pipes and there is not a single tree root in them, not even a hairline crack. This gives me more confidence now moving forward, surely if the house is subsiding then the drains would be effected?
  • Doozergirl
    Doozergirl Posts: 33,813 Forumite
    Name Dropper Photogenic First Anniversary First Post
    Great news :)
    Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
  • greenhouse28
    greenhouse28 Posts: 28 Forumite
    My next, and hopefully final question is; what is the risk with exchanging contracts while the tenant is still on his notice period? The current owner rents the property out and the tenant has a 1 month notice period, which he has not been served yet as I was awaiting the results of the drainage survey.
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