What to expect with an old house

duncan32

Hello everyone,

I went quiet on this for a while, but things have moved on quite a lot and (perhaps predictably!) neither house was bought in the end! To cut a long story short we saw a house we both really like which was quite a lot cheaper (as it's a semi, I suppose) and this enabled us to accept a bit of a low offer on our house to get the move going.

This is the house that we have bought (not signed / exchanged contracts yet, but ours is a cash buyer and the lady we are buying off is moving overseas so no chain either side and all is going smoothly so far).

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-32947445.html


I have a couple of questions, which I will post later, as I've got to quickly pop out and don't want to have to retype all of this post!

Thanks,

Duncan

duncan32

Hi again,

Ok, back from picking up and eating a Chinese! :j

Having read another thread on here about the full structural survey, I am going to get that done (firstly, I am going to ask the seller if she had it done 4 years ago when she bought and if so, can I have a look at that - so recent so perhaps that would suffice?).

Anyway, my question is:

I have received documentation from the surveys showing that in 2000 there was an insurance claim for internal and external superstructure repair and decoration. It looks like quite a lot of superficial repairs and decoration was carrier out throughout the house. A site investigation led to repairs to the foul drainage and a council owned lime tree was cut back to sort roots out. The survey said that the probable cause of the damage was historic foundation movement. It says that the damage is relatively minor and it will not be necessary to monitor the property. It says that the repairs will take the form of brickwork crack repair and redecoration.

Seeing this sort of thing and the subsidence implications has obviously alarmed us, but I am taking the viewpoint that the house has been sorted, and that all houses of this age will need to have this sort of thing carried out, and the one that we are buying has already had the appropriate money spent on it to sort it out.

However, obviously a bit scary and brings it home to me that we MUST get the structural survery before we sign (was originally intending to leave it, and save the money). The house is immaculate inside and out to my eye, but I am know expert.

Would appreciate ANY advise.

Thanks.

Duncan

duncan32

Hope it's not too pathetic to bump my own post ?

I am calling the seller tomorrow and would feel happier having a bit of feedback before I do, if possible.

Thanks as usual.

Duncan

Doozergirl

It's your call. Try to minimise the expenditure until you've made your final decision. Ask the vendor about her current home insurance and how much she's spending, whether she's tied to that company...

DizzyDasher

Just to say I agree with DoozerGirl re: insurance.

We bought a house that looked like it might have subsidence due to leaking drains. In the end the structural engineer said he did not think that was the case (he thought the movement was old and had been caused when previous owners put in bathrooms upstairs), so we went ahead: but when the surveyor raised the possibility we looked into insurance implications and it was a bit of a nightmare to be honest.

Foundational movement from when it was built should have finished a long time ago: so unless there is another issue changing the loads on the property (new roof? new bathroom?) then I would have thought that the need for recent repairs is a pretty strong indicator of subsidence at some point. The fact they repaired drains and dealt with the tree suggests that they must have at least thought this a risk (though we just had our drains lined as a precaution given the scare with the original survey, so maybe this was also precautionary!). On the other hand, no underpinning is good as that immediately seems to scare off every insurer.

So I would definitely check with the seller what her insurance costs are and who with, and also get a structural survey done to check there has been no further movement since the issues were supposedly resolved (or maybe as a first step maybe go back and have a really good look at the outside of the house yourself: can you see any signs of further movement post-repair? What does the rest of the street look like? My sister made an offer on a place where it turns out the whole street was built across two soil types and all the bay windows were coming away from the main houses (on a different soil type) - nightmare scenario and they walked away, as you can't move a house!). So if there are also problems in nearby houses that might make you more worried.

If you did not know about this when you made your offer, then probably it means a lower offer is appropriate due to the higher insurance costs (though I take your point that many many old houses have similar issues: and if the ground type is susceptible to subsidence then you could buy any house in that area and find out you have subsidence issues in the future: your surveyor should be able to provide you with a map of soil types in your area which may help you avoid the risk if this one ends up falling through).

Good luck, I know what it feels like to fall in love with somewhere and then find out there may be structural issues ... bit of a heart and head battle, and I know it's not easy! In the end there is always a risk of unexpected expenditure with an old house, but if something you knew about before purchase ended up costing you a lot of money and you had not got anything off the price to reflect that, I think you would end up with regrets... so worth investigating properly.

ladymarmalade1970

G_M wrote: »

I know gas has gone up a lot but how can it be £125 pm?
If it's because the silly tw*ts haven't insulated their attic and all the heat just disapears, well, insulation is really cheap just now so whack on double thickness and down come the bills!
Or maybe it's a really inefficient boiler. Costs more to replace, but again, can make a big difference.

Is it 125 EVERY month? Some accounts are billed by usage, so that winter costs much more than summer, some accounts are 'smoothed out' so it's the same all year.

I live in an old detatched 4 bed Edwardian house and our gas and electric costs £220 per month EVERY month. We have a new efficient boiler and our loft is insulated but doesn't seem to make much difference. We have spent about £60 k on ours in 4 years and we still have lots to do. Everything has to be done on a shoestring and it's a pain as my OH and i are rubbish at DIY and have to get people in.
Our next project is getting all the artex ceilings re plastered. We have decided we are just going to do a room at a time now.
Saying that, we love our home. I have lived in a brand new build and 2 other old Victorians and i would go for an old house every time.
They can be a pain and you will always have to do something but i think they are worth it.
Oh, and i really don't like the new house you have posted. The old house is gorgeous!

duncan32

DizzyDasher wrote: »

Just to say I agree with DoozerGirl re: insurance.

We bought a house that looked like it might have subsidence due to leaking drains. In the end the structural engineer said he did not think that was the case (he thought the movement was old and had been caused when previous owners put in bathrooms upstairs), so we went ahead: but when the surveyor raised the possibility we looked into insurance implications and it was a bit of a nightmare to be honest.

Foundational movement from when it was built should have finished a long time ago: so unless there is another issue changing the loads on the property (new roof? new bathroom?) then I would have thought that the need for recent repairs is a pretty strong indicator of subsidence at some point. The fact they repaired drains and dealt with the tree suggests that they must have at least thought this a risk (though we just had our drains lined as a precaution given the scare with the original survey, so maybe this was also precautionary!). On the other hand, no underpinning is good as that immediately seems to scare off every insurer.

So I would definitely check with the seller what her insurance costs are and who with, and also get a structural survey done to check there has been no further movement since the issues were supposedly resolved (or maybe as a first step maybe go back and have a really good look at the outside of the house yourself: can you see any signs of further movement post-repair? What does the rest of the street look like? My sister made an offer on a place where it turns out the whole street was built across two soil types and all the bay windows were coming away from the main houses (on a different soil type) - nightmare scenario and they walked away, as you can't move a house!). So if there are also problems in nearby houses that might make you more worried.

If you did not know about this when you made your offer, then probably it means a lower offer is appropriate due to the higher insurance costs (though I take your point that many many old houses have similar issues: and if the ground type is susceptible to subsidence then you could buy any house in that area and find out you have subsidence issues in the future: your surveyor should be able to provide you with a map of soil types in your area which may help you avoid the risk if this one ends up falling through).

Good luck, I know what it feels like to fall in love with somewhere and then find out there may be structural issues ... bit of a heart and head battle, and I know it's not easy! In the end there is always a risk of unexpected expenditure with an old house, but if something you knew about before purchase ended up costing you a lot of money and you had not got anything off the price to reflect that, I think you would end up with regrets... so worth investigating properly.

Thanks for the post, it's much appreciated.
I have spoken to the lady and I am waiting for her to let me know the details of her current insurance. Would I go through the solicitor to reduce the offer? What do you think would be a good sum?

Thanks again.

Duncan

duncan32

ladymarmalade1970 wrote: »

I live in an old detatched 4 bed Edwardian house and our gas and electric costs £220 per month EVERY month. We have a new efficient boiler and our loft is insulated but doesn't seem to make much difference. We have spent about £60 k on ours in 4 years and we still have lots to do. Everything has to be done on a shoestring and it's a pain as my OH and i are rubbish at DIY and have to get people in.
Our next project is getting all the artex ceilings re plastered. We have decided we are just going to do a room at a time now.
Saying that, we love our home. I have lived in a brand new build and 2 other old Victorians and i would go for an old house every time.
They can be a pain and you will always have to do something but i think they are worth it.
Oh, and i really don't like the new house you have posted. The old house is gorgeous!

Wish I could afford to live in a 4 bedroom Edwardian and spend £60k in 4 years . The old house sold before ours was offered on, anyway. Thanks for the advice.

Duncan

ladymarmalade1970

duncan32 wrote: »

Wish I could afford to live in a 4 bedroom Edwardian and spend £60k in 4 years . The old house sold before ours was offered on, anyway. Thanks for the advice.

Duncan

60k doesn't get you much when you have to pay others to do it. New flat roof on garage, cheap bathroom suite, flooring, conservatory, garden (we did that ourselves), new boiler, windows, external painting and other bits and bobs. They are money pits really but worth it. I would love a new kitchen but we had to make do with changing the work tops and floor. Will get there in the end.

I love the house you brought and i bet you won't be disappointed. The thing is, with old houses once you get the boring stuff like electrics and leaks etc sorted then you can just take your time. New houses of similar status (ie 3 bed semi) just can't compete on space or robustness.

hcb42

That's a lovely house too - a nice compromise as it looks in good condition internally etc. I have looked at similar, near to me, for when we "downsize", and I do find the style very attractive, my own personal reservation is the area near here is tight for parking, although we could get rid of one car of course...hope the sale goes ok, and the issues with drains etc sorted. I dont have a lot of experience on that subject, other than a similar story happened with my parents property - that was due to tree roots I believe, tree removed and it was ok in the end. We had to sell it recently (parents now deceased) and there wasn't anything untowards that came up during the process. good luck!