great cottage but lot of work needed should I buy can I get mort ??

davmns001

have fell in love with a great cottage needs a hell of a lot of work but it may be worth it but will I get a mortgage and will I be able to insure it. heck of a dilemour.
it needs new roof and structure. Heating. re-wire. windows, (existing crital type metal) new doors. pointing. septic tank. DPC and re-plastering inside and part of outside. Kitchen and bathroom.

and its got an approx lean of 10inches to main flank top to base height of about 18 ft so that will have to come out or extend and remove it, and there is a large crack up and along the side wall that leans. and about an inch crack in wall that daylight can be seen thru.
and on other side the house sits app 3 mtr above a brook/river and the side of the house is app 3mtr from the river EG the ground drops away from side of house. I think the large tree on corner is holding the ground back. it appears that there is a fair bit of subsidence but it is 200 yrs old almost and without footings so I guess it will be moving.

as it site 5 mtr back from a road is it worth making an offer. properties in the area are about £280k+ without the faults as listed.

dont know but its really nice looking and sited. and if bought for a fair price the work will cost about 100k plus to do. & it will be great but can I insure it that close to a river and with a history of movement. and will it be resellable?? as its just off a flight path and the airport could expand at some point. as the authorities have bought a lot of houses in the area. but not in the area of this cottage. would love it but unsure. I am not interested in selling it on. as I would love to live there but at what cost.

olias

So it's structurally unsound, about to fall into a river, has no proper roof and needs completely renovating?

I would say definately cash buyers only, you can forget a mortgage or insurance at this stage, the rest depends on if the faults can be rectified and at what cost. Assuming similar properties sell for around £280k, you need to take away from that the cost of works, then take away whatever else is reasonable for your profit margin, etc etc etc and this leaves you with a ball park figure to base your offer on.

The main problem is that the defects need an awful lot of investigation to ascertain if they are fixable, and at what cost, and would the vendor allow you that much access to be able to do that?

Olias

davmns001

olias wrote: »

So it's structurally unsound, about to fall into a river, has no proper roof and needs completely renovating?

I would say definately cash buyers only, you can forget a mortgage or insurance at this stage, the rest depends on if the faults can be rectified and at what cost. Assuming similar properties sell for around £280k, you need to take away from that the cost of works, then take away whatever else is reasonable for your profit margin, etc etc etc and this leaves you with a ball park figure to base your offer on.

The main problem is that the defects need an awful lot of investigation to ascertain if they are fixable, and at what cost, and would the vendor allow you that much access to be able to do that?

Olias

thanks/ its leaning away from the river hence the tree poss holding the ground back as its on the river side. and yes the other properties are not selling that quick but they are selling.although not in such a nice setting with the view from the front. I would think they would accept 175 as it has a tennant at present and as an investment with the rent its a figure I would guess. it returns about 7K a year in rent and that has been put across in the details but I would not wish to rent it but I guess some would.
just dont know.

olias

But if the tree thats supporting the river bank goes, then the house may go! Also sitting tennant also means not mortgageable. What sort of tenancy is it? You may not be able to get rid of the tenant, could even be a life tenancy. If the property is in that bad a state, it is unlikely to just be an AST.


Also £175k sounds wayyyyy too much. From your description, you would be looking at underpinning the whole of the river side, possibly the whole of the house! including possibly building a retaining wall along the stream bank, a full new roof and roof structure, and rebuilding several walls of the property of the property. Thats befor you pay for windows/rewire/septic tank/CH/Damp proof/rot/kitchen/bathroom etc etc. It sounds like tackling the structural problems alone could easily be £60K-£80K.

Olias

lincroft1710

Current owners must be laughing if they can screw £600 a month out of someone who doesn't mind living in a house that's falling down around them!

One final word - AVOID!