Buying dream house, had an awful survey!

marywooyeah

Hi all, my husband and I have put in an offer on a lovely house which is perfect for us and our children. Everything we were looking for, got the mortgage etc all sorted and all seemed to be going really well, until I got the survey emailed to me yesterday.

The vast majority of the issues have been listed as a "3", serious faults which need urgent attention and repair.

Long story short the roof needs replacing, there is damp throughout the entire house which ironically has been caused by faulty damp proofing, the piping and bath are faulty which is leaking into the kitchen, there are cracks above doorways which are due to poor lintern structure and the insulation/weather proofing in the attic is faulty with the beams split and sagging.

Oh, and the rear boundary garden wall needs replacing.

We're seriously gutted as the house looks great so to see that it's basically falling apart is really surprising and disappointing. Part of me thinks we should walk away, but the other part of me thinks that we should give it a chance.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation? If so, what did you do?

I'm particularly worried about the damp as our rented property has suffered from damp and I really don't want to be dealing with it anymore!

jbainbridge

You've got to remember the reason that you have a survey. If it is that bad perhaps the wise thing to do is walk away. Ring the surveyor and have a chat - see what their take on it is.

Mattygroves2

It doesn't sound like the whole house is falling apart - just that it needs a new roof which will solve the problems in the attic as well and maybe a contributing factor to the damp. All of the problems are fixable and you'd end up with a sound house.

The difference between the damp in your rental and damp in your own house is that the solution is in your own hands - you pay for a new damp course or fix the cause if it is because air bricks have been blocked or the level of the ground outside is too high. No waiting around for a landlord to fix it.

Assuming you can get quotes for the work required you've got a good starting point for negotiations with your vendor but you need to decide whether you can afford the work and whether you can put up with the disruption of having the work done.

Personally provided the vendor was prepared to move on the price a new roof and damp wouldn't put me off. If the vendor refused to move the price I'd walk.

kinger101

You could get estimates for how much this would cost to fix, and revise your offer based on this. This is assuming of course you'd still have the cash available to make the repairs, and you would either be prepared to live in situ while the repairs are made, or can move in after they're completed.

On a note of caution, although the garden wall did not come up as a serious, if this in danger of falling, it could be a danger to your children and even members of the public if it backs onto a road etc. It would at least need to be made safe.

It's really a matter of how much do you want the house, and do you have the cashflow and patience to get it put right.

Of course, this assumes the vendor is open to negotiation, but they'd be foolish if they weren't. If you walk away, the next potential buyer will also be getting a survey, and the same issues will come up again. Mind you, having said that, fools are not exactly in short supply.

AlexMac

Matty and Kinger have said it all. If the equation between the value of the house, the cost of repairs and the amount the vendor is prepared to knock off is right, you will, after only a few months' disruption, dust and noise, have a really lovely dream house (presumably in a perfect location, with all the features you wanted) which you know is also structurally sound. Not many people have that!

And also, looking at other positive points; by the time you have taken prices from builders (as you'll need more than the survey to back your negotiation), haggled over the reduction, met somewhere in the middle, agreed a price then waited while the usual 2-3 months conveyancing happens, it will be Spring 2015. So the work will be taking place in nicer Summer weather- who wants the roof off in February?!

The problem will be if the value of the work is a high % of that of the house; it's easier for you (or the vendor) to swallow a £10-20k repair bill on a £500k house than one worth only £150k!

Good luck- first with the decision, then with the negotiation

MobileSaver

kinger101 wrote: »

Of course, this assumes the vendor is open to negotiation, but they'd be foolish if they weren't.

Unless the house was already priced competitively because the vendor knew there were a few issues...

DaftyDuck

My worry (were I you) would be that, if I am put off by the possibility of recurring damp, and the remedial works needed, this house is probably not what you actually want.

The jobs listed above aren't exactly trivial, but they are all fairly straightforward to deal with. A roofer will quote for a new roof (consider combining with a loft conversion), and that'll sort out beam problems and insulation at the same time. Pretty much all that work will be mess-free from the interior of the property.

Lintels are easily replaced. It's a common problem where wooden doors and windows are replaced with uPVC stuff, which is less meaty, and often doesn't actually fit very well. It's also often found unnecessary on closer inspection by a builder.

Faulty damp proofing? I'm not a great believer in chemical damp proof courses, and there are often (npt always) simple remedies. Fixing the roof & guttering is likely to help. So would fixing the bath which, to be honest, is probably a DIY fix.

The question is whether that's the kind of task list you'd like for the next six months. It sounds like you wouldn't. To me, it'd be an opportunity to get all those other jobs done at the same time.... loft conversion, exterior painting/rendering, doors replaced, new bathroom & plumbing, redecoration throughout....

Thing is, I like doing that kind of task at the weekend. Many (more sane people) do not!

AdrianC

What has the surveyor said about the value of the property, compared to the price you'd agreed?

ReadingTim

Was it a "dream house" because it appeared to be going for a song? If so, you've just discovered why...

Surveyors are generally good at covering their behinds, so once you've got past all the caveats, they usually claim the place is in danger of immediate collapse, even if it's a new build.... However, if the problems are really that severe, I find it odd that you didn't notice anything, and this survey is a complete surprise... Or is it price blindness again?!?

penguine

Phone up some local builders and ask if any of them would be willing to come look at the house with you and give you an idea of what it would cost to put everything right. Then you should have a better idea of what you can afford to pay and proceed with negotiations from there.

kinger101

MobileSaver wrote: »

Unless the house was already priced competitively because the vendor knew there were a few issues...

Possibly, but you'd state this up front, rather than leave potential buyers is a position where they'd want to renegotiate on price or walk away.