Selling a house with subsidence problems!

MichMoor

Hello All,

Been sometime since I have been on here, but wondered if someone could suggest anything with this predicament.

Myself and two sisters inherited my fathers house after he suddenly passed away last year, we agreed I carried on living there till house sold. First viewing resulted in an acceptable offer, however they immediately pulled out after an home buyers survey, siting the extensions had subsided, structural problems. I commissioned my own structural engineers survey, he concluded the extensions had moved, probably just after they were built (in the late 1970's) and whilst sure they had now settled recommended six months monitoring to confirm that, we have decided to do the monitoring.

I am in the process of buying my own house so will be moving out next month leaving the house empty (we all live close so can keep an eye on it).

First thing I did was contact the insurer, they came out and undertook their own inspection and came to similar conclusions, however since it was a long standing problem it was not covered. I only took the policy out after my father died, could not carry his policy, was not eligible (it was an elderly persons policy).

However our estate agent have told us that even if we demonstrate the house had now settled it would still be uninsurable (for subsidence) and therefore unmortgagable and only a cash buyer could buy it, limiting the potential market and value.

The positives on the house is it is situated in a good area of Manchester, good communications, good schools, not overlooked and views over a nice park, although in need of refurbishment.

Has anyone got any suggestions on how we could proceed on selling the property without taking a serious loss?

Thanks in advance

Guest101

If it's just the extension, could this be taken down? How much value does it add?

MichMoor

Yes it could, but its money, as the property is inherited and owned by the three (and adding further problems my father did not leave a will causing further troubles!) of us we would all have to put money in which we do not really have (I am buying my own house and my sisters have their own commitments).

xylophone

Would a builder take it on?

Sell at auction?

MichMoor

Yes to both, but a builder would be second choice, auction last, would resort to this if have to but just came on here to see if anyone had any other ideas before going down that route.

supermassive

I think your house value would be on the slide if you've got subsidance

Cissi

MichMoor wrote: »

Has anyone got any suggestions on how we could proceed on selling the property without taking a serious loss?

This is probably going to seem harsh, but what loss exactly? Have you and your siblings spent a lot of money on the house? Or do you mean that you'd get a lot less than your parent bought it for - unlikely unless it was purchased recently? Or just that you'll get less for it than you were expecting, ie you were hoping for a windfall? If the latter, then I'm afraid I don't have a whole lot of sympathy.


I for one would see any inheritance as a bonus - mine and my DH's parents have worked hard for what they have (or had, in the case of one deceased parent) and I would expect them to enjoy it while they still can (and that includes spending quality time with us and the grandchildren) - but I certainly don't expect to inherit anything, nor do I think that I necessarily should. They brought my siblings and me up and gave us a good start in life, and the rest is kind of up to us.


As an aside, inheritance tax is actually one tax that I do agree with as this seems less unfair to me than excessive tax on earnings.


Of course, in the OP's position I'd also be trying to maximise any gain and minimise the damage of the subsidence - but I don't agree with calling it a "loss" on the part of the beneficiaries, unless they'd actually invested money in the property to start with.

MichMoor

Wasn't asking for sympathy Cissi, neither for any lectures on whether inheritance should be considered to be a bonus, when I used the word "loss" I was referring to the difference between the market value with and without the subsidence issue and I don't know why you chose to bring inheritance tax into it but my fathers estate was smaller than the threshold.

My father worked hard for what he got and enjoyed his retirement despite loosing his wife at an early age and chose to leave what he had left to help his children, nothing wrong with that.

The purpose of my post was for any suggestions which could minimise any loss of market value due to the subsidence issue which would help my fathers children and grandchildren, which he would have wanted, not for lectures on inheritance. The whole idea of these forums are to exchange ideas and to share knowledge and experience.

If you have any suggestions would be welcome to hear them, otherwise please keep your ignorant judgements to yourself because you know nothing about the situation except what I have put above.

Davesnave

I don't think Cissi was being judgmental, just trying to put the gain of an inherited house into context, since you were referring incorrectly to a loss.

When houses are inherited, such as the one my father passed on to me, they often have quite a lot wrong with them. There isn't much to be done about this; you either sell at a price that interests a builder or investor, or you choose to spend money yourself to put things right.

In your case, I'd guess that would be part-rebuilding, as it's often quicker and easier than trying to work with an existing structure. You say you're not able to do this.

Who knows, sometimes not doing something can be the better option. I chose to renovate my inherited small property, sold it at a record breaking price for the road, and meanwhile held up the sale of my own house. As a result, my sale was heavily affected by the Crash in 2008, so I ended-up about £60k out of pocket. However, it would be wrong to say I made a loss, because, clearly, I didn't. Both houses sold for what they were worth at the time.

caley

Sorry to hear you lost your dad. Its a tricky one do you take a hit or do you splash the cash. you know yourself everyone wants to buy a house as cheap as they can and buyers will keep pushing this in your face. Auction might work in your favour depending on how big a hit you can afford to lose. have you discussed the options with your sisters. My wife just took a £20000 hit on her dads house it needed updating and she didn`t have the money to update it. good luck and be positive

franklee

Has it had buildings insurance continuously since the extension? Suggest you go back to the previous insurance company and ask them to accept liability. My relatives had a similar thing except there was a small gap in insurance as the deceased had let it lapse and it was then insured with someone else. A few stiff letters from the solicitor got the first company accepting liability and doing the repairs although it took a year to get the monitoring and then repairs done. Maybe try asking on the insurance board? Still took a hit in the sale price sue to the history of subsidence.