FTB- had full survey back, help.

Orangey1234

So we had an offer accepted of 110k on a 2 bed semi in a decent area. The house directly opposite is on the market for 180k the difference being it has an unofficial bedroom in the loft, and the fact that our house needs completely renovating.

When I say completely renovating, we did not realise the extent to which it did until we got the survey back which said:
-the chimney is unsupported
-the roof essentially needs replacing, would be more economical to do so rather than repair each thing
-many joists need replacing in several rooms
-The external ground is higher than the DPC therefore lots of damp.
-one of the walls is a stud wall but it potentially could have been a supporting wall

We are torn. We wanted our first property to be something we could do up ourselves, something that would give us a bit of profit to sell on to climb the ladder. I'm not entirely sure if this property would be the one to do this or not given the amount of work it needs doing it would take a long time. The one thing that's stopping me from saying bye to it is the fact that it is so cheap and is in a good area and the resale value of properties in the area now but I just don't know.

Anyone got any advice?

Thanks

chappers

It's a simple case of weighing up the costs of renovations against the possible resale value of the house and deciding if there's enough in it for you. You need to get some quotes/estimates for the work.

looknohands

Tricky, sounds cheap, do you know a good builder? Or do you have experience doing these things yourself. I personally would never buy a proper doer upper beyond decorating. I worked with a guy who tried his hand at doing up houses full time when I was younger and it was incredibly hard work and often we would find underlying problems, tradesmen were a nightmare, you really need the contacts. It's different if you're living there I guess but you'll also have less time with work. Also how confident are you that you can you get a mortgage on it if you're going that route.

Argghhh

i would be surprised if you were offered the mortgage without a serious retention until the work was completed, can you afford this and the work as well