FTB just got a survey done and stressed

Davesnave

A 'period terrace' is going to have these kinds of problems, or other problems instead of these. If that's the worst the survey threw up to scare you, the house is pretty good.

amateur_house

My survey found damp due to cracked render, and the vendor has agreed to reduce the price by the cost of the repairs. The valuation agreed with what I had offered, but I think that is partly due to the fact that if a certain amount is offered then almost by definition that it is worth that much. If I had known how much all the work was going to cost I wouldn't have offered that much in the first place. (It would work out cheaper to buy a house that is already modernised).

Davesnave

amateur_house wrote: »

. The valuation agreed with what I had offered, but I think that is partly due to the fact that if a certain amount is offered then almost by definition that it is worth that much.

Building society valuations just match the offer price if nothing seems seriously amiss. They are not the same as having an independent valuation.

As most lenders won't be advancing 100% of the purchase price, there's no need for a detailed look at the place, or accuracy. It's a check for their benefit, not the borrower's.

amateur_house

Davesnave wrote: »

Building society valuations just match the offer price if nothing seems seriously amiss. They are not the same as having an independent valuation

The scary thing for me is that the builders I got to do the estimates reckoned it was worth £17k less than I am paying :eek:
And I am borrowing less than 50% of the purchase price. If I go ahead, which I am seriously reconsidering.

Davesnave

If it's a fairly standard house in a built-up area, it should be possible to use existing sold price data to do a reasonably sound valuation yourself.

It is true that a house that needs work can end-up significantly more expensive than one which has already been modernised. However, against that is the ability to choose the way the jobs are done and the quality of materials used.

The main problem for all would-be renovators is the unknown. Often, one job leads to another and 10% for contingency is frequently too little when a 'surprise' occurs.

For example, I had to completely re-route our drains this summer, due to a fault which had lain hidden and unsuspected for some time.

Luckily, I have a friend with a digger, but having sorted the problem, I have nothing to show for that expenditure. Nobody says, "Come and see my new drains!"

nighttrain123

I was thinking about this a bit more and notice how on the pic the cracks in the render are hairline/vertical and go to/from the corners of the window.

The survey said no evidence of structural issues, but I'm gonna phone the surveyor in the morning anyway. The house would have had original windows changed for these double glazing ones at some point, and from what I can tell the original sills were taken out (on adjacent properties the sills are very solid and stick out), so I'm worried the render cracks are a symptom rather than being superficial.