Advice please

Shell_1980

Hi I'm new to this looking advice because I'm not a good decision maker.....

We private rent a 4 bed country style cottage with extension in Northern Ireland. The house was up for sale for £100,000 before we rented off landlord. We abousetly love the house andown it's location. We pay £550 a month and we did get on great with the landlord we moved in 6 months ago and signed for a year but said we always continue to carry on the contract. We decided and told the landlord we be interested in buying the house through time and obviously he's happy about that. However recently been discovered "damp" has appeared in one of the bedrooms which made us ill and told landlord and he's not willing to do anything about it so that's !!!!ed us off. We moved out of the bedroom. We have got quotes for the work involved could be least £2000 to get it all done properly. Obviously we wouldn't be doing any of that work till we knew the house is ours. The house badly need decorated to our taste and already spent £450 on a hallway. Again feel don't want to do this till house is ours. My question is should I even consider buying the house knowing that the money involved we to put into it? Or should we just try and find a better house less problems? Taking into account we couldn't afford a house much more than £110,000 with our earnings?

Mossfarr

I suggest you start looking around at other properties to buy within your budget. Your absolute 'dream house' may be for sale nearby, you won't know 'til you look.
If your LL knows you are looking elsewhere he may be more willing to negotiate.

Grenage

Is the house actually for sale, and you're in the process of buying it? If not, just treat it as any other rental.

Shell_1980

No house not currently for sale he took it off market when we rented off him. But was going to start looking into it this year about a mortgage etc now that work needs done to the house

AnotherJoe

There should be a deal to be done, after all no EA fees for him, no complications with sitting tenants, no discount because property has tenants / or no void period. Thats got to be worth a fair whack.

Shell_1980

So you reckon stick with it? I wouldn't be paying the full asking price not with damp in the property and he knows it but then he could be funny about that and still want as much as possible

Out,_Vile_Jelly

Don't waste any more money decorating the property to your taste (did you get permission for this)? Even with a regular property sale, both parties can pull out at any time, for no reason, up until contracts are exchanged (I'm assuming this is correct for NI law). If you start thinking of the place as "yours" because of a vague agreement with the LL you may end up horribly disappointed, and out of pocket.

LLs that aren't interested in fixing damp (one of the quickest ways in which a property can be expensively ruined) are unlikely to be proactive or efficient in any other area of business.

You should definitely start to look at other houses within your budget, both to rent and buy.

Shell_1980

He was happy enough for us to do what we wanted to the property but leaving it now far to costly when it's not ours. I'll still look into mortgage options in the new year as one way or another it's better than renting

steampowered

£2,000 doesn't sound like a lot of money in the context of a £100,000 property. I wouldn't get too worried about that if you want to buy the property.

You should still view other properties nearby, so that you understand the local market and what else is available in your price range.

You should go with whatever house is the best place for you - regardless of whether you are buying from the landlord or somebody else; and regardless of what work you've already done on the property as that is no longer relevant.

westernpromise

Damp is fixable. But it puts off buyers, so don't spend anything on fixing it. First, the fabric of a rented house isn't yours, it's your landlord's and it's for his account to fix that. If he wants to sell he'll have to pay to have it fixed so he may as well do so now. If he doesn't, that will put buyers off so you'll be better placed to buy it.

It is usually not true that there is no agency cost to him if the tenant buys. Most agents will have a clause that says if the tenants they introduced buy the property, they get a sales commission.

The main advantage of selling to the sitting tenant is that he gets paid rent right up until completion. If he sells to someone else, he can give you notice but you may not leave, and then he can't complete, and then he's breached contract, etc.

xylophone

You love the house. You love the location. You have lived in it and discovered some flaws.

You might consider a full structural survey before buying and getting a discount for any defects?