Am I being ridiculous? 72 page RICS 3 building survey - Am I living in a dream world?

stuart45

The brickwork doesn't look like any real problem to me.

theoretica

If the coal store is under the stairs there is a chance the walls are holding up the stairs - which you would need to know before you get your heart set on removing one or putting a door through it. 

Lyd00

theoretica said:

If the coal store is under the stairs there is a chance the walls are holding up the stairs - which you would need to know before you get your heart set on removing one or putting a door through it. 

Yeah and he said he'd note on this but hasn't done. I'll ask him tomorrow. The house 3 doors down have removed there's by looking at the floorplan so hopefully it'll be okay 

Booge

I wouldn't worry too much about the report itself - they are normally long and written to protect the company doing the survey so that they tend to warn you about all sorts of things. The thing that does concern me from what you have said is that it sounds like the price of the property plus the price of all the work that needs doing could be more than just buying an equivalent property in the same area that is in good condition. If that is the case, then it isn't a good investment from a value perspective. But it sounds like you don't have the budget to buy a house that needs less work doing, so you feel your only option is to buy this house and then gradually renovate over time.

I guess it depends what other options you have - could you buy in a different area that is cheaper? Or borrow a bit more to buy a house that doesn't need all that work doing? You may get fed up of the house always needing something doing on it if it's a case of saving money and then doing a bit, and then saving some more and doing another bit. 

Jonathan. 

Lyd00

Thanks Jonathan, that's exactly it. And is why some people are telling me my offer isn't sensible in terms of what I'm going to need to spend. 

Booge

Have you asked the surveyor for a rough estimate as to what the work that needs doing would cost? That may be the first step to understand just how much more you would need to spend. If it's way more than the equivalent house in good condition, then you may want to abandon it. Unless you absolutely HAVE to be there on that road, in that area etc. 

TheJP

Lyd00 said:

TheJP said:

Lyd00 al room can be done when you knock in, if the trades there already then the additional stuff may be pretty cheap to do. Id imagine that the plastering would be done anyway as part of the cost, just the brick work.

Hopefully. 

The estimated costs on his report come to approx £20k. And that's only what he can see. That's my worry. When I viewed it I thought it looked in good condition, no damp, newish windows and doors, the roof looked good to me (oops) so I only budgeted for cosmetic stuff. If I'm going to keep finding things that's where I'll struggle being alone with no one else to help financially.

Then again it's the only house I can see myself in. Nothing in budget has ever excited me. I've waited a long time and been sensible with money to be able to get a deposit with no help from others and a change of career plus covid stalling things. I'm torn because my ex says I've been patient and good with my money and will blow it on a problem house that may go into negative equity soon 

Surveyors estimated costs are usually inflated, they can only estimate and I've seen surveyors estimates actually come in at more than 50% less on this forum.

onylon

I think you have a very strong idea of what you want for the kitchen and that is making it hard to look at the project holistically. You can get by with a fridge, microwave and sink so the new kitchen is definitely a want rather than a need. Have a really good think about which rooms you spend the most time in and how you want the house to function as a whole.

If you still want to prioritise the new kitchen, consider doing some of the work yourself. Labour is a big part of the cost so it would release a lot of your budget if you buy basic flat pack units and fit them yourself over a few weeks. I did this in my first home while my husband was away. At that point my only DIY experience was putting up a Billy bookcase so not much different to your situation.

If you can pick up some DIY skills the purchase makes more sense as it's likely to be a money pit if you are constantly getting people in for small jobs.

seven-day-weekend

Some friends of mine bought a house forty years ago and one of the 'urgent' things was that it needed a whole new roof.  They couldn't afford it, so just had some slates replaced to be going on with.

They never did anything else to the roof and it is still fine forty years later.

Some things are not as urgent as they seem!