Diary of a 30-something idiot

enthusiasticsaver

Congratulations on getting an offer and I don't think anyone will be mad at you. After all it is your decision.   The comments were to alert you to the fact that renovations often cost a lot more than expected.  I would suggest you make a priority list when you move in as to what is urgent and do these things gradually.  

foxandflowers

enthusiasticsaver said:

Congratulations on getting an offer and I don't think anyone will be mad at you. After all it is your decision.   The comments were to alert you to the fact that renovations often cost a lot more than expected.  I would suggest you make a priority list when you move in as to what is urgent and do these things gradually.  

Priority is fencing (because we have dogs, and we have to be able to let them outside). Then anything structural. Then electrics. Then kitchen & windows. Anything we have left over can be decided on afterwards.

New_in_the_fens

I have to be honest, as the owner of a doer upper as you’ve seen - I wouldn’t buy a house that needed underpinning. For me, that would be a dealbreaker. 

I’ve been happy doing electrics, central heating, new garage (not attached), dealng with mould etc. We’ve still got two bathrooms to refit, refit kitchen, full replaster and redecoration, insulation, some replacement windows, and a HUGE garden that needs a complete do-over. If I had to add underpinning to that, I would have walked away (and did - two houses we looked at were lovely, but just far too much!). We’ve taken on a huge amount, I couldn’t have done that too. 

As it is, when one of the ceilings came down we’ve found a leak that cannot be entirely explained - which has meant a chimney rebuild and work on flashing and the flat roof. 

Whatever you decide, it’s your choice - and you’ve had so much good support and opinion from people on here who’ve been there done that. But also, don’t be afraid to change your mind if you need to - we are allowed to change our minds whenever we like - and in fact changing minds in the light of new evidence is the right thing to do. 

I’m going to keep supporting you from the sidelines regardless. Take care of yourself 😃

foxandflowers

We aren't sure if it will need underpinning or if there is just a crack in the render, and the only way to find out is to go down the route of surveys etc. The crack itself is vertical, and along the line of the old part of the house & the early 1980s concrete extension. I'm hoping it's settlement, and hasn't changed in a number of years and can just be filled. But only time will tell. If we go down over the bank holiday weekend I will try and get photos. 

stymied

I would be more worried about balancing the day to day books as by last account you were haemorrhaging money. Getting OH onside and into paid work will be a massive help.

peb

Underpinning usually makes a house unmortgageable.  Get the survey done asap and rethink if it is required 

slm6002

Please also be aware that borrowing money may not be so easy now that you have a debt management plan in place.  Even after its been paid off it stays on your credit history for several years.  This may mean you need to pay a higher interest rate on any extra money needed.  You probably knew this already but I wanted to mention it just in case

foxandflowers

Hi, 

no mortgage required as we own our house outright thanks to my inheritance. Hopefully if we do need to borrow money it wont be for several years and by that time my credit rating should be slightly better. But I'm
trying very hard to not think about anything like that, if I haven’t got the money, I can’t do it. Cash is king. 👑

CRANKY40

What does it look like on the inside where the extension has a crack? We looked at a house where the extension had cracks and gaps along the ceiling and front wall where it connected to the main house. It was a "no" by the way, my surveyor friend said don't touch it with a bargepole as it would have to have the roof taken off, be brought down by about three feet and then rebuilt. That was on a bungalow, not a full sized house.

Does the new house have a damp proof course? If it doesn't then remedial works are both messy and expensive. Hopefully it's ok - check if you can smell damp though and if you go for another look open some cupboards on the ground floor to see of there is any evidence of mould.

jokono

foxandflowers said:

Hi, 

no mortgage required as we own our house outright thanks to my inheritance. 

Just a thought - if you decide to sell at some point, you might be able to only sell to cash buyers?