House hunting again - Page 8

velma · 01-30-2015, 12:15 PM

I'm with DrK on this one. Call this one quits. It's sounds a right mares nest. If you're struggling to even get a builder to come & look at it to give you a quote, you've no guarantees they'll even want to do the job if it's that much of a hassle. Or be inclined to do it a more reasonable cost. And I still stand by what I said the other day, if the roof is that bad, what else lies beneath?! Not Just in the joists & whatnot but if they've badly patched the roof, what else have they cut corners on?

souffle · 01-30-2015, 01:17 PM

If one guy says scaffold is an issue then believe me it will be. Scaffold is required by law now for even minor roof repairs and it is a money pot. I had repairs done last year. The cost doubled when they stripped the tiles off and found other issues. Then the scaffold had to be extended which meant another £1000 on the job. You see nothing for it either. It's not like a new kitchen you can enjoy. It's a basic need is a roof!
Remember you can't live there while they do the job either so need to maintain two houses and the timescale depends very much on the weather. Plus all the bills for two houses - insurance, hearing etc. If they won't drop it well below to cover all that then my thoughts are cut your losses and move on. I'd hate to see you struggling and your dream home going all wrong. They may get a buyer who has the money to just do it but then they may not. That's the name of the came with selling. Just don't look at it and you won't know will you

I hope the perfect home comes your way soon x

Pebbles82 · 01-30-2015, 01:47 PM

Thank you Souffle - that has really helped. It's ok the surveyor saying it won't cost more than £10,000 plus VAT but as you say if the scaffolders have problem getting access and they need to extend it it can go up. Good point about other things as well. I think basically it hasn't had anything done to it for about 20 years. I couldn't have gone ahead without allowing £15,000 for the roof. I guess they're hoping someone else will come along and not have a full survey, or a builder might buy it or something. I guess I should have pulled out as soon as we got the survey back - but I hoped they would accept the house wasn't worth nearly what they thought it was. The roof needs doing now for safety reasons. Surveyor said repairs would be very temporary and it needed the whole lot doing.

Back to the drawing board I guess.

Thin Lizzy · 01-31-2015, 10:03 AM

Don't go rushing into buying any old house, you'll end up regretting it in the long run.
It'll have a bad effect on your health and relationship if you take any house.
You need to be able to see yourself in that house, see yourself being in that house for many years.
Also don't go buying in an area that's not safe.
It may take you a while longer, but, you'll know when you find the one.
So how did the viewing go today?

Pebbles82 · 01-31-2015, 12:36 PM

Thanks for that Thin Lizzy. Well unfortunately I wasn't really in the mood for viewing houses today, but went anyway. I guess it's been a bit of a stressful week and suddenly I felt a bit flat and whacked today, plus everyone seems to be in a funny mood this week-end.
So I felt a bit in a daze when I went to see the house this morning. Went on my own because Partner working and little boy at a do, and because the house is tenanted so I thought it would be a bit of an invasion if we all turned up, so I said I'd go on my own initially.

I think I'm a bit numb to have any real feelings about it right now, but it's better than I thought it would be. Has a lot of positives - but a couple of negatives, one of which might be a deal breaker.

Positives: Much better size than I thought - small and cosy but rooms are good sizes and space for a table and chairs in the living room comfortably. Her husband was a bit of a perfectionist so all work he did is immaculate - he built a new extension out of stone, for the bathroom, which is nice, and it has storage in the loft over the bathroom extension with a floor level door off the staircase. It was rewired and heating put in new 10 years ago. New roof at the back (but not at the front). Still felt a wee bit like a one person house, but about as much space as we have now. Kitchen ok, bathroom nice. Only a small yard at the back but private and nicely laid out with a couple of raised beds, a bit of a suntrap too. She would accept 100k and there wouldn't need much spending on it, just the odd carpet.

The only real negatives were - a door frame had a real lean on it and the bedroom floor had a bit of a lean as well. A surveyor would probably say 'historic settlement' and as a house at the lower end of the market it would probably sell regardless. But did put me off a bit. Plus the yard is enclosed so you have to wheel the wheely bins through the house to the front, but that's not a major issue.

Only other minor thing was a bit strange. The lady selling said the tenant would be moving out 1 March - I said well that would be about the right time for us. She said she would want to come in and clean after the tenant moved out and before we completed. Fair enough, nice gesture. But then she said she wanted to emulsion all the walls as well. I felt like saying - we'd want to buy it as it is! Not redecorated, as we might want to redecorate differently. I can understand in a way she wants to repossess it before it goes out of her hands as a sort of final thing, especially as her husband died a few months ago and did a lot of work on it. I had said - we wouldn't expect that as would come in an clean up anyway before moving stuff in but she said she wanted to do it and repaint the walls.

It would be fine for the three of us, but right now I feel like telling them all to get lost while I have a nap lol!

Can't go ahead with the one that has been put back on the market now anyway, even if they dropped the price, as council grant we were depending on is now not available any more - apparently the council have run out of money near the end of the financial year. So that's that decided.

Thin Lizzy · 02-01-2015, 05:53 AM

I'm glad you went to see it.
I think every house will always have a couple of issues but, it sounds good.I can understand the owner wanting to come in and clean the house after the tenant moves out but, the thing about decorating is an absolute no-no. Like you I'd want to do that myself. Unless she has psychic powers and knows what colourings you like ha-ha!
This will be quite an emoitional time for the owner selling her house after her husband died not long ago.
I'm kinda relieved that house with the very dodgy roof isn't in your sights anymore, I wouldn't like to see you pay way over the asking price and to be jinxed with more problems. Maybe it's a blessing the council has run out of money to give you a grant.

I hope today Sunday, you're being nice to yourself and relaxing.

souffle · 02-01-2015, 06:03 AM

It doesn't sound quite right yet Serendipity. Spring is marketing time so maybe wait a little longer?
Also ...bit to many personal details there

remember it's a public forum and anyone can read. You may not want those details regarding the lad aired on line. PM me to remove if you wish.

Pebbles82 · 02-01-2015, 04:18 PM

Thanks Souffle - yes please edit them! - verbal diarrhoea again. Actually I agree - maybe not quite right time yet. Today I felt very emotional about the house falling through. Last week I was logical and practical and stuck to those logical and practical decisions and stuck to my offer. Now I'm trying to think up ways of funding. It probably isn't possible but I didn't realise how much I wanted to live there until it hit me it is off. It's the location really. Probably too emotional to make decisions about other houses just now - but maybe it's just a Sunday thing.

RubyDG · 02-05-2015, 11:24 AM

I really wanted to live in the small coastal town where I live now as it's stunning and in a commutable distance to the nearby city I work in. Problem was we just couldn't find anything in our budget, and the few we did were on the very outskirts and problematic with transport. I did go see a number of places in the city but was never happy. Then at the last moment while were were discussing one place in the city we found something where we wanted to be - perfect location, UNDER budget and lovely. I know if we had gone to the other place, which was fine, I just wouldn't of been happy and probably would just of ended up moving again (I am so not a city person LOL). Sometimes it is better to wait it out for the right place, even more so if you're buying rather than just renting like me.

Maybe you should take a week off from anything house hunting related and recharge your batteries, otherwise you are just going to burn out and not be in the right mind frame to make good decisions. Moving is one of the most stressful things we can do and you need to take a step back every now and then. Sometimes as hard as it is you just have to be patient and wait for the right place and not just something that's good enough.

Pebbles82 · 02-06-2015, 03:18 AM

Thank you for that Ruby. Actually that is what I have had to do. Take a week off and just stop thinking about it. I am feeling a bit better already. We were both very stressed last week-end with everything happening at once. Unfortunately I will be probably start being chased by a lot of people soon, but am fending them off at the moment.