Possible structural issues for property purchase - poor building survey

SomethingSomething said:
3. Electrics - RCD in place but the box is plastic and not up to regulations as should be metal.
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From the photo, there is no RCD present.
It's a cheapo plastic effort with a main switch and 5 circuits. One of them might possibly be an RCBO. Entirely inappropriate for a modern 3 bed extended house.
The kind of item that a builder would shove in on the cheap to replace an ancient rewireable fusebox in a futile attempt to make it look up to date.

In any event, you should budget for a full rewire, as a property with no central heating won't have had any money spent on the electrics either.


SomethingSomething said:
It's going for £225k
The property generally needs modernisation, new kitchen, bathroom, fixtures and fittings, including skimming and new flooring.
To be honest it seems the property is priced sensibly as this property in good standard should be towards 260k,
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£35k will not cover the works required, and even if it did, you would be paying full finished price and have to go through all of the inconvenience and hassle of having the work done.

Offer them £190k which they will refuse, then you can offer £200k as a final offer.
If you then spend £50k extra to end up with something worth £260k then it's perhaps worthwhile if you are going to live in it.
 
Knowing what I know now I probs would walk away. But on the other hand there may well always be things that surveys don’t pick up. Becomes part of owning a house. Our house had two chimney breasts removed and the chimney stack remaining in the roof - the way it’s supported doesn’t meet regs. Wasn’t mentioned at all. There’s an rsj that isn’t put in properly elsewhere aswell. I feel like that’s 12 to15k to fix both right there before I even start on new kitchen bathroom and windows.
The neighbours surveyor missed that the extension on their house wasn’t done properly and had significant movement. They tore it down and built a new one. Insurance wouldn’t pay out.
 
Hi All,

Thanks for your messages.

The vendors now have grant of probate and searches have concluded, although we had nothing in the pack about building regs or planning permission approval on the extension which we'll look into. Our local authority website shows planning approval of some sort on the extension.

I simply asked for their thoughts on the survey to which they replied to say properties on this road sell quickly, it was built around 70 years ago and the identified issues are standard for this property type and age. No reference to any identified issues with the property and my specific mention to other issues. I wonder if I have any luck in trying to get them to see it from the perspective of the vast works required.

Without a reduction in property price we might be limited in budget to do this step by step over a longer period of time.

My understanding of costs to bring property to normal standard:
1. Windows and doors to be replaced - £10,000 (Front windows are more recent so shouldn't need replacing). Included in this is bricking up the existing second door at the rear of the property.
2. Bathroom refurbishment £5000 - including knocking the seperating wall between bathroom and toilet.
3. As the property has no CH, disposing of old water heater and the ancient gas storage heaters x1, x2 electric storage heaters and installation of new CH + boiler - £4000
4. Self removal of the (most probably) Asbestos containing Artex using XTex + associated equipment, in the kitchen, bathroom, hallways and all 3 bedrooms. £800
5. Skim and flooring in rooms step by step £8000 mixture of engineered wood + carpet
6. The electrical work but should this be prioritised over the others? Estimate possibly 3k.
7. Eventual kitchen refurb £15,000.

Not sure on costs for the below work or any other work identified in the survey.
Remedial work such as correcting the render as it currently covers the DPC and opening up the subfloor ventilation, as bricks currently 50% covered on each side.

The searches don't show a drain in the property's boundary so that answers the question of the extension being built over a drain, however I'm not sure how accurate or what terms that information is based on.
 
Your costings might have been close 5 years ago but not now.
The estate agent is not your friend, they are acting for the sellers, their duty is to achieve maximum price for the seller. They should not tell outright lies but they will omit to tell you things that don't help their price maximisation. You have to do your own due diligence (for instance nice quiet area? Says who. Sit in the street on a weekday from 10pm til 10pm the next night, see how quiet it is. Same on a weekend).
 
If a seller wont reduce the asking price, then you need to decide if the property is worth it and whether the scope of the work is feasible and/or affordable.

Bear in mind that a lot of the work may not be an immediate requirement or even necessary. What are you prepared to live with and for how long, and what can you afford to do in the short, medium and long term?

Its no good buying a property at the or near the market rate for the area it is in and then spending £50k on it, unless you have a very good reason to.
 
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