I'm needing opinions from people not involved in the situation. My partner and I were given the opportunity to purchase a home for cheap because it needs work and the owner can't afford the renovations. The owner didn't get the house valued through a real estate, she just went off realestate.com. The house was 150k over our budget but she agreed to sell it to us at 600k. The house is on a big lot, 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom, 1 study, 2 car garage, has a pool and is in a good area. She hasn't been living in the house for 3 years and has been renting to her family friend that is a young mum. We understood that the house would need some renovations, the owner hadn't been in the house in a while so she was unaware of the condition. It was originally supposed to be that the carpets in two rooms need to be redone because the renter let their cats pee in there. The pool fence in one spot needed to be fixed and the back patio needed new wire.
I was able to stop in and visit the house before the pest and building report. The house was really not cared for in the time that the renter has been in there. It's in need of a massive deep clean, lots of missing skirting boards, lights not working, some were rusted, the renovated ensuite was leaking out of the shower to the middle of the bathroom and the other ensuite vanity had water damage. Outside the pool fence was missing in a few spots, the pool area was trashed, cracked/missing tiles. After the pest and building report we were able to understand the problems at a deeper level. The previous owners ex husband had done a lot of the renovations himself (he's a builder). I doubt he got proper plumbers and electricians in just because of how bad the jobs were. The added 4th bedroom, en-suite and walk in wardrobe were so badly done that it would be a gut job. The bathroom shower was leaking into the bathroom and a metal part on the shower niche was broken off and exposed the tile. The moisture meter was going off in the bathroom in multiple spots and in a back wall so there was the possibility the bathroom was leaking through the walk in wardrobe to the back of the house. The main bathroom there was no floor drain in the bathroom and the bathtub tap was really hard to turn on and off, it also takes 24hrs to drain. The moisture meter was going off in the wall next to the shower and he thinks the water is leaking into the hallway when the shower gets flooded. The other en-suite the water is leaking into the bedroom, it's concrete in that part of the house. All 3 bathrooms the moisture meter was going off. The back patios are poorly done as well, he said that lots of things wouldn't be to code and there's lots of little jobs like some of the exterior brick was loose and had other problems. He was worried about the retaining wall for the pool and that other jobs haven't been done properly. The pest and building guy is my partners mate, he told him do not buy this house and that he'd end it now without charging him. He said that this is the worst house he's seen and that after getting the report back we wouldn't even want to buy the house.
We agreed it would be too much work with a baby coming and the costs are too high. I'm prepared to take on one bathroom renovation but not three.
Its been about a week since then and my partner keeps talking about offering less because he thinks it's still a good deal and we can work on the house eventually. I think it's too much of a risk even at a reduced price plus we don't even know what else we would find with a full pest and building report.
My dad was an electrician and I've been around jobs. We also built my childhood home whilst living in a granny flat/shed. Since then I've helped my dad fix the granny flat after it had termite damage so I feel like I have a better idea of just how much work this is going to be.
My partner works away so he wouldn't even be here for the renovations after his paternity leave ends. He's started a plastering apprenticeship (didn't finish it) but he can do that work himself. I just don't think he understands how big of a job it'll be to get this house fixed. He thinks we can still use one of the bathrooms because they've been using them for this long but I don't know if I want to risk more damage by doing this.
What would you do in my position? Is it worth the risk or too much with a newborn? I also don't have my dad here to help as he passed recently, so we'd be dealing with everything by ourselves in our first home. I'm not scared of renovations taking a while as my childhood home took 7 years to build. My parents saved, bought a lot of the supplies second hand and then we moved in while some things were unfinished.
Am I worrying too much and potentially passing on a good investment or am I being realistic about the situation?
Another thing to consider is the house is in a flood area but the water has never reached the house or pool. The current owner gets the flood cover taken off but if we can't we are looking at $800 a month for insurance.