Level 3 survey results... Please weigh in internet 🙏🙂
So after hours and hours of not being able to make a decision as an inexperienced FTB, I invite the internet to weigh in on this 🙂
Now before you guys say "all surveys look horrendous" I get it and please tell me if I'm overthinking these points but also I am just desperately looking for someone to tell me if this is serious stuff or just survey over dramatisation.
So I'm buying a house built 1969. When we looked at it we could see it's old and understood it would need modernisation throughout but definitely did not want a building project. So we knew the electrics would need to be done but at the time of viewing the EA reassured the few cracks in the walls were just thermal cracks and a plaster job.
Our survey is back ladies and gentlemen. I mean it's a stream of stuff to be done however there are two main issues:-
ALL the windows in the property need the window lintels replaced. This is causing the cracks and there is recent movement to the windows. The advice is immediate repairs. I've been told we can't love in the property whilst this would be done
The roof needs the bitumen waterproofing replace and there are tears in the flat roof on the garage. Multiple tiles need replacing on the roof and the structural beams are ok but if the roof it redone, they can't be laid back down on these old frames because they are now not up to code.
The damp proof coursing is too low (90cm instead of 150cm) and needs replacing. Some of the brickwork on a door needs immediate remedy of dpc to stop damp on interior wall
Two radiators don't work and there is a later water damage stain in the living room ceiling that could potentially be from a radiator leak.
When all the window lintels are replaced and windows refitted the plaster will also need to be done around those windows
There is a barrage of other things like, evidence of wormwood but not sure if active and possible asbestos in the garage, invasive bamboo in the garden that needs immediate removal. The electric fuse board needs replacing and potentially all of the wiring. The roof needs new tiles at some point, pointing, insulation, full kitchen and bathroom refurbishment. BUTtwe figured that's just the costs we absorb for buying an old house and we can do that over time. It won't affect our living quality or immediately need to be done
We had a budget of 280k for this house which we will have 250k mortgage and 30k deposit but calculating the immediate repairs only a reduction of 35k would need to happen. We also don't have the funds to pay for the work upfront so would need to get some other loan to do so. My opinion is if we haven't got the pot of money to do the repairs a reduction in mortgage is not going to help us really because it will take forever to save the money for repairs and these problems will be getting worse year by year. My partner says we will make it work but I really can't see how. The only two viable options I can see is to ask the seller to fix the issues before completion and we still pay the 280k as agreed or we walk away unfortunately from our dream house 🥲. Am I overreacting to these issues in the survey. Is it Makita mountain out of a molehill? Are these things that could be loved with or should I be concerned with the structural shifting or the windows? Oh and one of the rooms is "turning" because the bricks on the outside are harder than the softer ones on the inside 👀 like HOW IS A ROOM TURNING?
So please people, please tell me what are your opinions? Would would walk away based on that building work? Try make a renegotiated offer? Do you know any other ways to finance the repairs to be made?