Would you be hesitant to buy this property(pics included)?

[tharsos]

I found a property that I could buy on an auction, but I would prefer not to spend a lot of money on structural surveys etc, as I don't know whether I will buy it anyway.

Anyway, I was wondering what other people thought about this property. Here is a picture from 2009 of the property (it is the one on the left):

http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/9696/cracksold.png

Here is how it looks like after 3 years(notice how the neighbor's house developed a larger crack):

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/7159/cracksa.png

There are some small cracks under the windows in the property on the left side(this is the property I am considering buying), but the property on the right seems to have even larger cracks and the question is how dangerous is it really and whether I should be concerned in what shape the neighbours property is.

I was wondering if anyone got any thoughts about it. Does this property look like a money pit in any way in your opinion (I don't know whether fixing such problems costs a lot or can you simply ignore them)?

 

[HERTS P&D]

Is this a joke?

Or are you telling me that you don't want to spend money on a survey on a house which will be the most expensive thing you will ever buy in your life.

What if you are given advice from this forum to say that it is ok and the thing falls down next month, where is your come back?

Utter madness.

Andy

 

[tharsos]

If I will be interested for sure in buying this property, then it actually might be a good idea to do a survey, but I am not really sure if I want to buy this particular property. At this stage I was wondering what would people say about the pics of the property.

 

[big-all]

if you get it cheap it will be a money pit

there will be far more experienced people at the auction who you will be competing against they will stop bidding when there is no money in it for them
so the cheaper it is the more it will cost

 

[joe-90]

If it were going to fall down it would have done so by now. Take a builder mate to look around.

 

[tony1851]

The brick flat arch over the upper left window of the house on the left has settled.This might have happened years ago, but equally it could be recent, and would suggest slight movement in the gable wall.
Your instinct may be telling you to leave well alone.

 

[catlad]

I like it, cast your eye down the gable wall, if its straight I would not worry to much about the small cracks in the house next door its probably due to them not having the original windows. If you do buy it please don't paint the brick work.

 

[hotrod]

If you do buy it please don't paint the brick work.

Ditto. As per catlad, that looks a tidy property from your initial (albeit limited) photos. I like it too (that's not to say I wouldn't want to delve further before committing). What does the gable end look like, is there any roof sag, are the internal floors and door frames level / flush....etc

Where in Lancs is it? There are a lot of solid victorian well built houses around that are still (structurally) sound that looks like it could well be one. Good luck.

 

[Guitar_man]

Is this a joke?

Or are you telling me that you don't want to spend money on a survey on a house which will be the most expensive thing you will ever buy in your life.

What if you are given advice from this forum to say that it is ok and the thing falls down next month, where is your come back?

Utter madness.

Andy

A survey all you get is few cut and pasted words, a few pictures, and pages and pages of get out clauses. No wonder they charge you the money before you see the report.

 

[Jackrae]

Should've gone to specsavers !

 

[loply]

If this is a buy to let I would simply walk away.

The issue may or may not be serious but the think about investment properties is there will always be others (thousands of them in fact) and there's simply no reason to take any risk of extraneous costs. I don't even bother looking at anything that isn't both cheap and foolproof. The risk here is that it may be neither.

On an unrelated note the brickwork is lovely, real shame we don't see people putting this much though into aesthetics any more.

 

[Flyboytim]

It seems to be a lovely looking property, with original windows, unlike the painted neighbour's that has had some replacement of the old sash windows, except for the small, pretty arched sash.

Just because a neighbouring house has problems is no reason to expect that this house does - the house needs to be examined in detail for its own issues - you just have a few extra clues where to look.

The solid walls with the varied coloured bricks indicate it was not built as a utilitarian dwelling, but as a townhouse for a family with a little money to buy a house around the 1900s.

There has been some less than tidy work done on the brickwork at the front, on the upper window arches and the brickwork above that to the eaves. It might have been bomb damage - investigate, and examine the roof space.

More important than a few bricks in the facade - what can you see of the external roof, guttering, fascias, and chimneys, parapet firewalls if present, damp courses and subfloor ventilation, and being an end of terrace, what condition is the flank gable wall in - is it vertical, without bulges or cracks, and what is the condition of the stock brickwork and mortar courses. What is the rear of the property like?

Most important, the condition of the inside - does it smell unpleasant anywhere? Any damp in walls, particularly low down on the ground floor, behind and under kitchen units, in corners, or upstairs on or near ceilings, in the bathroom or around the windows - is the woodwork sound?

Decorative state and provision of fixtures and fittings like services, heating, kitchen and bathroom, state of garden etc., - how much would it cost to get the place in shape for resale or letting at the local going rates?

Finally, read the legal pack for any conditions, constraints and covenants etc.

If you can answer all these questions you should be able to give yourself an auction price that you would be willing to pay and not get stung if you come across any hidden problems - which there often are - during the process of bringing the building up to scratch.

 

[stuart45]

It went to auction in 2012, so it may well be gone by now.

 

[Guitar_man]

For an auction property looks like a nice original example. Somebody would of grabbed it on the day.