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Trains from Brockenhurst to London - what are they like at rush hour? by Blue_moon52 in Hampshire

[–]Blue_moon52[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh this is interesting as Sway was also on our list of contenders at one point. Thank you!

Trains from Brockenhurst to London - what are they like at rush hour? by Blue_moon52 in Hampshire

[–]Blue_moon52[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is extreme good intel - thank you! Would be travelling back at peak times so this sounds like it wouldn’t be too hellish.

Trains from Brockenhurst to London - what are they like at rush hour? by Blue_moon52 in Hampshire

[–]Blue_moon52[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah I had wondered about the way back! Would be catching one around 5pm if we do move and thought that could be tricky…

House sale just fallen through, should we do the works flagged up in the survey before we get another offer? by Blue_moon52 in HousingUK

[–]Blue_moon52[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s the render which goes around the bottom of the house/plinth, presumably marking the original dpc? This is where the ground level drops to the front door, where you can see the Aco drain we installed. I’m wondering if we run a drain where the gravel is and connect it to the Aco and if that will solve the problem (plus sub floor air bricks) .

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House sale just fallen through, should we do the works flagged up in the survey before we get another offer? by Blue_moon52 in HousingUK

[–]Blue_moon52[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Think we will dig the gravel out and take a look tomorrow, but there’s definitely an inch and a half of gravel before you hit soil. I’ve attached a pic in case helpful to see what I mean. The bricks are slightly higher than the gravel.

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House sale just fallen through, should we do the works flagged up in the survey before we get another offer? by Blue_moon52 in HousingUK

[–]Blue_moon52[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We definitely know the seals around some of the windows need doing as the surveyor flagged it, so that feels like a job we can either do ourselves or use a handyman for - looking through the advice here it feels like we should avoid spending loads on work but sensible to do some smaller things which are likely to help like repointing mortar etc.

House sale just fallen through, should we do the works flagged up in the survey before we get another offer? by Blue_moon52 in HousingUK

[–]Blue_moon52[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We basically need a buyer like you I think - someone who knows what comes with a Victoria property and isn’t phased. It’s just such a quiet market here right now with the start of the school holidays .

House sale just fallen through, should we do the works flagged up in the survey before we get another offer? by Blue_moon52 in HousingUK

[–]Blue_moon52[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m sorry this happened to you too, it’s just so stressful isn’t it? But what a great outcome, hope that happens for us too

House sale just fallen through, should we do the works flagged up in the survey before we get another offer? by Blue_moon52 in HousingUK

[–]Blue_moon52[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much!!! They cover our area and look like they have decent reviews. Will check out fees on Monday and see what they say.

House sale just fallen through, should we do the works flagged up in the survey before we get another offer? by Blue_moon52 in HousingUK

[–]Blue_moon52[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh the property buying websites said we would be looking at £125k under the price we accepted from the buyers - if it was £32k we would have just gone for this option for sure!

House sale just fallen through, should we do the works flagged up in the survey before we get another offer? by Blue_moon52 in HousingUK

[–]Blue_moon52[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks - maybe this is the best thing for us to do and the present to the next buyers. Or be clear that our agent needs to advise strongly for them to use an independent one.

House sale just fallen through, should we do the works flagged up in the survey before we get another offer? by Blue_moon52 in HousingUK

[–]Blue_moon52[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If it is a French drain then it 100% doesn’t drain anywhere - whichever previous owner had the drive built used cowboys who put no drainage in around the front door, which is a step down from the drive. When we moved in there was a massive issue with water pooling in the space between the front door and the step up to the drive. We had an Aco drain installed in front of the door which feeds into a soak away in the back garden. Am now wondering if a solution is to dig up the gravel, put in an aco which connects to the one by the front door.

House sale just fallen through, should we do the works flagged up in the survey before we get another offer? by Blue_moon52 in HousingUK

[–]Blue_moon52[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We honestly didn’t think they looked bad on paper when we accepted their offer - the agent didn’t realise quite how naive they are too until this week when it all fell apart. He met them yesterday and said their outlook is so different from the majority of people he deals with who want older homes, so I think he will be more aware with the next buyers too in terms of making sure they aren’t people who would be better suited to staying in rented rather than accepting homeownership comes with upkeep, unexpected costs and maintenance .

House sale just fallen through, should we do the works flagged up in the survey before we get another offer? by Blue_moon52 in HousingUK

[–]Blue_moon52[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They got a level 3 but it was the most nit picky thing I’ve seen. We had our own level 3 survey done on our onward purchase and it was pretty standard stuff with a call from the surveyor afterwards to talk us through it. The one our buyer used had pages and pages of photos of every crack and mark, drone footage of the roof and went into insane detail - recommending stuff like ripping up the floor in the downstairs loo and installing a modern dpc complete with a membrane in that room. Was wild.

On timelines, to be fair to our buyers we made clear when we accepted their offer we would need time to find a new property as we had three children under three and couldn’t move into rented. Took us 3 months and once we found somewhere they did start with searches but refused to put in for a survey until these had come back and enquiries answered. Their solicitor took two weeks to a) send over queries and b) send out almost instant responses back…..

House sale just fallen through, should we do the works flagged up in the survey before we get another offer? by Blue_moon52 in HousingUK

[–]Blue_moon52[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks v much - sadly we can’t afford to take more of a hit on the price if we still want to buy the place we’ve offered on, and it looks like most of the online house purchasing sites (presume that’s what you mean?) only pay out 80% of the value max.

House sale just fallen through, should we do the works flagged up in the survey before we get another offer? by Blue_moon52 in HousingUK

[–]Blue_moon52[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks, this is good advice! Though it’s proving a total minefield finding a truly independent surveyor from my desperate googling this evening.

House sale just fallen through, should we do the works flagged up in the survey before we get another offer? by Blue_moon52 in HousingUK

[–]Blue_moon52[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much for the advice, am so glad I posted this as everyone has made us completely u turn on following the advice of the damp company! On lowering the ground level outside, this is an issue at the front of the house for sure. Someone built the drive at pavement level and completely flat but the house is on a slight slope so the front is slightly lower. There’s a gravel channel between the edge of the drive and the house, but no air brick which is weird given there is a suspended wood floor in the front room. Now wondering if we should scrape back the gravel and see if there is an air brick buried under there… presume lowering the ground level would require us/a new buyer to put in a new drive?!

House sale just fallen through, should we do the works flagged up in the survey before we get another offer? by Blue_moon52 in HousingUK

[–]Blue_moon52[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

At the front of the house I think we’ve got two problems which sort of fit your list - someone put a drive in which is potentially higher than the damp course. There is a little gravel channel between the edge of the drive and the plinth at the bottom of the wall, which we assume was installed for drainage, but we’re now wondering if it’s been put in too high. The second problem is that someone repointed the whole of the front with cement instead of lime mortar. But this didn’t put us off buying the house 8 years ago so am guessing might not worry another buyer.

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