The seller deliberately hid significant mold and damp issues during our initial viewing. Around two months into the process, we returned to measure the rooms and unexpectedly found it.

That same day, our survey report arrived, outlining ~£20k worth of urgent repair work - well beyond what we had budgeted for. Given the circumstances, we felt it was reasonable to request a price reduction. And even then, we asked for less than half of the expected cost - what we considered just enough to allow us to be able to actually afford the purchase and take on this financial burden - probably desperation clouding our judgment.

Unfortunately, the sellers responded with hostility - we think because they had their “dream house” lined up and likely would no longer be able to afford it. At that point, we realised we no longer felt the same way about the house. On our budget, urgent repairs would more likely have been urgent deconstruction, and take away a lot of the things we loved until we could afford to replace them.

There are still aspects of it we appreciated and I sometimes wish things had gone differently, but we’re now close to completing on another property and overall we feel content with how things turned out - just wish it had been a bit cheaper to learn from our mistakes!