To buy or not to buy... a house liable to flooding?

Posting on behalf of a family member

Hi all,

I'm hoping to get some outside opinions on this scenario if you knowledgeable folk here wouldn't mind adding in your 2c's to the equation.

Basically we have seen a large (almost 3,000sq ft) detached house for sale in a rural area. We currently live in a city, however we have been thinking of heading out to the sticks for quite some time now for the benefits of a larger home, more privacy, peace & quiet etc...
The house we're interested in is approx. 35 minutes from the nearest large city, so it's not totally isolated. Also, we're retired so won't be commuting to work etc.. We just want a nice comfortable home to relax in.

The plan would be to hang onto our city house for the immediate future as it's in a good area and not rent it out, so we have the option of moving back there if the country lifestyle doesn't work out for us so we have something to fall back on. The rural house we're interested in however is nicely situated in the middle of two towns, approx. 5 miles to either one, and ticks all of our boxes location wise, site wise etc..

The house itself was built 10 years ago and was finished to a fairly high standard. I say was, as the house is currently a bank sale and the previous owners have stripped it of all it's fixtures and fittings and so will need a bit of money (20k?) spent on it to make it habitable once again. It's in otherwise good condition.

As the house is a bank sale, it's priced very keenly indeed. There's been a few open viewings with a large turnout and according to the EA there's an offer about 10% under the asking on the table - however to make a long story short, we have more than a hunch that this isn't the case and that this is an illusive phantom bidder.

Due to the favourable pricing of the house, we would be able to buy this property in cash and have enough left over to bring the house up to a good finished standard for comfortable living once again, without the need to sell our house in the city (which we would hang onto for a year minimum to see if the country life is for us, and then possibly consider selling or renting later on down the line)

So all sounds great so far, right? Well, wrong. After talking to some neighbours we have discovered that the house is liable to flooding. Apparently the road outside the house can get badly flooded making it near to impossible to pass (though some neighbours reckon a jeep could manage it no bother). Now, the house itself has never actually flooded - even during the freak weather of around 2009 when surrounding areas needed canoes to get in and out of houses, but we've been reliably informed that the water has come up to as far as the front door step - but not actually entered the house.

There is absolutely no signs of water/flood damage to the house internally nor any dampness etc.. and we've heard from more than one local source that the house has never been flooded - only the driveway and road outside. We have also checked the address with numerous insurance companies and insurance is not an issue - it's not being flagged as a flood risk on their system, and it has never been claimed for a flood event previously.

On talking to more neighbours, it would seem that this flooding has only started within the past few years, and they reckon it's only affected this house on average 3 times in the past 10 years.

We feel that we pretty much have all the information we need to make an informed decision before deciding to put an offer on this property, but would like some outsiders opinions first.

Whilst this possible flood situation is far from ideal, we feel that it's something we could live with if it only happens every once in awhile. As we're retired, if there's a few days that the driveway is impassible it's not a major issue for us as we won't be missing out on work or school runs etc..

Apparently the council have done works on the road in front previously to raise it a little, but this doesn't appear to have solved the problem. If we did encounter a large problem with a flood, our contingency plan would be to either be to 1.) wait it out in the house and have it well stocked with supplies, 2.) retreat to our home in the city or 3.) take a winter break in Spain for a few weeks until the bad weather has cleared (which is something we've often thought about doing anyhow)

Other than this, the house ticks all the boxes for us - price, location, site, views, space, design etc...

The house is currently priced at roughly a third of what other similar houses would be in the locality. Obviously this is to allow for the fact that it's a bank repossession, will need a good chunk of change to place fixtures and fittings, and given the fact that it's in a place liable to flooding and so is priced accordingly. Other houses in this price range in the area are basically shacks, shells of houses fit for demolition.

We have been looking casually for the past few years for a house in the country, but there was always some negative whether it be price or location etc.. This is the first one that suits us and that we can comfortably afford along in having change to spare AND keep our city residence.

Are we mad to be even considering this? Or do you think it would be worth a punt to have our dream home finished to a high standard and mortgage free for under 100k?

Advice from the locals in the area has been that it's worth taking a chance on so long as we'd be getting it for a good bargain, which is what we intend, and if placing a bid it would be considerably lower than the present asking price.

We love the house and are eager for it IF we get it at the right price, but would love to hear others opinions on it in case we're potentially making a huge mistake.

I wouldn't pay too much heed to the locals especially if you coming from the city. I think once you get the survey carried out, you will be in a much better position to decide if the house is for you.
Bank sales don't necessarily mean exceedingly cheaper prices. Apart from the flooding risk, a house selling for a third of what similar houses are going for in a rural area would ring alarm bells for me that is unless there are significant renovation works required.

Yes,It goes back to the old saying,"if something sounds too good to be true,it usually is!"Id be very careful on this one and maybe check with an insurance company if they will insure the property against flooding,If the answer is no, that may be your answer too Guelder.

Pat

moneybox said:

I wouldn't pay too much heed to the locals especially if you coming from the city. I think once you get the survey carried out, you will be in a much better position to decide if the house is for you.
Bank sales don't necessarily mean exceedingly cheaper prices. Apart from the flooding risk, a house selling for a third of what similar houses are going for in a rural area would ring alarm bells for me that is unless there are significant renovation works required.

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Thanks for taking the time to read and respond moneybox, appreciate it.

There will be some work to be carried on the house to make it habitable as the previous owners stripped it of it's possessions and it will cost a bit to bring it up to standard once again. The house has generated a lot of interest at open viewings due to the attractive price drawing in the crowds, however when they hear from neighbours about the possibility of flooding, that nips a lot of the interest in the bud right there and then.

Whilst the house is already competitively priced, we would want to be getting the property at a substantial discount from the asking price before really considering it in order to allow for works to be carried out, possibility of it flooding in the future etc.. We reckon it has been for sale by the banks since January or thereabouts. As we're cash buyers we feel that we should be in a position of power to negotiate as possibily FTB's relying on a mortgage may not get funding due to issues with the house which should be found on a survey.

We're trying to weigh up our options and pros and cons at the moment, so we're glad to get any outsiders opinions as our judgement may be clouded

postman pat said:

Yes,It goes back to the old saying,"if something sounds too good to be true,it usually is!"Id be very careful on this one and maybe check with an insurance company if they will insure the property against flooding,If the answer is no, that may be your answer too Guelder.
Pat

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Hi Postman Pat, truer words never spoken!

There is a reason of course that the price is so attractive, hence the flood risk.. There's always a snag! We're just trying to discover if this is a real deal-breaker for us.

Re: insurance; We are 99% sure there will be no issues with insurance. We have already rang a number of insurance companies and given the address and all have come back with quotes - I specifically asked if the address was being flagged on their system as being a flood risk and it's come back with a resounding no, so that's some good news. I don't think we would even entertain the idea of moving if we knew from the outset that we couldn't get insurance.

Thanks again for commenting, all the comments and feedback really helps to give us food for thought and to weigh up our options in order to make an informed decision.

I wouldnt ignore the voice of the locals - they know the area better than you.

My father bought a site in the 70s and built a house on it - Some of the locals had warned him that the field had flooded in the past. He built the house so that it wasnt liable to be damaged by floods. In 40 years - there has been three floods - yet we never had to put in a claim or had any serious damage. Locals know the locality best. Thanks to them we knew the risks and planned accordingly.

Sol28 said:

I wouldnt ignore the voice of the locals - they know the area better than you.

My father bought a site in the 70s and built a house on it - Some of the locals had warned him that the field had flooded in the past. He built the house so that it wasnt liable to be damaged by floods. In 40 years - there has been three floods - yet we never had to put in a claim or had any serious damage. Locals know the locality best. Thanks to them we knew the risks and planned accordingly.

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Sol28 said:

I wouldnt ignore the voice of the locals - they know the area better than you.

My father bought a site in the 70s and built a house on it - Some of the locals had warned him that the field had flooded in the past. He built the house so that it wasnt liable to be damaged by floods. In 40 years - there has been three floods - yet we never had to put in a claim or had any serious damage. Locals know the locality best. Thanks to them we knew the risks and planned accordingly.

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Flooding because of better drainage/more intense rain events etc seems to be an issue downstream of places. If your house is in a downstream type area , avoid.
If your house sits even slightly higher than the surrounding fields ,that surrounding area will accommodate a lot of floods.
If you can on the site edges raise a path even 1ft higher it will give you comfort .
Good luck.

Sol28 said:

I wouldnt ignore the voice of the locals - they know the area better than you.

My father bought a site in the 70s and built a house on it - Some of the locals had warned him that the field had flooded in the past. He built the house so that it wasnt liable to be damaged by floods. In 40 years - there has been three floods - yet we never had to put in a claim or had any serious damage. Locals know the locality best. Thanks to them we knew the risks and planned accordingly.

Click to expand...

I was thinking more along the lines that it is a bank sale and traditionally country folk tend to support each other in this area.
OP the house seems huge, double the size of an ordinary house, do you want the bother of maintaining such a big house going into your retirement and no doubt you will most likely have a massive garden to contend with as well. While country living can be idyllic, keep in mind as you get older you need to have easy access to hospitals and doctors surgeries etc. Not much use in you getting a heart attack and the nearest hospital by car is an hour away. Forget about waiting for an ambulance as by the time they find the house you could be well gone!

moneybox ,
You are a bundle of joy !!.
Your comments do make sense though.

Hi everybody,

Thanks to all who contributed and raised important issues, definitely lots of food for thought.

We're not swung either way yet however, still undecided - lots to think about and options to weigh up.

We've arranged for a second viewing of the property with the auctioneer next Saturday so we can take another look around with more critical eyes the next time.

We'll update you all on here if and when we make any decisions or any other new information comes to light.

P.S, interesting to see that it's a unanimous "NO" vote on the poll - can't say that I'm surprised though!