That sounds like a great buy. The carpets and wallpaper have already all been removed which makes life easier.
A hole in a plasterboard wall is a one hour job for a builder to fix, so £25 if you get the Poles in.
Remove the loft insulation as that will presumably smell too. Older houses with lime plaster are much more difficult with cigarette smoke as it gets into the plaster.
Then clean and clean. Also open the windows - they've probably not been opened for three months since he died.
That won't be the first builder to go round, but it's probably not cheap enough for a builder as there isn't enough wrong with it.
Offer 55 and, like I say, be in a position to be able to give them the cash quickly - have you got that mortgage lined up yet? As it is the house is costing the beneficiaries money and is a liability. Quite possibly uninsurable too.
And get somebody else in to do the cleaning if you cannot face it yourself, not very expensive.
And yes, it will still smell a bit for a few months, but you can put it back on at 90k having spent only 10k on it. The smell of fresh paint hides a lot of smells - but don't paint on anything until it's properly clean. You can paint uPVC windows if they've discoloured so much on the inside.
|
