First-time buyer hit with £20k bill to fix damp, mould and rot 18 months after moving in to £640k two-bed flat
Immy Gardam, 27, bought her home in Hackney nearly four years ago when she was 23 but says she was young and naive
MOVING into your first home is supposed to mark the end of a stressful process but for Immy Gardam it was the beginning of a string of issues that would end up costing her more than a £20,000 fix.
Carpets that squelched with damp, rotten walls and mouldy cupboards were just some of the issues Immy, now 27, desperately needed to put right.
Immy now wants to warn other first-time buyers about the things she wishes she'd known about buying a house, from shopping around for a mortgage to looking for insurance policies not recommended by her bank.
Immy shares her tips with The Sun readers for the My First Home series.
What is your home like and how much did you pay for it?
I bought my flat in Hackney in London almost four years ago for £640,000.
It's a lower ground floor flat in a converted Edwardian house and I fell in love with it straight away.
The flat is small and we converted the living room into a bedroom which I rent out to my best friend from school.
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It means that we now have a smaller living room/dining room. There's a small shared garden around the back which is great in summer.
I was able to buy it because I was given some inheritance which meant I could put down more than half of it as a deposit.
I did take out a mortgage for the rest which I'm paying back now every month.
Did you have any problems after you moved in?
I ended up having so many problems with the property that had I known, I probably would have walked away.
What are the different types of home surveys?
A SURVEY gives a detailed inspection into the condition of a property, highlighting any major repair work that’s needed. It can also help you decide whether or not you’re paying the right amount for your home.
The reports are carried out by qualified surveyors and costs vary from company to company. There are also different types of surveys depending on the depth of the report that you want and your budget.
These are the different types of surveys and their typical prices, according to the Homeowners Alliance:
Condition report, £300 or more
This gives a traffic light report to indicate the conditions of various states of the property - green for okay, orange for cause for concern.
The report provides you with a sumary of defects and possible risks but won’t provide any advice or valuations.
HomeBuyers report, £450 or more
On top of everything you get in the condition report, you’ll also get a valuation and an insurance reinstatement value - which is an estimate of how much you’ll receive if the building were to burn down.
Home Condition survey, £400 to £900
These are carried out by the Residential Property Surveyors Association (RPSA) rather than the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and includes information on broadband speeds, a damp assessment and boundary issues to consider. The price depends on the valuation of the property.
Building survey, £500 or more
These are extensive reports where the surveyor will go into places such as the attic, check behind walls and look between floors and above ceilings. It will also provide advice on repairs, estimated costs and timings, and what will happen if you don’t carry out the repairs. Prices depend on the size of the property.
Home Report, free for the buyer
In Scotland, it's compulsory for home sellers to provide buyers with a detailed report on how energy efficient the property is, a building survey and information on the council tax band and other details like flood history.
Before buying, I paid extra for a comprehensive building survey because I knew they were important which cost me £1,000.
But it didn't stop me paying over £20,000 to get serious issues fixed.
The report came back sound but it wasn't until afterwards that I found out surveyors don't actually move things or lift things up so they missed stuff that could be hidden by furniture.
After we moved in, we found damp on the back wall inside the built in cupboards and on the floor and wall in the downstairs bedroom.
If they had been caused by a burst pipe then it might have stretched but because it was structural damage they wouldn't pay out.
We did once have an issue with a burst pipe which damaged my carpet which I could claim on the insurance and get replaced.
What do you wish you'd known then that you know now?
There are so many things I wish I had known.
I lived with my Grandmother in London for about two years and was saving to buy a place.
But because I came into some money far earlier than I had expected to, I was able to buy when I was 23.
I was so excited but also so naive. I remember looking at what felt like hundreds of properties - one day I must have made my boyfriend look around about 20 properties.
I hated the process because you'd register with an estate agent who would then take you round a tonne of properties that don't even want to see. Looking back I wish I'd been more strict with them.
I was just so clueless about the whole process. I didn't even shop around for a mortgage which I reckon has cost me hundreds of pounds over the years.
I also took out life insurance and contents insurance with a company recommended to me by the bank which I didn't even question.
I have definitely ended up paying over the odds for that compared to if I'd looked around for deals myself.
When I made the offer on the house, I hadn't really thought about Stamp Duty which ended up costing me another £22,000.
Luckily I had it but I was planning on using that to furnish the place. The whole thing just ended up costing me so much more than I would ever have thought.
Have you got any advice for other first-time buyers?
Take someone with you who knows what they're talking about and don't get too blinded by your excitement.
Had I known about the damp issues beforehand then I probably would have kept looking and let this flat go.
It's a basement flat so of course there were likely to be problems with it but I had no idea what I was doing and I feel like having someone sensible with me may have pointed that out.
I don't regret it but I definitely wouldn't have gone ahead with it if I'd known how much it would cost me in the long run.
Do you think you'll stay there?
Yes, I do absolutely love it here and want to stay for another five years at least.
It's been a bit of a project but fun making it more modern. I'd say it's been a labour of love.
My friend is actually moving out in the next few months to move in with her boyfriend and my boyfriend is moving in.
But I know now that when my mortgage comes up, I'll definitely look around before fixing in on a deal offered by my current provider.
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