Selling the body by the docks is one way as an old house does seem to be a bottomless pit. It is worthwhile once it is done though and the pain does wear off. Houses always have a cost as regular maintenance is a must and why you need to do it properly now as it will save you a fortune long term. Lets hope you don't have too many problems like this along the way.
In Finland, apartments have a regular maintenance cost in body corporate and that can be very high. A lot of people are paying the same as us for 1/3 the size apartment, and a body corporate charge half as large as our mortgage on top - it is crazy.
That is one of the reasons I don't really like gated communities as there are extras. The security costs get shared,gardening and general maintenance in a corporate levy. These are not cheap and have to be calculated in when buying something on top of your normal bills each month. Where we are we have gated security with guards which we all chip in. Not everyone pays but it is a small price to pay that adds huge value on every property by just having it.
I think it is crazy that gated communities even have to exist - but that is a different conversation altogether.