[Vin100]

Hey friends..
thank you for all your advice in my previous forums..
After going through the trauma of house hunting…we finally contracted on another house.
Everything was going good… and we were particularly happy that the house has all natural gas.
Till the inspection.
The HVAC inspection reveals that the gas furnace is totally gone with multiple leaks (we were keeping fingers crossed as it is 27 yrs old). Also the AC compressor is almost at end of life and is supposedly smaller for the size of the house since the previous owners expanded the house by about 600-800 sq feet without changing the compressor. The whole HVAC system needs almost immediate replacement.
THe question is… what cost should we expect to replace the whole system..considering that we would like to go for a very good quality HVAC system. How much cost should we expect the owners to bear….
We don't want to bear the cost of HVAC as it will increase our buying costs and neither do we want to lose the house as its a good house (though old…45 yrs old..about 2700 sq ft) and has natural gas which is quite rare in the town..
On top of it… the radon levels are marginally high..so we are expecting to write to the owners to pay for radon mitigation system..
And we have put on hold the septic inspection till we get an answer about HVAC compensation from owners..

[jaydez]

From quotes I got from my 980 Sq ft townhouse, you are looking at anywhere from $6800-8000 for good equipment.

[Csiko]

Originally Posted by Vin100

How much cost should we expect the owners to bear….

All of it. No one in their right mind would buy the house without it being fixed by the owner.

[Hollytree]

Did you speak again to the guy who did the inspection? There might be other issues with installation that you might want to add to the project cost. If there are a lot of leaks maybe more pipes need to be replaced, etc.
If the owners can't afford it up front, arrange for a credit at closing- probably best to do that anyway.

[Mr_250]

Originally Posted by Vin100

And we have put on hold the septic inspection till we get an answer about HVAC compensation from owners..

Why hold off? If they added more sq.ft (and if it included an additional bathroom) I would do the septic right away. If something is wrong with the septic it could cost upwards of $15k to fix it. Do everything up front, it will save you suffering down the road.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by jaydez

From quotes I got from my 980 Sq ft townhouse, you are looking at anywhere from $6800-8000 for good equipment.

This is about what we paid a couple of years back. Our home is about 2,500 square feet. Jay

[NewJeffCT]

Did the realtor point out the age of the furnace & the AC unit? if they were obviously old, you probably should have had it written into the contract that you wanted them replaced.

That said, a good gas furnace can last a lot longer than 27 years. The first home I moved into was about 35 years old and that original gas furnace was working just fine. It wasn't as efficient as a newer model, but it was still working just fine - I replaced it 4-5 years later when I also installed central air in the house.

[Vin100]

[quote=Mr_250;36604621]Why hold off? If they added more sq.ft (and if it included an additional bathroom) I would do the septic right away. If something is wrong with the septic it could cost upwards of $15k to fix it. Do everything up front, it will save you suffering down the road.[/quote

We held on to the septic inspection because we want to know what is the owner's take on HVACcredit and Radon mitigation system. Otherwise our septic inspection fee would also go waste. Though in our letter we wrote that we are still to get septic inspected (it is original septic 45 yrs old)

[Vin100]

Originally Posted by JayCT

This is about what we paid a couple of years back. Our home is about 2,500 square feet. Jay

Did this price include the whole HVAC (furnace + AC compressor) and also the installation??

[Lalalally]

Originally Posted by Mr_250

Why hold off? If they added more sq.ft (and if it included an additional bathroom) I would do the septic right away. If something is wrong with the septic it could cost upwards of $15k to fix it. Do everything up front, it will save you suffering down the road.

I would definitely hold off too -- for the sole purpose of seeing how the heating and cooling issues play out before you incur the additional $500 or so expense of a septic inspection. If HVAC issues turn out to be a non-issue or non-deal breaker, then definitely next up should be your septic inspection. But I'm with you -- why incur the expense of a septic inspection if you're not going to buy because of other reasons you're aware of and that are already on your radar.