Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We are due to close on an reo bank owned property in Maryland. When we first looked at the home it was not winterized so we were able to do a full inspection of the utilities & plumbing etc. We put in a contract, they accepted it and the bank has since winterized the home. We close next week and will do a walk through prior to settlement. Originally the reo agent said he needed time to de winterize the home...now he is saying that is our responsibility to do (and pay for around $200). Obviously for our walk through we would like to make sure everything is still working and would like utilities running. My concern is if they did not winterize it properly and we do the de winterizing..then it becomes our problem. Also..since we will not own the house till settlement,can we even have it de winterized for the walk thru? Seems the bank should return the house to the state it was in when we put our contract in...de winterized. Please explain...thank you!
Sticky.. How old is the house and how cold has Maryland been...
With the very low temps that we have already had in the Chicago area (single digit air temps over night...) I have seen a few vacant homes with damage from frozen pipes. I know of one older home with hydronic heat that was foolishly turned off and not drained and now that place is a real mess -- icicles coming out of the plaster ceiling. WHOOPS!!!
My gut says that if the winterization was done properly and the home is reasonably well built you have nothing to worry about.
If this was a private seller I might have my attorney draft a limited escrow hold back, so that there some cushion for refilling the water system / hydronic heat (if that is what the place has...) BUT in my dealings with bank owned properties that would so complicate things that I would not attempt it. A private seller would also probably be willing to pop $200 for a turn- on, but banks don't let anything get spent without some goofy "approvals committee" wasting a month or so of time...
If you are a first time buyer and do not have a file of trustworthy heating / plumbing guys I would reach out to the real estate agent to help out loaning up folks that won't feed you a line of BS.
I suspect you could also consult with an attorney about drafting some potential claims against the seller , their winterization company and insurer (all these guys have surety bonds...), and with the right wording / argument you should cover yourself aginst the remote possibility that this places looks some Disney Water Park once everything is turned on...
Yes it has been very cold at night so we are glad it was winterized and hopeful it was done correctly.
I am more concerned about the logistics and liability with de-winterizing than the cost associated with it.
I do not want to do a walk thru on a winterized home, settle and then de winterize it ourselves to find out something was done wrong and something isn't working properly.
Ideally I want it de-winterized for our walk thru so when we sign at settlement we know everything is ok. I just don't want to liable for something if we de winterize. Would feel better about them using the same people to dewinterize as they used to winterize and just have it done prior to settlement.
Can we really pay someone to de-winterize it prior to actually owning it? Seems it should all remain in their hands to be on the safe side. But sounds like we should have something drafted as you suggested.. I am doubtful they will sign anything however. Seems like this bank is making all the calls.
Yes, we do have an agent and she says she has never had to arrange for de-winterizing. She said it has always been done by the seller. And since the seller/bank winterized it ..then she agreed with me that she thought they would de-winterize. She made that request and we have not heard back. But the selling agent for the bank pretty much said the bank will not agree to it.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Sticky.. How old is the house and how cold has Maryland been...
