Under contract, inspection found termite, in Edison (new house, buying)

[kevinNJ]

Hi,

background:

Late 70's single family house, termite is found in garage (door frame) and on some fence. The current owner doesn't know the problem and no treatment is done before. No other areas have any trace of termite activity, said by my home inspector and terminix inspector.


My question is: is this gonna reduce re-sale value when i sell later on? What's the percentage houses in Edison or nearby town has termite problem.

Tried searching internet and nothing can answer my above questions. Anyone can shed any light? Thanks so much!

Kevin

[marye711]

I bought a house and the same inspection failed, so they owner had it treated. I since sold that house and it passed and the new owners never knew there were any termites........good luck!

[0706772]

Just about evey house in New Jersey will get termites at one time or another. How old is the fence? If it's old and falling apart I would take it down. Termite treatment can run from $600 to over $1,000. They swarm (sp) in the spring, so for now I would just keep an eye on it.

[kevinNJ]

The fence is probably as old as the house. The terminix guy said the same thing. He did quote the treatment as $1200+ plus tax.

marye711, do we have to put the treatment on the home disclosure when selling?

[DodgeViper01]

Originally Posted by 0706772

Just about evey house in New Jersey will get termites at one time or another. How old is the fence? If it's old and falling apart I would take it down. Termite treatment can run from $600 to over $1,000. They swarm (sp) in the spring, so for now I would just keep an eye on it.

This could not be said better. Just about every house that I go through for inspection time has or had termites. To people that are not well vested in the area, it seems like a big deal but in all honesty, termites are not a huge deal unless they have been there for 20 years without treatment and by then your house would have fallen down. Get it repaired and you will be fine.

[icibiu]

We had our inspection yesterday and had two termite inspections, one certified and he other was my father in law who is an exterimnator and just came along to see for himself. He was very concerned with the fact that there is a lot of dead wood behind the backyard (which is normal since the house we are buying is in the woods) but he did not find any evidence of termite damage anywhere inside the house. We were a little alarmed about his concern over the dead wood but then he told us it takes an full year for entire colony of termites to eat through one 2X6. We decided to move forward and just monitor for termites each year.

Did your inspector state the exent of termite damage? If it's a recent problem i don't think it should be a deal breaker, just get it treated. If it's been going unattended for years you may want to think twice.

[marye711]

Originally Posted by kevinNJ

The fence is probably as old as the house. The terminix guy said the same thing. He did quote the treatment as $1200+ plus tax.

marye711, do we have to put the treatment on the home disclosure when selling?

I didnt that I can tell you.

[luckyshoes]

Garages get eaten by termites all of the time. So do fences. It depends how bad it is and how treatable it is. Termites are a problem all over NJ, especially in older houses. It's hard to say if it's a risk or not. The question is, what happened in the house itself? Is the garage attached or not?

The problem is you can't do a real termite inspection in a house, because you would have to rip out drywall to see. So you are relying on evidence of infestation or the records of the buyers. And yes, it is something that is on the disclosure.

I know people who were doing incidental work on their basement, found one beam that was ruined, had to replace it, and then found all the beams were ruined. That's like the worst nightmare scenario.

I don't know. It's not a deal breaker IMO and you're not going to be able to avoid it in many parts unless you buy a brand new house.

[luckyshoes]

Did your inspector state the exent of termite damage? If it's a recent problem i don't think it should be a deal breaker, just get it treated. If it's been going unattended for years you may want to think twice.

Good point. That fact that it hasn't been treated and the owner apparently doesn't know about it is more scary than if it had been caught and treated for years.

[kevinNJ]

Thanks for all the reply, decided to go ahead. Our inspector did say the damages are only in the garage and some fences. Seller will pay for the treatment anyway.