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Hi all, my wife and I are under contract on a townhouse. We had the home inspection done last Friday, and we're a bit nervous as to where this is all going to lead.
The townhouse is 22 years old and these are the major ticket items that we found troubling:
- Missing shingles on roof (this is important b/c there has been a leak in the past in the master bathroom)
- Deck needs more bolts/more support
- Furnace/HVAC has rust, there's no tag to say it has been serviced (seller's agent did contact our agent and told him they were going to service it though)
- Evidence of corrosion in the water heater, still the original water heater
- Evidence of corrosion/moisture in the electrical panel
- Uneven flooring in area of kitchen
- No GFCI protection in the Jacuzzi tub
There are other things such as caulking, but these are things we can do on our own. I mean there was one window that was held up by tape, again, probably something that can be down on our own or negotiated.
We would like to think that the seller probably didn't realize what was going on, but who knows. My question is, in situations like this, what's the realistic scenario here? We've submitted the inspection report/addendum to the seller, ideally we'd like the roof/electric/deck issues to be resolved.
Hi all, my wife and I are under contract on a townhouse. We had the home inspection done last Friday, and we're a bit nervous as to where this is all going to lead.
The townhouse is 22 years old and these are the major ticket items that we found troubling:
- Missing shingles on roof (this is important b/c there has been a leak in the past in the master bathroom)
- Deck needs more bolts/more support
- Furnace/HVAC has rust, there's no tag to say it has been serviced (seller's agent did contact our agent and told him they were going to service it though)
- Evidence of corrosion in the water heater, still the original water heater
- Evidence of corrosion/moisture in the electrical panel
- Uneven flooring in area of kitchen
- No GFCI protection in the Jacuzzi tub
There are other things such as caulking, but these are things we can do on our own. I mean there was one window that was held up by tape, again, probably something that can be down on our own or negotiated.
We would like to think that the seller probably didn't realize what was going on, but who knows. My question is, in situations like this, what's the realistic scenario here? We've submitted the inspection report/addendum to the seller, ideally we'd like the roof/electric/deck issues to be resolved.
Not all of those are major ticket items.
What is reasonable? Depends on the people. Your seller can take care of all of them or take care of none of them, if s/he thinks you really want the place. That's why they always say "Make your best offer but be prepared to walk away."
If I were the seller, I would address the shingles, the HVAC service (would have been done before I put it on the market but oh well), probably the GFCI outlet, and the electrical panel. The rest? Psssh.
is the HOA or the homeowner responsible for the roof? For the deck?
You've been talking about being in a very competitive market, whereby your expectation should be (IMO) the Seller would have to fix the issue for any buyer.
Now, since you've asked for feedback, I'll give you mine "from afar".
The deck *shouldn't* be top priority, as what you describe (if it's just bolts and maybe a cross brace and doesn't require pouring any footings) is not very expensive.
The HVAC should be shown to be in proper working order, and if it is then get a home warranty.
You could push a little more for the water heater, since it should be well past its "useful life" - though a qualified plumber should also be able to tell you based on good photos what the repair would be. Corrosion at the top is not as bad as corrosion on the tank. And some corrosion at the top is worse than others - it can't be "fixed", it can only be replaced.
I stay away from electrical issues, but there shouldn't ever be enough moisture to create corrosion in an electrical panel. If an electrician is going to be working, they may as well put in GFCI at the tub.
and by "from afar", I mean generally seeing variances of each issue you mention, but obviously without intimate or precise knowledge of your individual situation.
Good, as the first house might have been difficult to negotiate the repairs based off your communication with them before.
Did you give them full price, or negotiate any closing cost credit? How long has the house been on the market?
Concerning the items you listed, roof/water heater/elec panel would be my main focus. If it needs a new roof (and not just random shingle replacement etc), you're looking at $8-10,000 most likely for these three items (roof, WH, panel replacement). My contractor is around $1,000 for WH, depending on size/gas or elec, and if it needs anything to bring up to current code.. Elec panel is $1,500-2,000 depending on house.
The seller might not have room to do those repairs, especially if you negotiated money off the price or got them to cover some of your closing costs.
The HVAC could be pricey too, but again, the seller might not have the room to do all of these (although the listing agent would have hopefully caught some of these items up front and adjusted price accordingly IMO). I have a hard time signing off on a replacement for something working, like an HVAC, where a servicing might suffice from a technicians opinion.
Good, as the first house might have been difficult to negotiate the repairs based off your communication with them before.
Did you give them full price, or negotiate any closing cost credit? How long has the house been on the market?
Concerning the items you listed, roof/water heater/elec panel would be my main focus. If it needs a new roof (and not just random shingle replacement etc), you're looking at $8-10,000 most likely for these three items (roof, WH, panel replacement). My contractor is around $1,000 for WH, depending on size/gas or elec, and if it needs anything to bring up to current code.. Elec panel is $1,500-2,000 depending on house.
The seller might not have room to do those repairs, especially if you negotiated money off the price or got them to cover some of your closing costs.
The HVAC could be pricey too, but again, the seller might not have the room to do all of these (although the listing agent would have hopefully caught some of these items up front and adjusted price accordingly IMO).
So the house was on the market for two weeks back in December and was taken off the market b/c of the holidays. It came back on about two weeks ago, but the whole time we were verbally negotiating with them back and forth and we got them down $5K from their list price. They're also putting in $11,500 towards closing, so that's why we're a bit nervous. Our other option would be to negotiate a lower price, but hooray for a cheaper mortgage, but the problems are still there you know?
is the HOA or the homeowner responsible for the roof? For the deck?
You've been talking about being in a very competitive market, whereby your expectation should be (IMO) the Seller would have to fix the issue for any buyer.
Now, since you've asked for feedback, I'll give you mine "from afar".
The deck *shouldn't* be top priority, as what you describe (if it's just bolts and maybe a cross brace and doesn't require pouring any footings) is not very expensive.
The HVAC should be shown to be in proper working order, and if it is then get a home warranty.
You could push a little more for the water heater, since it should be well past its "useful life" - though a qualified plumber should also be able to tell you based on good photos what the repair would be. Corrosion at the top is not as bad as corrosion on the tank. And some corrosion at the top is worse than others - it can't be "fixed", it can only be replaced.
I stay away from electrical issues, but there shouldn't ever be enough moisture to create corrosion in an electrical panel. If an electrician is going to be working, they may as well put in GFCI at the tub.
There was corrosion at the bottom of the tank, it's like my agent said, if they're going to bring in an electrician to address one issue, they might as well address all of them and get it taken care of.
corrosion at the bottom of the tank, get it done asap. No sense wondering about all that weight from the full tank sitting on that rusted bottom. Heck, I had a house with a 2 yr old tank bust and flood the basement (and the neighbors basement).. All this happened the day before settlement
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