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Negotiate the cost down to cover repair costs and hope to heaven they have what it takes to chip away at repairs. Money pit came to my mind, too. Nothing like a small brick rancher...
However I do like the acreage part, just be aware of the wildlife dangers out there: coyote, fisher cat....? (bear?)
I agree the well is an issue we haven't addressed yet. Need more info on that, Jim!
The stairway thing.... assuming it's always been that way, might be one of those things the prior owner lived with, and they can to.... can't say yet.... are there pictures?
Improperly vented baths might be easy to fix, just need to install some vents, either in the wall or the roof, and vent them outside.
Well: the home inspector stopped the test when it wasn't close to what it needs to be. I'm sure the sellers agent needs to get the seller to agree to pay for a well service to come out and do a professional analysis.
Septic: Pending, but if it wasn't maintained and the leach field is all plugged, big money
Bathroom vents: Agree, shouldn't be a big deal to pop in some roof jacks, but an easy $600-800 bill for the seller to hire someone to do it. maybe more if it's a 2 man crew.
Mold: No clue what the extent is. Might need a mold specialist to come in to remediate....big money there too.
Staircase: I don't know how the town inspector let that one slip by. I'm sure somebody mis-measured when the house was being built and they had to cut down the stringers to make it fit. NOT fixable.
Oh, and the kid doesn't like the popcorn texture on the ceilings, thinks he can sand/scrape off.... Like I said, he knows it all. I mentioned this plan to the paint guy at Lowes. He said he'll end up starting scraping, then putting another layer of gyp board over it....
Anyway, I think if the seller fixes these major things, two months before they can close.
Negotiate the cost down to cover repair costs and hope to heaven they have what it takes to chip away at repairs. Money pit came to my mind, too. Nothing like a small brick rancher...
However I do like the acreage part, just be aware of the wildlife dangers out there: coyote, fisher cat....? (bear?)
Fishers and bears exist, but I don't think are an issue yet in that area of the state. Coyote's for sure. Kid should not be left unattended for 5 minutes in the yard. But if the kid wanted to deer hunt (and had time which he won't), I'm sure he could find neighbors with enough land. LOTs of woods around there.
Wife and I are planning a ranch for us in the near future. She has medical issues now that make stairs difficult for her. And it sounded like that is why this house is being sold, due to the seller's wife not able to do stairs.
Well: the home inspector stopped the test when it wasn't close to what it needs to be. I'm sure the sellers agent needs to get the seller to agree to pay for a well service to come out and do a professional analysis.
Low water pressure? What was it? How low? Who defines what it 'needs' to be? Giving us more information will help us give you better answers.
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Septic: Pending, but if it wasn't maintained and the leach field is all plugged, big money
If it's like here, it will be inspected when it's pumped. No need to imagine it's failed before it's tested, unless there's some reason to suspect that. Wait for the results! If you feel the need to lecture the kids.... tell them to be cautious until they learn all the answers to these questions! But that's different than telling them the answers will all be bad news and they should pull out now and run for their lives, before you really know they need to do that.
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Bathroom vents: Agree, shouldn't be a big deal to pop in some roof jacks, but an easy $600-800 bill for the seller to hire someone to do it. maybe more if it's a 2 man crew.
Small carpentry bills are not reason to not buy a house usually. Is this really a big deal if the seller WON'T do it? Can they afford to do this themselves if something like it pops up? That's the real question. Which of these issues will the buyers NOT be able to figure out how to pay for if they happen?
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Mold: No clue what the extent is. Might need a mold specialist to come in to remediate....big money there too.
You have to know something... where was mold seen?
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Staircase: I don't know how the town inspector let that one slip by. I'm sure somebody mis-measured when the house was being built and they had to cut down the stringers to make it fit. NOT fixable.
So they live with it. Lots of people live with quirky houses.
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Oh, and the kid doesn't like the popcorn texture on the ceilings, thinks he can sand/scrape off.... Like I said, he knows it all. I mentioned this plan to the paint guy at Lowes. He said he'll end up starting scraping, then putting another layer of gyp board over it....
I bet he'll talk to a guy at Lowes too. No biggie. This is something you can let them learn about all on their own.
Question, because it matters and we're still guessing, is the mold related to the missing/inadequate bathroom vents? Either in the attic or the bathroom? Makes a big difference if it is all part of the same repair, or additional issues or leaks.
Wow. Opportunity. Makes me wish I were 25 again. When we bought our first house, it was a true fixer upper too. Probably worse than that, except we weren't on three acres (oh how it wish it had been). My wife and I spend some very happy years fixing it up together as we could afford things. The week nights planning, then Saturday trips to the lumberyard or home center. We scrimped and worked during the day and worked on the house together at night.
That was two kids, two states, and two job changes ago. And we still talk about how much we enjoyed those years.
The well gets my attention more than anything else. Gotta have water.
2nd is the staircase riser mess. Expensive to fix.
3rd, improperly vented baths and mold.
4th, the family dynamics, which I will totally avoid....
The rest is no big deal, IMO.
This is my list too. The well is the biggest issue. Out here we do 4-hour flow tests that are done by well companies, not the regular home inspector. Lenders require 5 gpm so if it isn't flowing at that, the house won't qualify for a loan without a storage tank installed. At least out here they don't.
The staircase is really unfixable and will just be a trip hazard.
We have lots of mold out here especially in 80's and 90's homes. They started tightening up homes in that era and failed to properly vent. Hence lots of mold in that era of home out here. Sellers repair the cause, treat and encapsulate it. Done.
Maybe they want to escape to the woods to get away from family?
Wow. Opportunity. Makes me wish I were 25 again. When we bought our first house, it was a true fixer upper too. Probably worse than that, except we weren't on three acres (oh how it wish it had been). My wife and I spend some very happy years fixing it up together as we could afford things. The week nights planning, then Saturday trips to the lumberyard or home center. We scrimped and worked during the day and worked on the house together at night.
That was two kids, two states, and two job changes ago. And we still talk about how much we enjoyed those years.
Well, one analysis I haven't thought about is if they do all of the renovations then decide to flip, would they make money, or lose money?
If the bank tells them that they can afford a $220,000 mortgage on a 2400 square foot house, and neither has lived in a house bigger than 1300 square feet, why not get a 1300-1500 house for a $140,000 mortgage and live comfortably, instead of no money for furniture, no money for an inexpensive family vacation, no going to Applebees once a month for a family dinner? having a big house with empty rooms because they can't afford furniture and no money to paint the exterior does not sound like a good plan.
Oh, somebody mentioned house warming.... we are thinking the gas grill, or a lawnmower (but I have an abandoned mower in my dad's basement that a $30 carb kit will fix would be what we would provide.
This is my list too. The well is the biggest issue. Out here we do 4-hour flow tests that are done by well companies, not the regular home inspector. Lenders require 5 gpm so if it isn't flowing at that, the house won't qualify for a loan without a storage tank installed. At least out here they don't.
The staircase is really unfixable and will just be a trip hazard.
We have lots of mold out here especially in 80's and 90's homes. They started tightening up homes in that era and failed to properly vent. Hence lots of mold in that era of home out here. Sellers repair the cause, treat and encapsulate it. Done.
Maybe they want to escape to the woods to get away from family?
Home inspector was looking for 4gpm and was getting half of that
Her son wants to be in the woods......I have no problem with that. I want to be in the woods too. Daughter inlaw I think wanted a colonial for some reason, but in a neighborhood where she could go for stroller walks with the child (children. and if that happens, there goes 1/3 of their income, either in her staying home or daycare)
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Like I said, he knows it all. I mentioned this plan to the paint guy at Lowes. He said he'll end up starting scraping, then putting another layer of gyp board over it....
