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Old 06-23-2009, 04:03 PM
 
Location: Charlotte, NC
2,193 posts, read 5,035,324 times
Reputation: 1075

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Hey all. Well as you all know me on this board as a doom and gloomer, I finally bit the bullet and am officially under contract on a home. lol.

We just got back the inspection report. There were a few major issues.

1) The inspector said the roofing system needed to be inspected, but what is weird is the seller just put a new roof in April of this year.
2) There were some brick piers added in the crawl space randomly but no footers were attached to the brick piers. The inspector though said it doesn't seem like the house has any structural issues.

We asked the seller to repair this as well as some other things. The listing agent came back and asked us to remove the $1500 repair contingency. (Our original contract said if the repairs cost over $1500, we can terminate). They were gathering up numbers this week to find out how much the repairs will cost.

We want a structural engineer to come out and check the foundation because we're worried about that.

What are your thoughts? Are these things normal? I'm a little bit freaked out as it's our first time buying a home and it's an older home.
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Old 06-23-2009, 04:06 PM
 
Location: Salem, OR
15,490 posts, read 40,186,319 times
Reputation: 17327
I have seen many a bad "new roof" jobs. Just because it's new doesn't mean that it is good, or done professionally. If the inspector has concerns, get a good roofer out there to tell you if it was installed properly.

Sounds like the inspector is encouraging you to get further inspections. I would heed his advice and do just that.
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Old 06-23-2009, 04:55 PM
 
406 posts, read 1,490,788 times
Reputation: 235
Do check things further if you wish, but I think a "no more than $1500 in repairs" clause is a little ridiculous. Believe me when I say that, especially with an older home, there is ALWAYS work that "could" be done. You should see the inspection report we got when we bought our house 4 years ago--I re-read it the other night and it still makes me shiver. But the bottom line is that we didn't HAVE to do all that work, it's just work that could be done, or should eventually be done.

I feel that, for the most part, home inspections are to find any PRESSING issues that must be repaired immediately, or are devastatingly expensive, etc. Not just to make it so you're getting a house that needs no repairs. For instance, we did get a $3500 credit on our home after the home inspection--but only because we made our offer based on the house being described as having a "new roof" and then found that half of it was over 30 years old. That's the kind of thing you come back with after an inspection.

Welcome to homeownership! From now on there will always be work to do.
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Old 06-23-2009, 05:47 PM
 
28,455 posts, read 84,928,817 times
Reputation: 18723
Default Wise words!!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by redpanda View Post
Do check things further if you wish, but I think a "no more than $1500 in repairs" clause is a little ridiculous. Believe me when I say that, especially with an older home, there is ALWAYS work that "could" be done. You should see the inspection report we got when we bought our house 4 years ago--I re-read it the other night and it still makes me shiver. But the bottom line is that we didn't HAVE to do all that work, it's just work that could be done, or should eventually be done.

I feel that, for the most part, home inspections are to find any PRESSING issues that must be repaired immediately, or are devastatingly expensive, etc. Not just to make it so you're getting a house that needs no repairs. For instance, we did get a $3500 credit on our home after the home inspection--but only because we made our offer based on the house being described as having a "new roof" and then found that half of it was over 30 years old. That's the kind of thing you come back with after an inspection.

Welcome to homeownership! From now on there will always be work to do.
I bet there is not even a BRAND NEW house built to the HIGHEST STANDARDS that some "stick up his you-know-what" type deal killer inspector could NOT find at least $1500 in "repairs"...

Honestly I have seen it all, and in most cases I agree that the idea of an inspection is useful, but you have to have a CLUE as to what they are putting in the report and WHY. I mean if they notice some minor issues that all together COULD be done, but none of them NEED to be done then you have sort of a nice "road map" or checklist of areas that you, as a new homeowner OUGHT to budget for and/or keep an eye on. It is all but impossible in many climates to do enough to keep the trees cut back and the grade line properly slopped and so many other things that really in the perfect world would be maintained but no one really does these things until there is "a problem" and then you address it.

Deceptive things are a different story, and smart real estate agents can decide to really LIGHT INTO the seller and / or their agent and when an inspector has irrefutable evidence that someone is trying to cover up some flaw then "katie bar the door"...
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Old 06-23-2009, 06:12 PM
 
45 posts, read 125,440 times
Reputation: 37
Default aggressive inspections

It seems to me that the nature of inspections has changed in this buyers market. With previous purchases, we always looked at the inspection as a chance to find major structural defects such as unstable foundation, major roof leak, termite damage, etc. But while selling our 1940's era house, we have experienced inspectors who provide a laundry list of every minor detail that could possibly be repaired/updated--window that sticks on opening, loose floor board, weathered siding, and my favorite "cannot rule out bats in attic." These were accompanied by outrageously high estimates for extensive updates--totally new floors, window replacement, totally new exterior, etc. The potential buyers then used the inspection results to essentially completely re-negotiate the sales price.

I suppose this is OK, because after all, we can always say no, but it was a huge hassle to call in reputable contractors to get realistic estimates for all the minor work, haggle over every little detail, and then finally end up with basically the same sales price.

We went through this same thing twice, with two different potential buyers. Anyone else seeing this scenerio?
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Old 06-23-2009, 06:23 PM
 
28,455 posts, read 84,928,817 times
Reputation: 18723
Default Yes, it has ALWAYS been out there...

Quote:
Originally Posted by gasgangrene View Post
It seems to me that the nature of inspections has changed in this buyers market. With previous purchases, we always looked at the inspection as a chance to find major structural defects such as unstable foundation, major roof leak, termite damage, etc. But while selling our 1940's era house, we have experienced inspectors who provide a laundry list of every minor detail that could possibly be repaired/updated--window that sticks on opening, loose floor board, weathered siding, and my favorite "cannot rule out bats in attic." These were accompanied by outrageously high estimates for extensive updates--totally new floors, window replacement, totally new exterior, etc. The potential buyers then used the inspection results to essentially completely re-negotiate the sales price.

I suppose this is OK, because after all, we can always say no, but it was a huge hassle to call in reputable contractors to get realistic estimates for all the minor work, haggle over every little detail, and then finally end up with basically the same sales price.

We went through this same thing twice, with two different potential buyers. Anyone else seeing this scenerio?
I cringe when this happens, as the inspection should NOT be an opportunity to turn the deal from one of buying THIS HOUSE to a Monty Hall hosted effort to find the Grand Prize! If the buyers WANTED a fully remodeled turn key house they SHOULD have went shopping for one! That said when this does happen the thing to do is have the AGENTS pow wow and get the BUYER to realize that no one gets to have their cake and eat it too, especially on some one else's dime but the SELLER has to stay cool and remember that if there are SERIOUS deficiencies they can be addressed but IDEALLY WITH AN ADDENUM to the contract that then LOCKS IN THE BUYER under severe penalty for NON-TIMELY completion. Turn about is fair play. If my seller lays out cash for repairs and then the buyer gets cold feet and drags their tush looking for a sweeter deal their big fat earnest money is going to my client...
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Old 06-23-2009, 07:14 PM
 
Location: GA
2,791 posts, read 10,773,839 times
Reputation: 1181
Our report included all repairs needed, with the most important ones highlighted. We took care of all the major things asap; seller gave us partial allowance. The seller did most of the minor repairs.
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Old 06-23-2009, 11:43 PM
 
3,320 posts, read 5,572,706 times
Reputation: 11125
Quote:
Originally Posted by redpanda View Post
Do check things further if you wish, but I think a "no more than $1500 in repairs" clause is a little ridiculous. Believe me when I say that, especially with an older home, there is ALWAYS work that "could" be done. You should see the inspection report we got when we bought our house 4 years ago--I re-read it the other night and it still makes me shiver. But the bottom line is that we didn't HAVE to do all that work, it's just work that could be done, or should eventually be done.

I feel that, for the most part, home inspections are to find any PRESSING issues that must be repaired immediately, or are devastatingly expensive, etc. Not just to make it so you're getting a house that needs no repairs. For instance, we did get a $3500 credit on our home after the home inspection--but only because we made our offer based on the house being described as having a "new roof" and then found that half of it was over 30 years old. That's the kind of thing you come back with after an inspection.

Welcome to homeownership! From now on there will always be work to do.
Valid points and realistic attitude to boot
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Old 06-23-2009, 11:45 PM
 
3,320 posts, read 5,572,706 times
Reputation: 11125
Quote:
Originally Posted by sheenie2000 View Post
Hey all. Well as you all know me on this board as a doom and gloomer, I finally bit the bullet and am officially under contract on a home. lol.

We just got back the inspection report. There were a few major issues.

1) The inspector said the roofing system needed to be inspected, but what is weird is the seller just put a new roof in April of this year.
2) There were some brick piers added in the crawl space randomly but no footers were attached to the brick piers. The inspector though said it doesn't seem like the house has any structural issues.

We asked the seller to repair this as well as some other things. The listing agent came back and asked us to remove the $1500 repair contingency. (Our original contract said if the repairs cost over $1500, we can terminate). They were gathering up numbers this week to find out how much the repairs will cost.

We want a structural engineer to come out and check the foundation because we're worried about that.

What are your thoughts? Are these things normal? I'm a little bit freaked out as it's our first time buying a home and it's an older home.
Oh my lord you bit the dust...imagine that...errrrrr good luck

Last edited by gold*dust1; 06-23-2009 at 11:53 PM..
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