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I often wonder why this is not noted in tax records and how you know if a house has been damaged by a fire. Is this disclosed to the potential buyer? How can you tell if it has been repaired or damaged?
I often wonder why this is not noted in tax records and how you know if a house has been damaged by a fire. Is this disclosed to the potential buyer? How can you tell if it has been repaired or damaged?
You can request a C.L.U.E. Report that would indicate any insurance claims. If it is something you are worried about ask the seller to give you the CLUE report for the property.
The house I bought last year had sustained some fire damage, not disclosed because the house was flipped (by the same real estate agent that sold it). My home inspector found the scorch marks on the rafters under the insulation, so I was aware there had been a fire before I bought it. That kind of thing does make me wonder though, why people who flip houses don't have to disclose those kinds of issues.
Anyway, the fact that there had been a fire didn't really make a difference to me since the house was still structurally sound and whatever cosmetic damage there might have been had been repaired.
I'm convinced a good inspector is worth their weight in gold, just for the peace of mind of knowing what kind of situation you might be walking into when you buy a particular house.
If it's been properly repaired, there shouldn't be an issue. Would you want them to include every repair in the history of the house on a disclosure?
Because I'd like to know what changes have been made so that I can look to see if they were done properly. The guy who flipped my house either hired an incompetent electrician, or more likely he did some of the changes himself. My home inspector pointed out some of the issues (new GFI wired improperly) and I asked the seller to have those issues fixed, by a qualified electrician, show me the repair bill please.
I'm only talking about non cosmetic type repairs, but if major systems such as the plumbing, or wiring, things of that nature, have been repaired then yes I think that should be disclosed. Isn't the point of non-disclosure to protect heirs, or banks, people that truly may not be familiar with any defects? I just think it's a little odd that people who flip houses and are therefore very aware of many of the defects aren't required to disclose the ones they obviously know about.
I often wonder about the smoke and water damage. Both tend to get in crooks and crevices and may never be fixed. A house near me was nearly new and got struck by lightning. It is a two story. Vinyl siding. The fire was mainly in the upstairs and living room which was a vaulted ceiling. I saw it after the fire briefly inside. Downstairs was smoke and probably water damaged but no fire damage except to living room. Even the upstairs still was intact....except for the roof which was mostly totally gone. The people moved out. Somehow their insurance was not adequate on a brand new house! In any case, a blue tarp was placed over the roof. Time went on and the nearly new house...built on a slab sat vacant. Wind blew the tarp and the house got rained in...for over a year! I suppose an investor bought the house...the original owners did not return. The old burnt roof was removed. I did not see the extent of the renovations...but kept thinking of all the water and mold damage that must have occurred. I know new houses get rained in...but this was contaminated with fire damaged materials. From the outside front of the house, no windows were replaced, no vinyl siding was replaced. Just the roof was new in that section. From the left side, vinyl had melted so part of that was replaced The wood underneath was not. The garage was not repaired. The back side of the house was most extensively damaged and was torn down and rebuilt. It LOOKS great with no exterior evidence of the damage. I do not know if the new owner knows about the previous damage. THAT is why I am curious...it was a lot of damage and not fixed promptly which led to more unnecessary damage.
Location: Mokelumne Hill, CA & El Pescadero, BCS MX.
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In CA, the seller would have to disclose any fire damaged repairs that they were aware of as well as any homeowners insurance claims made within the past three years. Your state may not have the same regulations.
This is not in the tax policies that they need to no how many times hoes get repaired and is that it got the fire. This is totaly a contractor job they can tell you about the damage or you have to ask such things before buy the home. If he is not diclossing this rthings you have nothing to do with this.
Discussing and sharing information on fire damage repair.
In Texas, they would have to disclose it. It's on the disclosure notice along with a question asking for all insurance claims to the house.
I sold a house a couple of years ago that had been in a fire in 1994. One entire side of the house had to be completely rebuilt down to the studs. It was all disclosed and buyers didn't blink twice, because they knew up front and didn't have to find out in an inspection or from a neighbor or any other way that would freak them out.
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