House We're Buying Has Old A/C, What Should We Do? (Houston: water heater, contractors)

[Obamney]

If seller is desperate or home was priced high then you may get some reduction. My experience says no need to replace until needed. Think of it as a budget friendly as well as environment friendly approach. Just maintain it well.

[nsumner]

I'm sure that at this late hour you already got the diagnostic from the pros your GF met with. Just wanted to add that you may want to ask from the seller to show you their electric bill for the past 12 months and ask what temperature they usually keep it at. It will help you gauge your expenses and how the unit is performing.

Nothing wrong with asking for concessions. Expect the owner to tell you that they are paying for a warranty for that purpose. Indeed, read the fine print on the home warranty. On an old system, the parts may not be available anymore so they may deny the claim. YOU get to choose which company to use.

Those I avoid like a plague are:

Choice Home Warranty
American Home Shield despite other people's positive experience with them.
Nations

I like Home Warranty of America and Old Republic.

Naima

[Philip T]

A/C? It is Winter.

What's the big deal?

[Rakin]

Originally Posted by nsumner

Those I avoid like a plague are:

Choice Home Warranty
American Home Shield despite other people's positive experience with them.
Nations

I like Home Warranty of America and Old Republic.

Naima

Good advice on the warranties. I've been recommending One Guard the last few years and have had a lot of good experience. They offer a Re-Key of the house free of charge after you close.

[globe9]

Well the A/C unit kind of got forgotten about when the expert checked out the heater. It wouldn't heat at all. My GF said he put some kind of smoke bomb type thing in the system, turned on the blower and the whole house filled with smoke. He told her that would be Carbon Monoxide if the heater were actually working. The fact that the whole unit was off, no pilot light, etc, he said, tells him that the owners knew about this issue and just didn't disclose it. Again, not a deal breaker, but we are definitely asking for that to be repaired or replaced. The price of the home btw is in the high end of comps per sq ft. We aren't paying $10k less below market value or anything like that, so I feel that the owner needs to address this. Carbon monoxide poisoning is serious and can be deadly.
We submitted our amendment yesterday evening. Waiting to hear back from owner now.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by Squirl

I've bought at least 10 houses in the DFW area in the past few years. Here's a copy of the TREC contract; note section 7D. Buyer either names specific repairs or buyer accepts as is. This is BEFORE the inspection. Then, as I said, during the option period if the house is inspected, the buyer might decide the agree sales price isn't acceptable anymore and ask for concessions or bail. http://www.trec.state.tx.us/pdf/contracts/20-11.pdf

I get all that. The net is problems found during the option period/inspection lead to minor renegotiations all the time. The OP clearly did not know the water heater and AC in question were as marginal as they are. Therefore in consideration of the option money the OP may re-negotiate or walk. It's that simple. The OP is handling this just right. The contract may say "as-is" in effect that is meaningless to how these transactions are handled every single day.

The bottom line is a buyer's inspection should be paid for and and items the inspector finds, or other problems for that matter, are then negotiated over. The option money, what is it typically $100, shows the buyer means business. It's also low enough that a buyer can/will walk upon big problems THAT CAN"T BE SOLVED VIA NEGOTIATION. If not why pay for an inspection at all?

On both sides of every home we've bought the inspector has found minor issues, broken sprinkler heads, GFIs that don't work, burned out light bulbs, etc. smart sellers R&R all that stuff instantly. The problem is big issues - significant wiring problems, foundation problems, AC problems, roof issues, water leaks, old water heaters etc. Significant issues like these are precisely why the option period exists - from a buyer's perspective anyway. I'd also bet a nickel that truly significant issues are reported to title companies and lenders to minimize their exposure to another's problem.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Originally Posted by globe9

Well the A/C unit kind of got forgotten about when the expert checked out the heater. It wouldn't heat at all. My GF said he put some kind of smoke bomb type thing in the system, turned on the blower and the whole house filled with smoke. He told her that would be Carbon Monoxide if the heater were actually working. The fact that the whole unit was off, no pilot light, etc, he said, tells him that the owners knew about this issue and just didn't disclose it. Again, not a deal breaker, but we are definitely asking for that to be repaired or replaced. The price of the home btw is in the high end of comps per sq ft. We aren't paying $10k less below market value or anything like that, so I feel that the owner needs to address this. Carbon monoxide poisoning is serious and can be deadly.
We submitted our amendment yesterday evening. Waiting to hear back from owner now.

Wow! That indeed needs to be fixed or even better, give you credit and you get it fixed.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by Obamney

If seller is desperate or home was priced high then you may get some reduction. My experience says no need to replace until needed. Think of it as a budget friendly as well as environment friendly approach. Just maintain it well.

Another point of view......
That 20yo AC unit is likely charged with R-22 and it's probably 6 SEER at best. How is waiting for the ancient coil, line or compressor to blow venting that R-22 ozone killing poison into the sky more environmentally friendly than capturing the R-22 per legal requirement and R&Ring the old unit with a 14/16/18 SEER unit?

Replacing the unit:
1. Will capture all of the R-22
2. Upgrading from 6 to 16 or so SEER would cut power usage by 35/40% minimum.
3. From a money only perspective, over the course of a few years the new unit could pay for itself via reduced electrical bills.

To me this is likely one of those circumstances in which spending money really makes sense assuming one intends to stay live with the new AC for a while.

To me the environmentally friendly and money friendly move is to trash that old AC pronto.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by globe9

Well the A/C unit kind of got forgotten about when the expert checked out the heater. It wouldn't heat at all. My GF said he put some kind of smoke bomb type thing in the system, turned on the blower and the whole house filled with smoke. He told her that would be Carbon Monoxide if the heater were actually working. The fact that the whole unit was off, no pilot light, etc, he said, tells him that the owners knew about this issue and just didn't disclose it. Again, not a deal breaker, but we are definitely asking for that to be repaired or replaced. The price of the home btw is in the high end of comps per sq ft. We aren't paying $10k less below market value or anything like that, so I feel that the owner needs to address this. Carbon monoxide poisoning is serious and can be deadly.
We submitted our amendment yesterday evening. Waiting to hear back from owner now.

Oh crap.

One way to look at this is that if one is going to replace the AC - replacing the heater at the same time is a good move. If this works out well you could buy the home you like with new heat and AC at roughly market. At that I'd happily spring for a new water heater myself and be very happy.

[skids929]

Originally Posted by EDS_

Oh crap.

One way to look at this is that if one is going to replace the AC - replacing the heater at the same time is a good move. If this works out well you could buy the home you like with new heat and AC at roughly market. At that I'd happily spring for a new water heater myself and be very happy.

Is it a law in Texas that once all these things are uncovered they have to disclose the problems to future buyers?