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We put an offer in on an REO tonight. The termite report said there is about $2800 in repairs to be done, including fumigation. The listing says it is "as-is". Our agent said it wouldn't hurt to ask them to repair the items in the termite report since the rest of our offer was very clean.
Have you agents ever seen a bank approve an offer on an "as-is" property when buyers asked them to do something like that?
We put an offer in on an REO tonight. The termite report said there is about $2800 in repairs to be done, including fumigation. The listing says it is "as-is". Our agent said it wouldn't hurt to ask them to repair the items in the termite report since the rest of our offer was very clean.
Have you agents ever seen a bank approve an offer on an "as-is" property when buyers asked them to do something like that?
Yes, I have seen a bank approve termite treatment on the sale of a property listed "as-is". In the same transaction, they refused to do anything about the damage already done by those termites. (Actually, in this case, it was carpenter bees, but the effect is similar.)
I agree with your agent; it does not, in any way I can think of, hurt to ask the bank to deal with the termite remediation. Especially if problems like that are traditionally dealth with by the sellers in your market area, as they are here in Somerset county NJ.
Freddie Mac did repairs for my VA client, but I prenegotiated those repairs with the initial offer. They were obvious deal breakers for VA. They did them.
As said, doesn't hurt to ask, banks have covered some repairs especially if required for certain loans like mentioned for VA, but not likely. Usually the banks will specifically state in their addendum that termite repairs and treatment will not be done.
Curious, you did a termite inspection before making an offer? Usually that is done after acceptance in the inspection period. Or was this a report provided by someone else?
The offspring is in the process of buying via FHA loan - the bank (actually "mortgage service firm") initially said "as is" but ended up doing about $1,500 worth of termite, roof repair and "hazardous electrical" repair (all switch covers and outlets removed with dangling, uncapped wires). My son would have preferred to do the work himself after the sale, but it was an FHA condition that it be done prior to sale.
The house was supposed to close 2 weeks before the holidays, but the one person at the selling firm that could authorize paying for the repairs was off on a 3 week vacation and did not leave the file with anyone else. So hopefully it'll close this week. Note that the person who authorized the repairs and the person who could authorize paying for the repairs was not the same person.
No, we didn't do an inspection prior to the offer. It was provided by the seller.
The seller gave you an inspection report showing the termite situation before you made the offer and now you want them to take care of business, after you made your offer? Do I have this right?
No, we didn't do an inspection prior to the offer. It was provided by the seller.
That sort of changes things. I was assuming that you did it as we do here in NJ; you made the offer, it was accepted pending insprections, you got the inspection report showing termites and termite damage. Since you had the information about the termites and the damage they caused in advance of your offer, I would expect that you asked theem to take care of it as part of the offer you made. Is that right? I still see no harm in that, as they are free to say no, but if they told you about it and told you they weren't going to deal with it, I wouldn't be expecting a yes from them.
Yes, that is correct. In our area, the seller usually provides a termite report for review before you make an offer. It is not a huge amount of damage. $1500 of that $2800 is for tenting the house for fumigation. It might not be a deal breaker for us if they say no, but we just decided to ask. We are a conventional loan, not FHA. However, I thought I had read somewhere that FHA loans require termite repairs to be done prior to funding the loan - is that correct?
Just an update. They did agree to give us a credit for the termite repair costs. We are now under contract! Thanks everyone for all of your help!
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