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We are looking to buy a house in Nassau and are interested in a particular house. But, our R.E. agent has been discouraging us to buy it for following reasons:
1. There is a big tree in the side walk in front of the home. The roots of the tree are pushing the sidewalk concrete slabs up creating a sort of unsafe walking condition. Our agent says that we can get the tree cut by the town, but in the wake of that, we would be responsible for repairing the sidewalk, which would cost $8-10k.
2. The roof is 15+ years old, which would need replacement in two years, costing us another $10-15k.
3. The sidings need to be fixed, which would cost $6-8k.
4. The backyard and front yard landscaping would cost $5k.
5. There is gas in the street, which if we wanted would cost another $10k.
We get the feeling that some of these are valid points, but some are suspect. How do we verify these? What are your thoughts/opinions of what he says?
1. Sidewalk repair would be about $250 a flag. Unless you have 200' of sidewalk you shouldnt approach the estimate.
2. Depends on many factors. What kind of house and how many layers already on.
3. Sounds right but, could a paint job hold you over?
4. That sounds expensive unless your yard is bare. Are you incapable? Landscaping is actually fun if you are into that sort of stuff.
5. A gas conversion could cost that much. Id recommemd it but, its not a.necessity.
Has your RE agent worked on Long Island for very long? Ask him or her to find you a house that has zero issues in your price range and see how quickly you hear from them. I've actually never heard of an RE agent discouraging a sale, which makes me wonder if this house is way out of your price range and they don't want to bother with you because you won't get financing.
As far as the tree in front of the house, we dealt with that in NY - those trees are owned by the local municipality and you can't remove without their permission. We tried for YEARS. Meanwhile the sidewalk being destroyed is the homeowner's responsibility, the classic catch-22. After Sandy, our buyers were able to convince the village to remove it since it was one of the few that hadn't toppled onto a house in the storm.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnGalt007
We are looking to buy a house in Nassau and are interested in a particular house. But, our R.E. agent has been discouraging us to buy it for following reasons:
1. There is a big tree in the side walk in front of the home. The roots of the tree are pushing the sidewalk concrete slabs up creating a sort of unsafe walking condition. Our agent says that we can get the tree cut by the town, but in the wake of that, we would be responsible for repairing the sidewalk, which would cost $8-10k.
2. The roof is 15+ years old, which would need replacement in two years, costing us another $10-15k.
3. The sidings need to be fixed, which would cost $6-8k.
4. The backyard and front yard landscaping would cost $5k.
5. There is gas in the street, which if we wanted would cost another $10k.
We get the feeling that some of these are valid points, but some are suspect. How do we verify these? What are your thoughts/opinions of what he says?
1. Have the seller correct the walk if the town requires it, if they don't get it in writing from the town.
2. Depending on the current condition not the age the roof could have 10+ years left of use
3. Broken siding could be addressed by the seller
4. Landscaping is subjective and as others posted you could do it yourself or piece meal it a little at a time.
5. Gas for heating is a great option, key word "option", you don't have to use it till you want to. Just having it in available at the street makes changing much easier.
You don't mention if this home really stands out price wise, or feature/location wise compared to other listings you have seen. We like to feel our realtor is always looking out for our best interest but ultimately it is your decision whether to move forward or not. If you feel that this is really a great find for you then tell your realtor to get onboard or get out of your way.
I agree strange the realtor is trying to not get you to buy... Could be they get a lower commission on this one. Our realtor tells us all the negatives and positives of each house we see. At first I was like what she does not want us to buy a house. So I just flat out asked her what the deal was.
I do know roofs are about 10,000 plus.
Also the gas on the street about $10,000. We checked into doing it for a house we looked at. If it is on the street already and very close to house they will bring to house for free but you have to buy all the equipment needed.
I agree that seems rally high for landscaping and you could do yourself for much cheaper.
Not sure about the other things so no comment.
Good luck! We currently are trying to find a house too. It is so hard and the nice houses go so fast in our price range.
We are looking to buy a house in Nassau and are interested in a particular house. But, our R.E. agent has been discouraging us to buy it for following reasons:
1. There is a big tree in the side walk in front of the home. The roots of the tree are pushing the sidewalk concrete slabs up creating a sort of unsafe walking condition. Our agent says that we can get the tree cut by the town, but in the wake of that, we would be responsible for repairing the sidewalk, which would cost $8-10k.
2. The roof is 15+ years old, which would need replacement in two years, costing us another $10-15k.
3. The sidings need to be fixed, which would cost $6-8k.
4. The backyard and front yard landscaping would cost $5k.
5. There is gas in the street, which if we wanted would cost another $10k.
We get the feeling that some of these are valid points, but some are suspect. How do we verify these? What are your thoughts/opinions of what he says?
Our agent often showed us houses that were high priced, but he saw major issues up front and thought it would cost more than its worth. He actually showed us a house that had some major landscaping issues, like neglect wise and he discouraged us to take it. And it was at the higher end of our budget.
Agents work off of many things, including word of mouth. If you buy a house and a year or two later you have to sell it because you can't afford it, it doesn't make him/her look good. He specifically said to us 'I want you to feel comfortable where you go.' He also said he didn't want us to be 'house poor'. We saw many, many houses and he knew what level of fixer upper we were comfortable with. We've walked in and walked out of houses as fast we came at times.
Is the RE agent a seller's agent or a buyer's agent? If the agent is the seller's agent, there could be something the agent knows about the house that s/he can't disclose (because doing so would not be in the best interest of the seller, the agent's client, and there's no law requiring disclosure), but that is major, and this could be the agent's way of telling you, in code, that the house isn't worth it.
Alternatively, if the agent is a buyer's agent (meaning the agent works for you), the agent could be trying to steer you towards a house that s/he is selling, so s/he doesn't have to split the commission with a seller's agent.
We are looking to buy a house in Nassau and are interested in a particular house. But, our R.E. agent has been discouraging us to buy it for following reasons:
1. There is a big tree in the side walk in front of the home. The roots of the tree are pushing the sidewalk concrete slabs up creating a sort of unsafe walking condition. Our agent says that we can get the tree cut by the town, but in the wake of that, we would be responsible for repairing the sidewalk, which would cost $8-10k.
2. The roof is 15+ years old, which would need replacement in two years, costing us another $10-15k.
3. The sidings need to be fixed, which would cost $6-8k.
4. The backyard and front yard landscaping would cost $5k.
5. There is gas in the street, which if we wanted would cost another $10k.
We get the feeling that some of these are valid points, but some are suspect. How do we verify these? What are your thoughts/opinions of what he says?
1. Quite common on LI. Unless it is a huge sidewalk.. no.. not that much. But you do have to fight it out with the town.
2. & 3. Those issues can be addressed during inspection.
4. Bunk.......water the lawn and put in some plants from Big Box Store.
1) Sidewalk flags were closer to $125 each done through the town. We paid $1500 to do our entire front sidewalk plus driveway apron. A large tree would be over $1k to cut down, but nowhere near that estimate.
2) roof is always a question mark... how does it look visually and how many layers are there already?
3, 4, 5) Not even necessities... you can do those whenever. How bad is the landscaping that it needs thousands of $ in re-work? Just cleaning up is cheap. Siding is just aesthetic (unless you meant under the siding) and can be done years later if you wanted. Gas would be a positive change considering the price of oil and can cost as little as $7k after rebates.
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