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So as the title describes, Im in contract to buy a 1922 vacant house in the town of oyster bay that I planned on living in. Suddenly about 2 weeks before the closing date, the house caught on fire with minimal structural damage to the roof but substantial water damage mostly everywhere else from the fire department.
Through insurance, the current owner had all of the wet sheetrock, insulation and flooring removed and including the basement (40 yards of debris). Basically 3/4 of the interior house is now stripped to the studs and sub-floor. The town inspector was in the house and in the report, he specified that they need an engineers report to assess the structural integrity of the attic roof since being damaged. Needs roof framing, sheathing and new complete roof shingles. The engineers report also needs to assess the "grandfathered" garage that's heavily damaged structurally (neglect) and in a state of disrepair (not related to the fire incident).
The current owner also has a second kitchen on the upper floor that I was planning on removing after closing. Unfortunately, the town saw the stove, sink and issued a citation for an illegal apartment with a court date scheduled (its since been removed during demo).
These might seem like very general questions but the town does not seem very cooperative in giving time frames and I understand. I'm kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place here and I need to have a realistic time-frame in order to close and move into the house once its repaired. The owner re-assured me that he would have everything finished in 2-3 months but I'm not quite sure that this is a very realistic time-frame. Work-time for the rebuild YES, but not the permit process etc.
While I know its impossible for someone to give an accurate answer, does anyone with experience have a ballpark idea on how long this could take and whats involved? Im a general contractor for many years but the last 10 years or so, Ive been doing smaller renovations like bathrooms and kitchens and rarely go through the permit process.
My lawyer suspects that it could take 1 - 2 years for the insurance proceeds, obtaining permits and repairing the house. I never would have thought that it would take that long but possibly I'm wrong.
Last edited by Richard_LI; 08-04-2019 at 01:34 PM..
Ouch, what a mess. Talk about Murphy's Law kicking in with a vengeance.
As to timeframes, honestly? Having previously worked for insurance companies (claims) and in a real estate attorney's office I would guess that 1 to 2 years is probably a very realistic estimate. Throw in a stubbornly recalcitrant or snails-pace Town Building Department -- if that's the case -- and my guess is that it could be closer to two than to one. No surprise that they won't give you timeframes.
It also depends on the insurance company involved. You have zero control over that in the best of circumstances but here you're not even the owner of the house yet so they won't even talk to you, I'll bet.
I think the two main questions here are (1) How much do you really want this house? and (2) What is the seller's position in all this? Are they really motivated to the extent that they just want out from under and would be willing to renegotiate a substantial reduction in price which may (or may not) make the delay worth your while?
You also need to take your insurance company into consideration. Are you sure they won't throw a monkey wrench into the works because of the extent of the structural issues and want all sorts of additional inspections and documentation? And is there a mortgage involved? Your lending institution may have something to say about the new situation, especially if your commitment (issued pre-fire) expires within the next few months.
There was a fire in the house. Does anything else really matter, get out of the contract and move on. Who care about insurance and how long will it take to rebuild.
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Get out of it, this will drag on for years especially if the investigation discovers arson may have been involved. Think of it he can relist it after the repairs at a higher price because of all the new work that was done to it, look suspicious to me...
yeah I agree, move on. Do you want to be there everyday overseeing construction and making sure it's done to standard? And don't say "well the inspector from the town will be there" - they are there to enforce code, not workmanship.
So as the title describes, Im in contract to buy a 1922 vacant house in the town of oyster bay that I planned on living in. Suddenly about 2 weeks before the closing date, the house caught on fire with minimal structural damage to the roof but substantial water damage mostly everywhere else from the fire department.
Through insurance, the current owner had all of the wet sheetrock, insulation and flooring removed and including the basement (40 yards of debris). Basically 3/4 of the interior house is now stripped to the studs and sub-floor. The town inspector was in the house and in the report, he specified that they need an engineers report to assess the structural integrity of the attic roof since being damaged. Needs roof framing, sheathing and new complete roof shingles. The engineers report also needs to assess the "grandfathered" garage that's heavily damaged structurally (neglect) and in a state of disrepair (not related to the fire incident).
The current owner also has a second kitchen on the upper floor that I was planning on removing after closing. Unfortunately, the town saw the stove, sink and issued a citation for an illegal apartment with a court date scheduled (its since been removed during demo).
These might seem like very general questions but the town does not seem very cooperative in giving time frames and I understand. I'm kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place here and I need to have a realistic time-frame in order to close and move into the house once its repaired. The owner re-assured me that he would have everything finished in 2-3 months but I'm not quite sure that this is a very realistic time-frame. Work-time for the rebuild YES, but not the permit process etc.
While I know its impossible for someone to give an accurate answer, does anyone with experience have a ballpark idea on how long this could take and whats involved? Im a general contractor for many years but the last 10 years or so, Ive been doing smaller renovations like bathrooms and kitchens and rarely go through the permit process.
My lawyer suspects that it could take 1 - 2 years for the insurance proceeds, obtaining permits and repairing the house. I never would have thought that it would take that long but possibly I'm wrong.
This is awful.
Having been through fires with clients, it can take some time for things to be done right. One concern would be that the work being done is slammed up to expedite things. We've had fire jobs go far longer as there was some fighting with the insurance company.
You're looking at a year easily, depending on the town's speed.
Are you able to get out of the contract, given the extenuating circumstances?
It's also might send red flags to any insurance company if you try to get home insurance.
We had issues when we bought our house. The previous owner's tenant had made multiple claims of the trip and fall variety against the property. The number of claims in a brief period of time made a few companies balk.
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Talk about Murphy's Law kicking in with a vengeance.
