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We're new to NJ real estate and would appreciate any help regarding termites and flooding...
1) Our realtor has told us that some termite damage is normal for older homes (1950s and older) - is that true? I'm getting mixed feedback from people I know who live in NJ (they say no) and even searching these forums. Any thoughts?
2) Similarly, our realtor mentioned some homes may have had water damage because of extreme weather events and this is generally atypical for the area barring these events (e.g. Hurricane Irene). Is this true?
One of the houses we're considering has had both of these issues occur/resolve in the last decade. Is this normal or should we reconsider?
Old termite damage is ok if no more termites and structurally sound. Water damage, I wouldn’t chance it because all indications are that those hundred year floods are going to become more frequent. You can remediate but it may be a big cost (French drains, sump pump, drainage in backyard, change slope of property, raise up property above water table ). Usually water lowers the sale price to accommodate the issue. Understand what it will cost to make sure you don’t flood again. In my case it was 85k. More than I thought it would cost but worth it and it was built in to the sale price of the home. I might have to add more drainage and minor regrade due to building and renovations uphill creating a swampy backyard. We did the initial work about 8 years ago. Good luck getting the neighbor who caused the issue to fix it.
All part of the joy of home ownership.
We're new to NJ real estate and would appreciate any help regarding termites and flooding...
1) Our realtor has told us that some termite damage is normal for older homes (1950s and older) - is that true? I'm getting mixed feedback from people I know who live in NJ (they say no) and even searching these forums. Any thoughts?
2) Similarly, our realtor mentioned some homes may have had water damage because of extreme weather events and this is generally atypical for the area barring these events (e.g. Hurricane Irene). Is this true?
One of the houses we're considering has had both of these issues occur/resolve in the last decade. Is this normal or should we reconsider?
Plug in whatever town/area on Google and add word "flooding", results should give you an idea of how often and why whatever place you are looking at floods.
Although people directly familiar with an area you're looking at may have valuable insight you can't find anywhere else, I still wouldn't go just on hear-say alone. You can type in an address into the FEMA flood maps here: https://msc.fema.gov/portal/search Example image from that area:
Keep in mind '500-year flood', '1,000 year flood', etc. actually mean your chance of flooding each year (ie: 500yr flood really means 0.2% chance each year or put another way: a 1 in 500 chance each and every year, and yes the weather community is talking about changing the terminology because it sounds misleading). Additional info on the terminology: https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/w...center_objects
Check with insurance as well for if designated a flood zone then flood insurance may be required. I'm not sure about that specific area but flood insurance typically has a 30-day wait if you do get it, so you can't just wait until they say heavy flooding rains expected later in the week or something one day.
For me personally, if a location has flooded once before then I know it can happen again.
I was digging around the house and found new termite nests near my property. I really hope people don't freak out when they find termites outside the property. Fortunately this was outside and typically they feed off of nature and only in the winter do they tend to seek shelter in your home. I was able to spread termicide around my property and that should kill up to 6 months.
Thanks all! We decided not to proceed with the house mainly because of the flooding issue (the termite issue wasn't a major problem) - prior flooding, reticence of the seller's agent in providing more background, poor disclosure (the seller disclosure said it's not in a flood zone but that's not true according to FEMA) and a short offer deadline were too many red flags for us to ignore.
The icing on the cake - an hour after I had told our agent we were passing on the house, I found a news article about the bad flooding that occurred on that street in the aftermath of a hurricane and it included a clear shot of the massive backyard submerged in water. The backyard slopes down and is well below 5ft from street level soooo that's a lot of flooding...
Thank you again for all of your helpful comments, we'll continue looking in less-flood-prone areas!
We're new to NJ real estate and would appreciate any help regarding termites and flooding...
1) Our realtor has told us that some termite damage is normal for older homes (1950s and older) - is that true? I'm getting mixed feedback from people I know who live in NJ (they say no) and even searching these forums. Any thoughts?
2) Similarly, our realtor mentioned some homes may have had water damage because of extreme weather events and this is generally atypical for the area barring these events (e.g. Hurricane Irene). Is this true?
One of the houses we're considering has had both of these issues occur/resolve in the last decade. Is this normal or should we reconsider?
I think you might need a new realtor,yes there is a small area in Millburn that has flooded (issues are corrected) but not the entire town and certainly no flood issues in Short Hills .Those towns issues with extreme weather are no different than any other town.
The South Mountain area of Millburn is prone to flooding, according to my friend (who lives in Glen Avenue).
Wherever you choose to live, don’t live at the bottom of a hill! I’ve recently sold my house in the Glenwood district of Short Hills and prior to Hurricane Sandy, there was a small flood in part of my basement. I had a French drain and sump pump installed and never had a flood again. However, my next door neighbor whose house was situated a couple of feet lower than mine did get flooded even though they too had a French drain and sump pump during Hurricane Sandy.
The South Mountain area of Millburn is prone to flooding, according to my friend (who lives in Glen Avenue).
Wherever you choose to live, don’t live at the bottom of a hill! I’ve recently sold my house in the Glenwood district of Short Hills and prior to Hurricane Sandy, there was a small flood in part of my basement. I had a French drain and sump pump installed and never had a flood again. However, my next door neighbor whose house was situated a couple of feet lower than mine did get flooded even though they too had a French drain and sump pump during Hurricane Sandy.
That would have to do with your house and it's foundation there is no water anywhere close to the "Glenwood" section of Millburn Short Hills . I grew up on Highland Ave up the hill and our basement flooded twice in 38 years and it was from the foundation not a flood. As for the South Mountain area I admit to not living in that section but much/ many of the flood issues have been dealt with .
Actually - the Glenwood section used to be a lake... water table there is very high, and generally high in much of Short Hills.
Flooded basements can occure due to run off from above or rising water table from below... latter is a bigger problem in much of the short hills neighborhoods as the SH water table is generally high. But that's just general.. depth can be different on a house by house basis depending on many factors...
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