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After renting a home for a year and looking for a new home for a couple of months my husband and I found what we thought was the home of our dreams, we made an offer and the seller accepted! We got this house at an awesome price, the inside has been completely rentovated and you can tell it has been cared for... we were thrilled until the home inspection came back.
The home inspector found active termites in the sill plate and 2 of the wood members. He said the sellers would have to hire a contractor to come out to physically lift up the house to take out the one piece of wood and replace it as well as any other damaged area. He did note that one piece of wood was the only he could see damage in.
He also found fungi on the wood members of the crawl space, which he was puzzled by because the moisture level was a very low 11%. The only thing we could figure out is that the vents in the crawl space had been closed, so maybe there wasn't enough air flow. He said we could spray bleach water on it and get rid of it.
The roof will also need to be replaced soon, there is not proper ventilation in the attic and because of that it has aged a lot faster than a normal roof would. There are no signs of leakage.
So after hearing all of this we got freaked out, primary by the termites...My aunt and grandfather are both contractors and said that it was be an easy 5 grand to fix and repair the termite problem! And what if the walls crack or something when they are lifting the home?? What if the sellers dont realize the cost of fixing this and just hire anyone with a license to slap something together.
We ended up sumbitting our repair request hoping the sellers would say no to something so we could legally terminate the contract and they did. They refused to fix a window with a broken seal so we immediately sent the termination paperwork. They did say they would fix everything else we asked for though.. We thought everything was done and over but then sellers agent emailed us saying that they would fix the window and therefore they will not sign the termination agreement. I didnt think you could come back and counter offer a reapir after the buyer sent the termination!
I then contacted our Real Estate Attorney and he said we were perfectly with in our rights to terminate the contract, I relayed this info to the sellers agent and she responded that the sellers were staying in their position and would not sign the termination or release our earnest money!!
Im so confused right now, we really like this house but everyone just keeps telling me to walk away but now we cant even do that! My grandmother called me this morning and told us it would turn into a money pit. My dad says go for if the sellers are willing to fix everything and then my mom called and told me she doesnt want to hear it when something goes wrong and we should fight for this termination! Our realtor doesn;t understand what the issue is...and I am just conflicted by everything! We have to be out of our rental soon, we have no dryer here and all of ours things are packed.
Can someone help me, does proceeding in this sound like a bad idea?
I'd suggest that you calm down a bit. Sleep on it. Think it over. Decide IF you really want to purchase this house. Don't listen to the relatives. Termites are not a huge issue. I realize they are seldom found in other states but we seem to have our share of them HERE!
If you do decide to go through with it, have your agent talk to the sellers' agent and tell them that you want ALL the repairs done, including a full termite treatment.
Get your own estimates. Include in your repair request that you want a licensed termite company to do the treatment. You want a licensed contractor to look at the other repairs. Hire your own contractor for estimates.
Yes, it is a pain in the butt that these repairs have popped up but you decide what is best for you and please take the advice of those that are qualified to give it instead of all the relatives.
I agree with Mike. If your agent is confused on how to handle this you need to speak to somebody above him/her (Their Broker in Charge) to get some answers.
By the way, did you have a Cost of Repair Contingency in your contract? When we bought a house our agent put something in to the effect that if the repairs identified exceeded $5K we could walk away even if the seller was willing to do the repairs. It didn't matter in our case, but it was nice to know we had that option. I am under the impression this type of contigency is fairly common here in NC. I'm not a RE pro so don't take my word for it. Check with your Realtor or the Broker in charge. Good Luck!
YOU are right. This is in the NC contract. The problem arises when the buyer thinks he is within his right to terminate and the seller doesn't think the contract should be terminated. Then it becomes a battle as to whom is going to sign the paperwork to terminate the contract and who is going to get to keep the earnest money deposit. Real Estate isn't as easy as some think, huh?!!
Thank you all so much for the advice. This our first home and I know its seems childish but you really need someone to tell you its going to be ok sometimes. I think I know what we need to do at this point, we know we want the home so now we need to get some contractors out there to give us some estimates? Anyone know where to start with finding a dependable contractor?
Sacardgrooves- Thanks for the reassurance with the sill plate, I had this crazy picture in my head of the house being lifted up. We did hire a termite inspector to go out to the house and he found them in sill plate and a couple of members. Could they be in walls or anything crazy like that without him being aware and the damage be worse than we antipated? Also, If the moisture level in crawl sounds normal to you, what else could be causing the fungi? and should I hire someone to come out and test for mold?
The home inspector did not seem concerned, the fungi looked like it was a light brown color, almost the same as the wood.
This has got to be the biggest emotional roller coaster of my life, even after having kids!! Next I will know better than to make it a family affair and involve people that have nothing to do with it.
Again, I'd suggest that instead of having the sellers agree to a termite spot treatment, that you ask them to treat the entire house. For example, instead of costing them $250, it may cost them $600 but you get a year warranty from the termite company. If they won't agree to that, I'd suggest that you still get the one year warranty but pay the difference yourself. Then you'll have no termite worries!
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Sacardgrooves- Thanks for the reassurance with the sill plate, I had this crazy picture in my head of the house being lifted up. We did hire a termite inspector to go out to the house and he found them in sill plate and a couple of members. Could they be in walls or anything crazy like that without him being aware and the damage be worse than we antipated? Also, If the moisture level in crawl sounds normal to you, what else could be causing the fungi? and should I hire someone to come out and test for mold?
The home inspector did not seem concerned, the fungi looked like it was a light brown color, almost the same as the wood.
My pleasure. The fungi is possibly dormant. Maybe they had a humidity issue in the past under the house and rectified it by closing the vents (typical for foundation vents to be left open around here, allowing humid air into the crawl where it condenses on cold surface areas like wood, plumbing lines etc). The inspector is right though....little bleach water, some rubbermaid gloves and a mask will get rid of it.
Hey Vicki,
That is a great idea, the soil and house need to be treated...is the warrenty pretty much a standard thing in this area?
Thanks!!
Since the sellers have no warranty right now, you'd have to have a termite company come in and treat the house and the soil. They drill holes and spray and since then they give you a warranty for one full year. At the end of that year, they come back and check for termites. If they find any, they treat again (warranty) and if they don't, they will ask you if you want to continue the warranty. It is about $105 for another year. If you do not pay to continue the warranty, the next company will charge you to treat before they give a warranty.
Sellers are responsible for spot treatment. If the sellers won't pay for full house treatment, I always suggest to my buyers that they pay the difference and get the full year warranty. I'm sure the termite company that inspected or the termite company doing the treatment can explain.
See? It isn't that difficult. Just get answers to your questions and then you can make that decision that is best for you.
Vicki
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