Major termite damage (foreclosed, sale, banks, price)

[RD35]

I put a cash offer on a 1970s rancher in December that was listed as a short sale. At the time the price was great and it seemed like a no brainer, as the house just appeared to need cosmetics (carpet, paint, bathroom remodel). It was a great deal so I thought I'd take a chance with the short sale. Well two months passed and foreclosure was nearing. A week before foreclosure the bank accepted my short sale and wanted to close immediately.

A couple days before closing I had a termite inspection and found that the house had major structural damage. There was extensive damage in the basement and garage. In the basement the entire front of the house was damaged (the top plate, band board and 14 floor joists). In the garage the bottom pate was damaged all around and 6 studs. There was prior termite treatment, but the structural problems were not corrected by the seller. This problem was not disclosed in the listing.

A day later the seller got an estimate from a local contractor. The contractor was going to take part of the front siding off and replace a piece of the band board and sister the damaged joists. The issue with the plate board was not quoted to be corrected. In the garage they offered to replace portions of the bottom plate and sister the studs. Their quote was $3500.

I backed out of the contract and felt this was not a good fix, more like a "band-aid" solution. They were only covering up what was seen. My fear was that there could be more damage in places not seen (inside the walls).

This house has since been foreclosed. This is a great location and I really wanted the house. When it's listed as a foreclosure I may consider the house again (at a lower price) but bring a structural engineer with me.

My question...Is it worth dealing with a house with major termite damage? And to correctly fix the problem it seems like the house would need to be jacked up and replace all the top plate and band board. How major of a cost would this be?

[Brandon Hoffman]

Get 2 or 3 estimates on what is needed from your local termite companies and go from there.

[Narfcake]

Yes, to properly replace the damaged wood, portions of the house will have to be jacked up. No idea on the cost, though - too many variables here. Find a few local termite companies and ask them.

FWIW, I too ran from one house after learning about the termite damage. For perspectives, the neighbor that had recently rebuilt 2/3rds of his house had less termite damage than the one I was looking at.

[jamies]

If you are not a contractor it is probably not worth getting into major rehab like this. I buy houses like that and sometimes I eat it, but we have the equipement and crew to fix things inexpensively and not go broke if we discover a disaster.

I would get several full price estimates and submit them with your low ball offer and a letter of explaination to whatever high school drop out is handling the foreclosure file in Ohio or India so they will realize they have a pig in a poke and if they want to dump it there is your offer. Banks don't like to sit on junk properties. And Realtors don't like to include additional papers with offers.

Realize some idiot will probably come along a bid full price not realizing the place needs 10K in repairs - and they will just slap some paint and wood putty on a flip it to an unsuspecting first time buyer with stars in their eyes. Sorry, a bid jaded tonight I guess.

Hope you can close the deal.