Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I found a house I really like and considering making an offer, except I have two concerns. First, it has no garage and I want to make sure there would be potential for building one in the future (i.e., that there is enough space on the lot to meet zoning regulations etc.). Second, there is an interior wall that causes some serious layout issues for me in the living room / kitchen. I don't believe it's load-bearing and could be removed fairly easily, but don't know for sure and I don't want to end up spending tons of money having roof trusses reengineered, etc. just to have it removed without some ugly header visible (And it would have to be removed for me to consider living in this home)
Is it unreasonable for me to include in an offer that these two issues can be addressed to my satisfaction? If my home inspector tells me no go on the garage or that the wall is load bearing and would likely require x amount of money to remove, I'd like to be able to walk away from the contract. One wall normally wouldn't be a deal-breaker, but this house is already at the top of my budget (when including construction of a garage), so I'd like to avoid other high costs. Or are these things I should have answered before even making an offer?
Put in any contingency you want. The seller will accept, reject, or negotiate. They don't have to agree.
You should be able to walk into the planning commission today, with a plot map and the address and they can tell you whether or not the lot is big enough for a garage and how big the set-backs must be. Also ask if your area requires solar setbacks.
Yea, put it in the offer that a contractor must tell you that a wall can be removed (contractor at your own expense, both inspection and removal), but give it a very short time frame. No seller will allow that to hang over their head for the entire escrow and it should not take more than a day or two to have someone look at it and tell you yes or no.
As a seller, I would not balk at those two contingencies, as long as they were quickly removed. Also, it would matter how many other contingencies you had and how reasonable they were. I don't like to deal with unrealistic unreasonable people. But space for a garage and a load bearing wall are not unreasonable requests.
It sounds like you are only asking the seller to do the research and confirm that a garage can be built there and that the wall is not load-bearing. You imply that you are seeking a 'guarantee', rather than an 'official opinion,' yet, I'm not sure how you could enforce that after the sale.
Then you say that you will make your determination based on what your home inspector tells you (?) -- If you are talking about the 'home inspector' who will inspect the home as part of the purchase process, I don't think your questions are within his venue.
Why don't you simply contact a local contractor and explain your situation; ... asking him to accompany you on a walk-through and give you a cost estimate?
As a seller, I would not balk at those two contingencies, as long as they were quickly removed. Also, it would matter how many other contingencies you had and how reasonable they were. I don't like to deal with unrealistic unreasonable people. But space for a garage and a load bearing wall are not unreasonable requests.
I'd agree with one exception: If I had other buyers interested, I'd be much happier accepting one of their offers, even at a slightly lower price.
Your home inspector is not going to be able to tell you anything about required space to build a garage. That's not his job- he's not going to go to town and find this out for you. It's not part of a home inspection. That's your job and you can do it before you make an offer. Just get yourself to the appropriate town or county office and find out.
As for the load bearing wall, I'd simply bring a contractor with me while taking a second look at the house before even making an offer.
In my market I wouldn't accept either of those contingencies, assuming of course it isn't a property that has lingered on the market for an extended period of time. If it has been listed for a while I would accept both contingencies and likely allow you 5 business days (give or take) to get your answers and remove the contingencies.
I would just ask if you could bring in your experts to confirm these things before you even put an offer in. Sounds like the easiest way to go about it. Hard to imagine a seller would mind.
It's not unreasonable to make the effort to learn the answers...
just do so outside of (or before tendering) the contract.
Quote:
If my home inspector tells me...
These aren't home inspector questions.
One needs an engineer and the other a zoning attorney.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
