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.
So we had our house inspection today, and while the flashing on the roof did come up, it wasn't on the top of the priority list. The roof is about 20 years old, but he said it's in good shape for another few years, and then to replace it with a metal roof. The inside is in good shape, except for the fireplace that needs a new firebox from years of not having a chimney cap.
The fun starts in the crawl space. The house does not have enough support columns, and while there is a newly installed vapor barrier. there wasn't for many years and the main beams are rotting, and the ones that aren't have severe mold growth on them. the one that handles the load from the large stone fireplace are so rotted, the column is going through the center of the wood, and the inspector easily poked a screwdriver into the center of the beam. In addition there are also plumbing issue with venting and pitch of the pipes.
Your inspector poked a hole in a person's support beam?????
Look at your contract. MOST contracts say that if your inspector does damage to a person's property then you as the buyer are responsible for the damage. It usually says something along the lines of the property must be in the same condition as before the inspection. A hole in their support beam caused by the inspector is not pre-existing condition.
I'm sure you can say that the beam was rotten so it was ok to be putting a hole through it, but that is utter BS that the inspector did that!! He could have just scraped it or made a note about it.
NOW, the seller has a hole in THEIR support beam of THEIR home. It does not matter that it was considered rotting by that inspector. How would that inspector like it if somebody went to HIS home and started jabbing screwdrivers in things that they think need fixed??
As for the realtor pushing you to buying the house when you have misgivings....don't do it!! Don't let somebody push you around in such an important decision. Its up to YOU!
You can always do the seller's concession that was previously talked about in previous posts if you decide to buy the home because it sounds like the sellers don't have the money to do the repairs. They've already took $11,000 off their asking price. They were probably figuring that was the price of the repairs that need to be done so they have already given you the discount. Going from the original $145,000 to $125,000 down to $114,000 is a pretty significant drop in some places of the country.
So are prices for homes in the area going for $145,000 or are they going for $114,000? You have to take that into consideration because you know the sellers are.
Your inspector poked a hole in a person's support beam?????
Look at your contract. MOST contracts say that if your inspector does damage to a person's property then you as the buyer are responsible for the damage. It usually says something along the lines of the property must be in the same condition as before the inspection. A hole in their support beam caused by the inspector is not pre-existing condition.
I'm sure you can say that the beam was rotten so it was ok to be putting a hole through it, but that is utter BS that the inspector did that!! He could have just scraped it or made a note about it.
NOW, the seller has a hole in THEIR support beam of THEIR home. It does not matter that it was considered rotting by that inspector. How would that inspector like it if somebody went to HIS home and started jabbing screwdrivers in things that they think need fixed??
As for the realtor pushing you to buying the house when you have misgivings....don't do it!! Don't let somebody push you around in such an important decision. Its up to YOU!
You can always do the seller's concession that was previously talked about in previous posts if you decide to buy the home because it sounds like the sellers don't have the money to do the repairs.
The rot is the damage.
The inspector just diagnosed the damage. A probe will not penetrate sound wood.
The rot is the damage.
The inspector just diagnosed the damage. A probe will not penetrate sound wood.
You missed my point. You can diagnose damage without causing further damage. A finger pointed to the rot or you can peel up a little bit of the wood with a fingernail. You do NOT have to jam anything into something to prove its rotten. The inspector does not have to see how far the rot has gotten into the wood. Its enough for him to make a note about it. The whole thing is just an asine way for the inspector to say "Well, now, they HAVE to fix it!"
Home inspectors are not experts on everything. If he suspected there was rot, then he should have taken a picture pointing to the rot, and made a note in his report. All of the inspection reports I have seen say have a professional look at the damage.
Trust your gut instinct and don't let emotions get in the way! If you are feeling like this is all not worth it, walk away! I have been learning over this past summer to not let emotions get in the way, it's is VERY hard I understand! For me, there is no way I wouldn't walk away from something like this, but to you guys it might be worth it. If you have other homes you are interested in, I would go look at them, you may be surprised. Good luck!
Update: We decided not to go with the house. The contactor gave a repair estimate of about $20k to make the house structurally sound, with an additional $10k to fix the plumbing, electrical, and fireplace. The sellers were willing to fix the structure, but they wanted to do it themselves instead of hiring a contractor, we said no thanks.
On the plus side we are looking into a house that's more centrally located, at the top of our budget at about $25k more than the last house, but is much nicer and move in ready with a large private yard for the dogs.
Hello all, So we are preparing to buy our first home in the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts, we are working with, in my opinion, the greatest real estate agent there is, she was recommended by a friend of the family with whom she had worked with for 30 years before retiring. (we joke that we're her charity case of year as she normally only deals with million dollar estates, and we're, um, not in that price range, by a lot)
The house we're looking at had been on the market for slightly over a year, the house was originally listed at $145k, then over the last year they lowered the price gradually to $125k. We were fully prepared to pay that price, but our realtor said it would be even nicer at $120k, so we offered $114k expecting to haggle and get to that $120k price, but to our surprise they accepted our low offer wanting to sell before the end of the year to avoid heating and maintaining over what are usually harsh winters, with the understanding they wouldn't be fixing any cosmetic issues or minor repairs. This is where I get confused.
She put a clause in our offer that made the sale contingent of our approval of the inspection, to give us an out. We have our inspection next week, and I know he will flag the roof, the last time I was there doing the water test (which failed, but the seller had a professional treat the well and got a passing lab score) I noticed the flashing on the chimney looked like it was damaged (peeling away from chimney) as well as a no longer used TV antenna on the roof that I'm concerned will leak. (attic is dry with no sign of water entry. yet.)
Is this something I can ask the seller to take care of? or get an estimate on my own, and try to negotiate the cost with the seller even though they said they wouldn't be taking care of any repairs? having a proper roof is kind of a deal breaker for me. I could care less about the $0.75 cracked wall plate in the bathroom, but the roof is fairly important. if it's just a few hundred to repair and get us through a couple more years, I couldn't write the check fast enough, but if we're talking several thousand to replace the entire roof, that's not something we could afford right away.
Thanks for reading my novel of a story, this whole home buying process is a lot more involved than I ever thought it could be, if it wasn't for our realtor, I'd have given up by now.
If you go with an FHA loan they have to make sure the roof has at least 3 years remaining and is in habitable conditions. You can check public county records for the home to see when they got the last permit for the room, generally a roof should last 25 years depending on what kind it is. If there is other financing the bank won't let you proceed with a bad roof anyway unless you or the seller agree to fix it.
Update: We decided not to go with the house. The contactor gave a repair estimate of about $20k to make the house structurally sound, with an additional $10k to fix the plumbing, electrical, and fireplace. The sellers were willing to fix the structure, but they wanted to do it themselves instead of hiring a contractor, we said no thanks.
On the plus side we are looking into a house that's more centrally located, at the top of our budget at about $25k more than the last house, but is much nicer and move in ready with a large private yard for the dogs.
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.
