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We're closing on a home next week and have a concern of what may be hidden under the carpet. Can we pull up a section of the carpet during our final walk through? When we viewed the home there were pets in the home and 2 litter boxes. The stench from the litter boxes was really bad. The house itself was well kept. It was a bit cluttered but it didn't keep us from being able to check the place out before making an offer. In our offer it was noted that the smell was unbearable and after a little bit of negotiating we feel we got a decent deal on the house. The homeowner never put in the disclosure that they had pets, never mind multiple pets. Prior to listing the house the owners put wall to wall throughout the entire house with the exception of the kitchen and bathrooms. I'm concerned that the wood floors underneath are damaged by the animals. The weather still won't be warm enough for the humidity to bring up the smell from the floor if they are damaged by urine. Are we allowed to pull up a corner of the carpet to investigate when we do our walk through? What if this is an issue after we close? This home is going to be a rental since we live out of state and I'd hate to rent it out only to have the tenants complain of the smell.
Not really, you are going to kill a whole deal and you think someone who's home you don't own yet is going to let you pull up a carpet?
Plus you will lose earnest money if you back out now.
You said the price you paid took into consideration any problem from the smell so close and deal with it.
After you close you agreed to buy the home as is at walk thru.
If they put in the carpet after listing it and the smell was unbearable what makes you think it will be that different at closing? but airing the home out and shampooing the carpet and using love my carpet might help, or airing out the home too. sometimes it's little box or smelly pet problems that can go away once they are gone.
Use love my carpet and cross your fingers.
did the inspectors and appraiser not have a sense of smell?
You don't have the right to pull up the carpet until you own it.
I'm not sure what you're getting at with their lack of disclosure on pets. You said the smell was so bad as to give you leverage for a better deal. The cats were not hidden from you. Cats may have peed everywhere... Assume the worst. You are buying it with full knowledge of this risk.
First, a seller does not have to disclose they have pets. Second, you OBVIOUSLY knew they had pets anyway. If the stench is only coming from the litter box then it's possible one of the cats just went to the potty right before you walked in. It is an overbearing smell when they first go, but then goes away. Smell from the litter box will NOT get into the carpet. If the carpet is new then you have nothing to worry about.
If the cats sprayed or peed all over the carpet and it sunk into the flooring, you would have known without a doubt when you looked at the home. There is no covering up that smell and you would have smelled it throughout the home. If that is not the case, then you have nothing to worry about.
Regardless, at this stage you are stuck! You should have demanded they moved their stuff to inspect during the inspection. If you were to walk now you would lose your earnest money and could possibly be sued for breaking a contract.
Regardless, at this stage you are stuck! You should have demanded they moved their stuff to inspect during the inspection. If you were to walk now you would lose your earnest money and could possibly be sued for breaking a contract.
This. You had your chance to back out based on the inspection. If you couldn't access everything you needed to see to make your decision, that was your opportunity to address it. At this point, the walk through is to confirm that the property remains in the condition it was when you entered into the contract, not so you could look again to see if you were still happy with it. Whatever was under the carpet was there when you made your offer.
Since they installed the carpet after listing the property, it sounds like the odor problem is likely under the carpet. See if you can find out who installed the carpet and ask them what type of special provision or treatment they made to deal with the underlying floors.
Even lifting a corner of the carpet will be a hit-or-miss proposition. How would you determine where to lift and inspect how much ... even if the seller would go along with the idea. You could offer to pay to have the carpet pulled-up and reinstalled in one room to verify your theory. If the place stinks as bad as you say at final inspection, you might simply say, "We expected the place to air-out and the odor to dissipate, but, as it stands, we are no longer interested in the property." (Whether you could walk without losing your deposit will depend on the wording of your contract).
If the floors underneath were permeated with cat urine and not properly treated prior to carpet installation, you could be looking at replacing it all to fix the problem. You need to seriously ask yourselves, "Am I willing to live with this odor ... or pay a great deal of money to deal with it --- or is it time to cut our losses and walk away?"
Since they installed the carpet after listing the property, it sounds like the odor problem is likely under the carpet. See if you can find out who installed the carpet and ask them what type of special provision or treatment they made to deal with the underlying floors.
Even lifting a corner of the carpet will be a hit-or-miss proposition. How would you determine where to lift and inspect how much ... even if the seller would go along with the idea. You could offer to pay to have the carpet pulled-up and reinstalled in one room to verify your theory. If the place stinks as bad as you say at final inspection, you might simply say, "We expected the place to air-out and the odor to dissipate, but, as it stands, we are no longer interested in the property." (Whether you could walk without losing your deposit will depend on the wording of your contract).
If the floors underneath were permeated with cat urine and not properly treated prior to carpet installation, you could be looking at replacing it all to fix the problem. You need to seriously ask yourselves, "Am I willing to live with this odor ... or pay a great deal of money to deal with it --- or is it time to cut our losses and walk away?"
OP said it was PRIOR to listing, not after. That implies, but isn't clear, that it might have been recently. But they may have had carpet before that was trashed due to pets (and ordinary wear and tear) and put in new carpeting so it would show better, not explicitly to hide something underneath.
But in any case, the final walk through isn't the time to be making this decision, that was during the inspection.
ok I am going to speak from an investor perspective. Did you run the numbers on this property and calculate the net cash flow after all the expenses. Did you incorporate the maintenance cost or replacement cost of carpet / cleaning etc? Why is this coming as a concern to you at this point? You can still go with a worse case scenario of gutting and rework / cleaning expense and figure out how much you will make or loose in the short run.
It's not your house until you actually close. No, you can't pull up their carpeting. It's not your house. You know they had cats. Your offer reflected the pets. Too late now!
Regarding the carpeting, why would you even consider keeping it? Before you move in rip that out and get new floors. Then you get what you want anyway. It's not that expensive. Don't be gross...do the right thing.
Regarding the carpeting, why would you even consider keeping it? Before you move in rip that out and get new floors. Then you get what you want anyway. It's not that expensive. Don't be gross...do the right thing.
OP stated that the carpeting was put in brand new throughout the home prior to listing.
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Keeping carpeting?
