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Unless this is the end all, be all, "can't live without this" house, I don't know why one would entangle themselves in such a headache. It concerns me that the seller of a half a million dollar home was not forthcoming about the condition of the roof and that there were crawlspace issues. What else are they concealing? What else have they neglected or fixed via the cheapest way possible?
Homes are inspected by people who know what they are doing. Did the seller really think that the age/condition of the roof would not be caught by an inspection? To me, the price of the home-- unless it's in the middle of NYC or San Fran-- does not fall into the "well, what did you expect for half a mill" category.
It actually is a perfect house for our needs in a market with very little inventory. Besides the roof and crawl space, it actually had a pretty clean inspection and is structurally sound for a house of that age. BUT, we are under due diligence and can back out with earnest money intact if red flags remain at the end of this process.
I agree with you, Mike. My house was the same way. I nicknamed my home "the house of deferred maintenance", lol. And I would bet $$ that the OP's agent never entered the crawlspace to view it and warn them about any existing problems.
I don’t think this is a particularly fair criticism of my agent. She pointed it out on the sellers disclosure, asked the sellers agent about it, DID go in to the extent reasonable before it would have involved army crawling over stones and under beams. She then insisted we use due diligence on the offer instead of repair procedure specifically to protect us in case the situation ended up being more dire than we were led to believe.
Also, there was no active water in the crawl space - much of what was found was evidence of past water and missing foundational support to an add on at the back of the house. Neither she or I would have been qualified to find this, which is why we have inspections.
We haven’t actually asked for this proof yet. We didn’t ask for it before we went under contract because under due diligence we can back out for any reason and not lose our earnest money. If we ask for it, and they provide it, we’re still asking for the new roof.
We may ask for it if the deal falls through so we can force them to update their sellers disclosure if they were full of sh** about the age. That way they don’t screw over anyone else.
But why not ask them for it NOW? Are you afraid they'll get mad and cancel the deal themselves?
THEY are the ones who said the roof was just 10 years old, when that does not appear to be the case. I can't see the downside to asking them about it (especially because the roof is pretty major). If you find out it IS just 10 years old despite all its issues (which I highly doubt), you could still ask for the new roof BECAUSE of all the issues.
But why not ask them for it NOW? Are you afraid they'll get mad and cancel the deal themselves?
THEY are the ones who said the roof was just 10 years old, when that does not appear to be the case. I can't see the downside to asking them about it (especially because the roof is pretty major). If you find out it IS just 10 years old despite all its issues (which I highly doubt), you could still ask for the new roof BECAUSE of all the issues.
No, not worried about that at all, they’re legally bound to the deal.
I suppose we very well might ask for it this week. The roofer inspection and recommendations only came through Friday, and we have two more weeks of the due diligence period. They’ve already agreed to have a roofer and insurance adjuster come out and look at the roof for possible replacement. I guess I don’t want to give them any signal that we’re considering being less demanding on the roof if they do show it was only put on 10 years ago.
Is this a cash deal? Will you be able to get a mortgage with a failing roof?
It is not a cash deal, and that’s a very good question. We’ve let our mortgage guy know we have some major concerns so he as well as the closing attorney are holding off on any services that would result in a cost until we get it figured out or walk away.
Isn't this where 'negotiation' of the purchase price comes in? Inspection reveals some shortcomings....you ask for a price reduction from the seller and you make the repairs, or the seller makes the repairs?
Isn't this where 'negotiation' of the purchase price comes in? Inspection reveals some shortcomings....you ask for a price reduction from the seller and you make the repairs, or the seller makes the repairs?
It is just that easy.
Wait! Often it is not just that easy.
Isn't this where 'negotiation' of the purchase price comes in? Inspection reveals some shortcomings....you ask for a price reduction from the seller and you make the repairs, or the seller makes the repairs?
We will likely end up going this route, especially with the crawl space. With the roof the seller will want the option to see if they can get insurance to cover the replacement first. Ultimately if they don’t at least agree to pay for the roof/crawl space, (or most of it), we will walk.
But why not ask them for it NOW? Are you afraid they'll get mad and cancel the deal themselves?
THEY are the ones who said the roof was just 10 years old, when that does not appear to be the case. I can't see the downside to asking them about it (especially because the roof is pretty major). If you find out it IS just 10 years old despite all its issues (which I highly doubt), you could still ask for the new roof BECAUSE of all the issues.
It makes zero sense to not ask for this information. I thought the same thing: that the buyer does not want to upset the seller for some reason. That the OP believes it is the perfect house reinforces my belief that that is the case. The whole "we didn't ask for documentation because we have a legal right to back out," is a very strange response to me.
I'm picturing being in the situation in which I love a home and take the seller's word on the age/condition of the roof. Then inspections show that the information I received from the seller does not add up. So what do I do? I say, "Oh well, I won't ask them for proof that the roof is only 10 years old because if I find this out later" (through osmosis or in a dream?) I'll be able to legally back out of the deal...
It's all up to the OP how they handle it but do the agents that post here think it's weird that the buyer is not requesting proof of the age of the roof? Wouldn't you insist they ask for it as their advocate/representative in the deal?
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