Are Investers Flipping Chinese Drywall Homes? (Cape Coral, Sarasota: sale, credit, lawyers)

[Big House]

Originally Posted by RichardZ

> This post sound like a present day Charles Dickens story with the main character "Scrooge" being portrayed by you. There are many parallels here.

Lol!....That was a risk I took....

> I do agree with you however that a lot of people do not know how to handle money properly. But thanks to the banks and being able to borrow money I have been very successful in my own real-estate ventures.

I see people more controlled by money because they don't control it properly I guess. We as a society seem to be caught up in a never ending upgrade of everything in our lives. Some upgrades make us more productive which is great. Some save us time. But most....its just for the approval of a spouse, neighbor or a fellow employee. Its rarely enjoyed for more than a very brief amount of time.
I love it when people say "I only buy the best". Well buddy, the best today is going to be trash in 10 years. Look at the TV's 10 years ago compared to today. The computers, phones, virtually most anything in electronics was a shadow of itself today. So its just a never ending pusuit of the fruitless. We get so much more out of non-material things - like our health and relationships.

> Life does not revolve around money, and happiness can not be bought with it. I know to many people, family and friends that are obsessed with their bank rolls. Yes its nice to have a little nest egg, but enjoy life a little before its to late.

Yes I agree 100%. But enjoyment of life is quite impossible if you're overweight, not fit, have numerous aches and pains, etc. I just would encourage people to focus on their health way before buying their next house upgrade. So many people work all their lives, then keel over from a heart attack a year after retirement. Seems like such a waste.

>Sitting in an office in 40 degree cold

Not cold at all if you are good at solving insulation problems. I'm toasty most all the time. (I found a way of keeping my fingers warm when typing. Nothing on the market for that!) Like any problem it requires persistence and patience.

> or cooking in 100 degree heat is not living.

With the windows open the temperature inside is going to be very close to the temperature outside. When you get too hot you just dip your stretchy, skin tight tshirt in water. Cools you for about 2 hours. If its a dark color nobody even knows its damp. When you go outside, wear a loose white shirt on top to minimize drying from the sun.

> My question to you is why work at all ? You can have that type of comfort by being homeless.

I'm not that much of a loon. LOL!

> As far a the CDW problem I personally would run from a property that had it. We just don't know what the long term effects are going to be even after the property has be remedied.

It does look that way. I'm very curious to try to approximate just what percentage of properties on the market are effected by it. You can bet most everybody that knows they have it is going to attempt to sell before laws are put into place to protect the purchaser.

I was told today by a Florida realtor that the chances of a renovation having the CDW is small as most of it was bought for new home construction. (I'm looking at a simple, older house.) I wonder if you people here in the know would agree with that statement? She said they didn't exactly sell it in Home Depot et al for the do it yourselfer.

During the years after Charlie there was a drywall shortage. It wasn't just florida. It was nationwide. There was a huge construction boom going on and plants were opening all over to try to keep up with demand. Prices were skyrocketing and drywall was going on allocation.

Simply put, some CDW was used in kitchen remodeling and repairs. In houses that needed to be renovated or repaired, not all the drywall was replaced - so it is hard to get it figure out with 100 percent certainty.

In new houses, when drywall is delivered, it is all delivered at once, and it is all hung at once. It is the most cost effective way of doing it, and then following up with the finishing. So if a fairly new house has it, it is likely that it is everywhere. If a fairly new house doesn't have it in a room, then it is likely that it doesn't have it anywhere. You can never say never in the construction business though. So, the back up plan is to look for symptoms. Like is the metal rusting, corner bead, doors, door hardware, cabinet hardware, plumbing fixtures - any other metal items. Is the copper piping turning black, electrical wirings, hvac coils. Nails, truss plates, with sulfuric acid (which this stuff seems to contain) it will corrode and deteriorate many things.

Generally older homes don't have it unless there were renovations made. Renovations do not guarantee that CDW was used though. But it is less likely to be found in older homes. It is good to look in the attic, and in the cabinets that do not have backs - like under the kitchen sink, and maybe in the garage if it was never finished. Anywhere where you have a chance of seeing the name of the manufacture on the wall board.

[RichardZ]

I'm curious....what percentage of older, sub $100,000, Florida homes do most of you think have some CDW?

[Vanwilder]

Originally Posted by RichardZ

I'm curious....what percentage of older, sub $100,000, Florida homes do most of you think have some CDW?

RichardZ, My guess would be that homes built prior to 2003 in that price range that did not have any renovations done to it during the building boom would be Zero. You would be very safe in buying a home pre 2003.

Use your nose and have your inspector check for the tell tale signs for your own peace of mine.

[tommy-105]

Personally, even though I have plenty of construction experience, I wouldn't buy or lease any home in any of the Southern states regardless of age, without a CDW inspection by a qualified inspector. At around $250 how could you afford not to?

http://i610.photobucket.com/albums/tt186/tommy-105/wirenutCDW.jpg (broken link)

This charred wire nut came out of a CDW home in Virgina It was in the NY Times article linked to in this post:https://www.city-data.com/forum/11107606-post2.html

The copper corroded, resulting in resistance in the circuit, resulting in heat. I'm not an Electrician but I think the blue wire nuts are used on larger higher amperage wires.
Scary stuff.

[Bideshi]

CDW is turning up in Alaska now!

[kbuild]

I think this is just the tip of the iceberg.

[kbuild]

Originally Posted by Vanwilder

RichardZ, My guess would be that homes built prior to 2003 in that price range that did not have any renovations done to it during the building boom would be Zero. You would be very safe in buying a home pre 2003.

Use your nose and have your inspector check for the tell tale signs for your own peace of mine.

I have seen homes built in 2001 with CDW, so rule of thumb if prior to 2003 is not always correct.

[Vanwilder]

Originally Posted by kbuild

I have seen homes built in 2001 with CDW, so rule of thumb if prior to 2003 is not always correct.

First documented Florida imports of CDM were in the middle of 2002. All of this material went to the Miami-Dade area. That said it is possible that a truck or two many have made it to this area prior to 2003. The largest imports occurred between 2004 and 2007. Just using logic it would be safe to say a home built prior to 2003 in this area of Florida would be safe from CDW. But as in life there are no guarantees, so have it check out by building inspector prior to your purchase.

[Big House]

Originally Posted by Vanwilder

First documented Florida imports of CDM were in the middle of 2002. All of this material went to the Miami-Dade area. That said it is possible that a truck or two many have made it to this area prior to 2003. The largest imports occurred between 2004 and 2007. Just using logic it would be safe to say a home built prior to 2003 in this area of Florida would be safe from CDW. But as in life there are no guarantees, so have it check out by building inspector prior to your purchase.

The problem with that logic is that hurricane Charlie came through and cause extensive damage throughout the SWFL area. I believe that 3 major hurricanes hit Florida that year and did a lot of damage throughout the state as well. So many homes that were built before 2002-2003 were repaired using Chinese drywall, plus with all the construction and house flipping that occured a lot of major renovation upgrades took place as well. So it really is not a great idea to feel because a home is built prior to 2003 you are going to be OK. Your recommendation to have a building inspector run some tests for you is a wise decision.

[Vanwilder]

Originally Posted by Big House

The problem with that logic is that hurricane Charlie came through and cause extensive damage throughout the SWFL area. I believe that 3 major hurricanes hit Florida that year and did a lot of damage throughout the state as well. So many homes that were built before 2002-2003 were repaired using Chinese drywall, plus with all the construction and house flipping that occured a lot of major renovation upgrades took place as well. So it really is not a great idea to feel because a home is built prior to 2003 you are going to be OK. Your recommendation to have a building inspector run some tests for you is a wise decision.

All good points BH but the percentages of homes built prior to 2003 still fall with in the logic that it will be CDW free. I know when I drop a few hundred thousand I do my homework, as I am sure you do. Lots of problems or potential problems to look for when buying a property. Some of the problems we can live with and fix and in this case with CDW run Forest run. You don't want to deal with it.

The logic part of me coming out is the engineer / mathematician.

So If your buying a home that was #1 built or #2 had repair #3 had major upgrades #4 renovations from 2003 - 2008 no matter what the age of the home have it check for CDW.