I hate to be a wet noodle, but here's another caution. I don't know if you saw, but a couple months ago I wrote that our house was broken into during our remodel & a brand new 5 ton ac system was stolen from the garage. If you are going to store appliances in the house just make sure you can secure them & have alarm, etc. to protect your investment. We figure it was an "inside job" b/c only a small universe of people knew the ac had been delivered. But, if people know you are working on house, be sure to protect yourself & your stuff. Now, all that said, I wish I had had my new panel ready fridge delivered earlier because when it arrived we discovered that it has black trim that the cabinet guy seems not to be able to figure out how to cover. I ordered it months ago & it has been sitting in appliance shop's warehouse waiting for me to give the go ahead. So, there's an instance where it would have been better to have it delivered sooner so we could figure out how to deal with issues that come up. I would say the same about stove & sink as well. Cabinet & granite people do seem to want/need to see those in order to get final measurements right. So, it's a hard call. Good luck & enjoy the new kitchen!

i will explain since it appears this is an emotional subject with the possibility of people reading more into things than are really there. Firstly, if I were Bluestar Management, I would have extended her warranty, repaired the range, provided some compensation, taken ownership of the issue and apologized. As I said in my post "it is too bad Bluestar did not take a more CS approach..." I also said " there must be more to the story that we are not hearing..." which means we have not heard Bluestars side of the issue and we never will. Therefore, as much as I support Persimmon and feel bad for what she experienced, how can I get on here and rail on Bluestar when I can't know all the details? For example, who installed the range? Was the range tested at install? Was the Bluestar installation checklist filled out? As far as I understand, the installer is supposed to complete the burn-in process before leaving ... Why didn't the installer notice the loud sound then? Maybe the situation was; whoever installed could not test as the kitchen was not yet complete? I just don't know. I am not in anyway saying these things did not happen or that Persimmion is not 100% justified in being completely frustrated - she is. Perhaps the installer wasn't qualified. perhaps the installer was not familiar with Bluestar. All I am saying is I can never know everything that occurred, how the damage occurred, so how can I crucify Bluestar and conversely, how can I defend them? - I can't. I think it is easy to get on here and jump on the bandwagon and either defend or crucify without knowing all the facts. I can imagine all the issues Bluestar has to decipher like the questions I asked above. While I think they should go overboard in compensation as it is the "right thing to do" when you product messes up - I also do not know the issues the company is facing. It is not a $2 big mac and you are giving one free to compensate the customer. It is a big, heavy item, that takes people, trucks, time and a whole lot of money to diagnose, repair or return. I can understand them not wanting to send a return truck the instant an issue occurs. That being said, BS management needs to read a book on customer service as they could have handled much better. But faced with the obvious emotion of this forum over the issue, they probably just opted to cut their losses and return the item. Can you imagine BS coming on here and trying to explain themselves. It wouldn't work and they can't so they probably did what they thought she wanted. I mean geez, they had non involved parties sending the President emails ... it was obviously spiraling out of control for them. But I will never have the full story as only one side gets to get on forums and tell their side. I am counting on you guys to remind me of that next time I am posting my displeasure with some manufacturer....lol. Persimmion, I am glad you got some resolution and it is too bad you had to go through this in the first place. Best wishes in your search for a new favorite range. I will be incredibly jealous if you end up with a Wolf. Best wishes. This post was edited by goodguy2k2k on Tue, Apr 16, 13 at 23:32

Hi, (waving) I'm on the 'other side of the pond' from you...Mystic, CT. Oh Boy, do I understand what you're saying about the high prices & poorly maintained properties. Here, it's about how close is the train & how close are you to the water that drives prices. Prices haven't fallen much in the past year either. Not nearly what I'd anticipated. Just want to mention about that Anderson window...if it was installed by an Anderderson rep it's guaranteed for 25 years. So, you should be able to get the window & surrounding rot fixed on Andersen's dime. We had a similar problem when we bought our place in Mystic. The Anderson atrium door was rotted & the seal in one living room window was shot. The windows were 21 years old. Andersen replaced everything & it only cost us somewhere around $300. The atrium door alone sells for about $3K plus installation. So, check about the warranty. I agree with the washer draining into the sink. Common, normal, & not a problem on LI or New England. Just don't use the sink as a recepticle for dirty laundry & you'll be fine! Wood rots on LI & our SE CT coastal area. It's a fact of life living so near a large body of water. It surely doesn't generically mean that a home is lacking in overall maintenance. Maybe it is...and, maybe it isn't. Just to give you an idea though of wood maintenance here...we gave up on trying to get a screen door to last more than a couple years. We purchased a stainless steel/brass door. It cost a bloody fortune but, by G@d, we won't have to replace that puppy for a loooong time! If there's a sidewalk older than 10 years in New England (or, LI) that is NOT buckled from trees roots...I'd like to know where that is? The cities plants those gosh durn Norway maples in the medians & not only do they drop massive amount of helicopter seeds every May but the roots break up sidewalks, driveways, & foundations. Call the city. They'll come out (eventually...may take a couple years) & either just chop at the roots a bit & repair the sidewalk or they'll cut the tree down, fix the sidewalk, & plant a new tree. So, that's not a problem. What does the seller disclosure sheet say about the boiler? Frankly, at the price point you're talking...I'd say that the need for a new boiler's already baked into the price. I gotta tell you, I just don't see anything to warrant a lot of whoopla on your inspection. Not for your marketplace. I agree with you...negotiate a $10K-$15K price reduction. Inventory under $500K is virtually non-existant for anything you'd want to call home. Also, to those not from this area...1953 is not an old house on LI or New England. It was built during the post-War building boom. Use of the words "old" or "older" are reserved by REALTORS for homes built pre-1900. Here, in Mystic...pre-1850. Anyway, if you really like the property I sure wouldn't give up on it due to what you've listed from the inspection report. You're right...you're unlikely to find better at that price point. Good luck! /tricia

I have purchased a number of older homes, and this sounds like par for the course for me. All this "money pit" and "walk away" stuff is perplexing. If you want a new home, then get one. If you want one from 1960, it is going to have systems near the end of their lives and some items to repair. Anything already disclosed or already visually obvious is off the table. No Seller is going to rebuild the deck for you, or replace a roof that is not leaking. You are buying what you see. The only reason for inspection is to reveal unknown issues you will have to deal with in the future. I'd ask for repair of the electrical issues because those can be safety issues. Then evaluate the cost of a new roof and a new deck, compare that with the cost of a similar house in perfect new repair, and ask for some reasonable dollar amount or amount off the purchase price. If you cannot afford to repair these items, think twice about an older home.