Home Inspection Revealed lots of issues.. what should we ask for?
4 years ago
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- 4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
- 4 years ago
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Foundation issues on an inspection report on older home.
Comments (12)Well, the point is obviously that the repairs aren't overcoming the structural deficits in the foundation. Jacking that house up and putting a new foundation under it is pretty clearly in the cards, and in fact I would love to do that to ours - it's currently being done frequently in my neighbourhood and the bonus is that instead of a 200-y-o basement you get a solid, modern, and probably higher basement (if zoning allows) with a charming old house on top of it. Best of both worlds, in my opinion. But the long and short of it is, this house is a renovator, not a move-in. You've probably got cosmetic repairs as well as reconnecting and possibly redoing all its systems after a lift, so you're going to have live somewhere else for a while and make a bunch of decisions. Above all, you're going to have to spend a bunch of money. So even if you are game for the work, the price you pay for the house should be the resurrection price, not the renovated price. THAT way, if you do fade in the face of the work, you can resell to a renovator without too great a loss. If the price of the house can go down by about 50K or more to reflect your anticipated expenditures, then you're OK as long as you know what you're buying - a project. I think I remember the photos you've posted, and it's interesting to speculate whether the previous owners were just bandaid people in denial about gravity, or deliberately spiffing up a structural disaster in hopes that they could have their cake and eat it too - unload a failing house and still realize its full potential value. By the way, I seem to remember too (too lazy to check) that you had some issues with yard spaces - when a house is lifted, it can potentially also be moved on the lot, within zoning allowance, so maybe you can make things more to your liking in that regard. A big project is nothing to run away from as long as a big project is what you want and as long as the price you are paying is fair FOR A PROJECT. So ask yourself, if it were 100K cheaper pending a year of work, how would you perceive it? If you want it, negotiate the price at which it is worth it to you. Or run away :-) Karin L...See MoreHome inspection - lots o'problems
Comments (13)Fully understand the cost/benefit roadblock of involving a lawyer in a 4-figure dispute. But consider that fast and satisfying results can often be obtained by: a) paying a hungry lawyer just $150-$300 dollars to write an intimidating letter of intent, aka the NASTYGRAM! ;') b) Loading up on intimidating legalese your own self, and writing your own NASTYGRAM. I've found the books from Nolo Press to be especially useful in this regard. Often stocked by your local public library. MASS is known for great public libraries. If you're willing to invest the time, you CAN shame this inspector and/or their ins. co. to cough up the $$... the internet is your friend! You can start by ID'ing the lax inspector right here in this thread! Won't help me in FL, but MA is a populous state, so a great public service will be performed. The 2 oversights you've cited are so BASIC that you MUST get compensated for them. In fact, AFAIK, they are both OUTRIGHT *CODE VIOLATIONS*! Zero excuse for passing them. Getting the lame inspector DE-licensed would be nice too....See MoreBuyer has asked for $5K after inspection AND now is asking for repairs
Comments (14)"who cares if I pi$$ them off" I think some buyers have that attitude. What they forget is that the owner still is living and taking care of that house until the closing. Do you really want to piss off someone who is taking care of one of the biggest investment you probably will make in your life? It don't think it work out good for our buyer. As I said before, ours was a custom home built by us and using commercial electrician and plumber. There was valves and switches all over the house that a normal house did not have. I was going to label everything for the new owner until the princess started trying to squeeze money out of us. Heck there was switches I didn't even know what they were for, but my husband did. Then my attitude changed to "figure it out yourself." The last straw came when a few days before the closing when she wanted to inconvenience everyone to change their schedules to move the closing up by a day so she wouldn't be inconvenienced and could have some work done before they moved in on Saturday. Of course we said NO. That is when I really lost it. It was not nice, but I sabotaged the house. I knew she didn't know how to do anything and I don't think he he knew a hammer from a screwdriver. I didn't do nothing petty like taking light bulbs or damaging the home. I made sure every switch and valve was off. I know they probably ended up calling in trades to figure out why the doorbell didn't ring, or why the gas fireplaces and grills didn't work, or why they couldn't program the garage and front door, etc. Well the doorbell had a hidden switch to turn it on and off and I shut it off. There were extra safety valves for the gas fireplaces and grills in the basement ceiling at different locations that were turned off. The codes they were given to open the garage and front door was a guest code not the master code. The garage door didn't open because it was also on a switch and the same with the outside garage motion detector. The outdoor plugs didn't work either unless a switch was on. Somehow they got my son who lived close by phone number and tried calling him several times. He just ignored them. I know it wasn't nice to sabotage the house, but looking back I still have no regrets, because she was a royal bit_ch. We move to our new house a week before the closing and after all we were just protecting the empty house from theft or gas leaks. lol...See MoreHow concerned should I be about skipping home inspections?
Comments (40)From what I am reading, you were lucky enough to secure a contract on an unusually large home in a hot market. In circumstances like that, being in the right place at the right time gave you the opportunity to buy a desirable home. If you choose to back out, you will spend more money trying to secure alternative housing, fees and charges duplicated on the next house you find and likely pay a higher price for the replacement. If you back out now, you are guaranteed to lose money, but if you close, you have a fairly good chance that you haven't bought a problem house. Most issues found in a home inspection are not deal breakers, especially if the property was built in the past few decades. Old houses are more likely to have expensive problems but if this is a newer home, serious issues aren't as likely. In my area, most sales are as-is with an inspection clause which allows the buyer walk away if there are substantial defects found. In common practice, buyers request certain items to be fixed and sellers often fix issues to avoid losing the sale. However in a hot market, sellers are likely to refuse to fix issues unless lenders refuse to finance the purchase....See MoreRelated Professionals
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