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House buying vent
So after months of looking at houses, we finally found one that we love. We put in an offer and came to an agreement with the seller. Fast forward to yesterday and the home inspection.
Mold in the basement
Broken rafters leading to a possible partial roof collapse
Rusted out electrical panel
Rotted out subfloor under part of family room
There's more, but those are the big ones. I'm so frustrated. The seller is working with us and plans to work on things, I'm just concerned she doesn't realize how much needs to be done, and even more concerned that things won't be fixed beyond surface level. It's great to remediate the mold, but we want the underlying issues that led to the mold fixed too.
I know the easy answer is to walk away and find a house with less baggage, but we have really tried and struggled with finding the right house in our price range. Ugh.
Re: House buying vent
Ha in my humble advice get a professional contractor out there to price everything and then ask for a credit.
But yeah walking away might have to happen
If it's more than you are allowed to ask for in credits, you could always specify the contractors you want to do the work - that way you know who is doing it and you trust the job gets done to your satisfaction. For something like that, I would not be okay with letting the sellers do the repairs themselves, too many variables and they could cheap out on you. GL!
Don't forget, if you found this stuff, chances are the next person will too. So they may as well fix it for you, as opposed to going back on the market and waiting for a new buyer.
I would send your own contractor over to get an estimate - if they really want to sell their house, they'll be willing to work with you.
When we were buying, someone (i believe i was erbur) said "there is no such thing as the perfect house." A lot of older houses do have issues. But, you have to draw a line at what you're willing to deal with.
I think DH is leaning toward walking away. I'd like to get a contractor in there to see what they say.
I really just don't want to start over with finding another house.
Mold in the basement
Broken rafters leading to a possible partial roof collapse
Rusted out electrical panel
Rotted out subfloor under part of family room
I don't know what municipality you are in, but I know the rusted electrical panel won't pass U&O in ours. Does the seller realize this or have they listed the house with the caveat that it is "as-is" or that U&O problems the responsibility of the buyer?
She had an electrician coming out yesterday, I assuming she's taking care of it.
Id personally feel comfortable with the repairs if I was able to select the contractor myself and have some control of that process to ensure its done properly. At the very least Id ask for some documentation, photos etc from the contractor to explain how things were fixed, materials used etc, and provide a warranty for their work. Things like rafters and subfloors are not things you can easily check up on when you get into the house so having photos would help protect your "investment" and ease your mind that it was done properly.
The mold troubles me. We had mold in our house too so Ive looked into this quite a bit. Sometimes the mold is very minor and once the current mold is removed, a dehumidifier can easily control the situation and its no long term issue. Other times the cause of the mold is much more difficult to manage and may result in larger issues like an inability to finish the basement (could be an issue for you now or when you resale later) or even the mold getting into your ventilation system and spreading throughout your house. Id be sure to get a mold professional to assess the CAUSE of the mold and how to appropriately mitigate both the current mold and its reoccurance long term because you may or may not be okay with that result.
That was mr erbur, not me. He's the home inspector.
IMO, I would not worry as much about mold. I would worry more about the radon test or if they found asbestos in the house. Radon is the 2nd leading cause of lung cancer.
The rusted electrical panel + the mold (btw, did the inspector note if it was localized or all over?) indicates that there is a ventilation problem in the basement--proper circulation of air, dehumidifier and adequate waterproofing/sealing of windows should resolve that.
The collapses would be more of my concern...collapses indicate that the earth and/or structure is moving and I'd get to the bottom of the cause. It can sometimes be as simple as the location of the gutters too near the house or something more drastic (like foundation cracks).