Repairs based on inspection (long... sorry)

katydid2716 · July 2012

My husband and I found an older home (built in the late 60's) in a lovely area with great schools. We thought the home was well taken care so we agreed to pay full price. We had the inspection and weren't expecting anything major to crop up. Boy were we wrong! The inspector found dangerous faulty electrical, foundation problems, leaks in the basement, and carbon monoxide leaking from an improperly installed water heater. There were all so laundry list of cosmetic problems like a broken dryer, improperly sealed shower, broken central vacuum, and the roof had another 5 years before it needed to be replaced.

We made our list of requested repairs which included fixing the leaking cracks in the basement, installing the water heater up to code, having an structural engineer evaluate the DIY bracing the seller had installed, and having an electrician give us an estimate on the electrical problems that seem to be in every room. We only addressed the safety issues and not the cosmetic stuff. Even so, the list ran about 15 items long.

Our attorney just called me and asked "do you really want this house?" and doesn't know how the seller is going to react. Again, we didn't ask for silly things like repainting or ripping out the ugly carpet. We asked for things like "please wire and ground the hot tub so we don't get electrocuted" and "please install the water heater correctly so carbon monoxide stops leaking into the basement." Yes the list is long but these seem like BIG, major things.

Did we ask for too much? This is the first time my husband and I are purchasing a home. We've owned condos in the past and our other inspections never turned up this kind of stuff.

Amberley18 · July 2012

Stick to your guns!! A lot of banks would not allow financing for a house with those issues. The sellers will have the repair request with any buyer, so if they are smart they will concede.

GeorgiaRiah · July 2012

My inspection on a 1959 (really well cared for house) came back with an 8 page list of repairs. That was with pictures. I asked them to fix 2 items on the list and left anything that was a couple hundred or less for myself to fix when I moved in. It is really what you are comfortable with and what really needs to be done to make you comfortable. I know there were 2 things that I did not want to take on myself. I wanted those 2 things done for sure so I didn't ask for a lot because I wanted to make sure those 2 were taken care of. One was a minor structural issue and one was a leak in a waste pipe. The other things on my list for example were wiring is older (2 prong in most of the house), damp crawl space (gutters were dumping on the foundation), insulate the crawl space, some paint on the trim, etc. I felt comfortable taking care of these things on my own so I am working through that list now that I have the house.

saisongbird · July 2012

Definitely stick to your guns on this one! Anything they DON'T repair you will have to take care of yourself! If houses fail inspections (electrical, etc) those generally have to be disclosed to the next buyer if you choose to walk away, so if you figure out what MUST be disclosed/repaired by law in order to secure financing, they're more likely to either give you the money to do it or do it themselves. We had a separate electrical inspection done on the house and it failed, so when we asked the seller for a $4500 credit to fix the electric, they originally said no. When we pointed out that they would have to disclose it in the future or repair it themselves, they gave us the money to take care of it. You never know what you're going to get - so figure out what failed the inspection, what they'll have to disclose, and see what you can get!

LoveKiss · July 2012

I am with your lawyer... do you really want this house? It seems like they DIYd a lot of stuff and it was done improperly. If this is what you can see on the surface, I'd be nervous about the plumbing and stuff behind the walls that you can't see.

Repairs based on inspection (long... sorry)

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