Walk away of work it out?
Advice needed, and I’ll try to make this brief as possible: My husband and I just had a very thorough (2+ hours) inspection done on a 2-family house we had hoped to purchase in Bay Ridge. The price is right and it has everything we’d been looking for including the fact that the owner had…
Advice needed, and I’ll try to make this brief as possible: My husband and I just had a very thorough (2+ hours) inspection done on a 2-family house we had hoped to purchase in Bay Ridge. The price is right and it has everything we’d been looking for including the fact that the owner had everything renovated just a few years ago (and included zoned heating, central a/c, soundproofed floor, finished basement, etc.). He did the work for himself and family to live in, although recently had to take in some elderly relatives so needed more room and now lives in the house right next door. Unfortunately yesterday the inspector gave us the sobering news that a lot of the renovation work that was done to the place was sloppy and would need fixing, including some (if not all, couldn’t see) of the pipes were not laid/secured well, electrical upgrades (possibly not enough voltage running to house) and a lot of other smaller stuff. Even the owner seemed surprised/disappointed in the results. We are so glad we did the inspection early on as it was a sobering experience! We were going to just walk away since we don’t have the money for these kind of repairs right now, but the owner really wants us to be his neighbor and is offering to get the new work done himself (at no expense to us) or even pay for us to get our own estimates from electricians and plumbers, etc. and then give us a price reduction on the house according to the costs (I’d consider this option first). Does any of this seem reasonable? I have no idea how much money or time any of this would involve or if we’re just crazy for even still considering this house. Opinions welcome!
Someone told me that sometimes inspectors greatly exaggerate what what problems are and then recommend not buying a house. The buyers think this guys a hero “oh he saved us from wasting our money”, etc. This guy then gets tapped again for another inpection with a new bill.
While it is true that inspectors do point out the worst, I have found that you can’t rely on them to give you a realistic idea of how much it will cost to do a given fix. They generally tend to tell you it will cost less than it will, as they know, from experience, who they can get to do something reasonably well and cheaply (and they will tell you this). Definitely get estimates from recommended electricians and plumbers on how much the costs will be – that should help you in making your decision.
3:46 is right – inspectors make things sound MUCH MUCH worse than they are usually. None of the problems he pointed out sound that bad, and none sound like they need to be addressed immediately or even soon. Definitely don’t walk away – just get estimates from trusted plumber and electriican and have reduced from price.
keep in mind that it is an inspector’s job to tell you the absolute WORST thing possible (mainly so you can’t sue them).
our inspector told us the boilers were at the end of their life. my boiler came and looked after we moved in to say that they were fine and couldn’t recommend anything to improve them.
our inspector told us all the building’s windows needed to be replaced. park slope glass came and did $500 worth of fixes and they’re fine.
same goes for basement underpinning, replacement joists, electrical and plumbing systems, roof, etc. the inspector is trying to make you worried, and then you really have to get a professional’s opinion on replace cost and hassle.
good luck!
12:18 here –
Well, yeah, I might not want to go with a flipper, either, unless the inspector raved about the work quality, but rather a home owned by someone who maintained it well (unless I was doing a gut reno and didn’t care.)
But, since the inspection showed SHODDY do-it-yourself-work, I wouldn’t trust it. There are do-it-yourselfers who do it right, or get enought help to do it right – and if this was the case, the inspection would show have shown that that was quality of the work.
I’m not sure I’d be happy with my “friendly” next-door neighbors when I found out later just how much shoddy work there was that my inspectors & work estimaters didn’t see, and how much that was going to cost me. I’d feel like I’d been ripped off by their shoddy work, even if it was just from ignorance, thriftiness and/or carelessness, rather than intentional. (Though it is hard to see what the real difference would be to me financially anyway, whatever their intentions were in making the repairs the way they did.)
Also, it is different if you have a bunch of cash to throw at repairs right away. But, if like the original poster, I didn’t, then I don’t really see how getting the cost of substantial repairs taken off the purchase price helps much. I’d still have to come up with the cash to make the repairs. And taking a slightly smaller mortgage (due to the reduced price) doesn’t put that amount of cash in my pocket to do repairs with, as the cost of the mortgage amount is minimal per month, when spread out over 30 years. But I’d have to pay for the repairs NOW.
I was in the cash-strapped position (little money left for repairs after purchase, being a first-time buyer) when I bought my place, so I kept looking until I found one that DIDN’T need substantial repairs and an immediate kitchen and bath renovation. The lower purchase price on those needing renovation did not give me the cash in hand I’d need to do the needed renovations and repairs. I never regretted that decision, and I’d do the same when I buy again, unless I have a bunch of cash left over after closing to do what needs to be done right away sooner rather than later. In OP’s shoes, I’d keep looking for a house that didn’t scream “needs immediate repair.”
I’ve known too many people who bought and just ran out of money long before the work they needed done was done. If you have family with deep pockets who will help out, or are confident that you can substantially increase your income, then it’s worth the risk. If you don’t, to me, anyway, it isn’t. Sure, you can hope home prices go up fast (not a great bet this year) so you can take out a home equity loan to do the repairs, but you still have to have the income to be able to make the payments on the additional loan.
Perhaps I’m more conservative financially than others, and to each their own, but I thought it was worth laying out the on-the-other-hand view for the OP. Anyway, they’ll do what their gut tells ’em.
Tinarina’s got it right. 12:18, I am not sure what alternative you recommend regarding an old house. Is a flipper’s renovation more trustworthy than a DIY homeowner’s? DIY homeowner has a greater incentive to fix problems. I can’t imagine a DIYer who plans to live in a house for a while encountering a rotten joist or a leaky roof and just covering up the evidence with a bit of paint or sheetrock and leaving it to the next guy to find. I am not saying all flippers do this, but there is no reason to assume a house with DIY renovations is less trustworthy. Each case is different.
If you like the seller then take the price reduction and do the repairs yourself. Trust me when I say that you cannot put a price tag on having neighbors you like. I absolutely love my neighbors and it has made my house, which has had its share of problems, more than tolerable. In the same way, a bad neighbor can make a great house miserable. Good neighbors are priceless.
Unless perhaps you’re buying real estate at the very highest end, EVERY house comes with some hidden surprise that that may not have been revealed in the inspection. At least in this situation you know most of the warts, and you may find a few more. It’s not going to be anything catastrophic at this point, since it sounds like you had a thorough inspection.
As others have said, the owner seems like a nice guy–and a nice future neighbor! Get the price reduction based on necessary fixes by licensed tradespeople. When the repairs are made, you will have the satisfaction of knowing the big stuff–plumbing and electrical–is safe and up to code.
If I was you, as you say not having the money to do, and weren’t planning to do, extensive renovation, I’d walk away. If what you can see is shoddy, what you can’t see is also likely shoddy. (I have a real bias against houses maintained by shoddy do-it-yourselfers, especially when it is the systems like electrical and plumbing we are talking about.) You will likely find much more extensive stuff you need to do once walls are opened than you can see now when your work estimators give you their estimates. Many people on this board are renovators – this house is for one of them – someone who has the money and was looking for a house to do a lot of work on. Getting a price reduction based on estimates on what you can see won’t cover your total costs. And, if you are going to approach house-hunting for a house to renovate, which it doesn’t apprear you were doing before, then ask yourself (1) is that really what you want to get into, and (2) if so, is this the best house for you if that is your aim?