Buying a home not up to code
Dear Brownstoner, We recently had an inspection on a 3 family home that we are about to go into contract on. There were many things that were issues that the seller says she will fix. The biggest item is however that the plumbing and electrical was not done up to DOB code. The work however…
Dear Brownstoner,
We recently had an inspection on a 3 family home that we are about to go into contract on. There were many things that were issues that the seller says she will fix.
The biggest item is however that the plumbing and electrical was not done up to DOB code. The work however does function well and therefore the seller will not adjust price or fix.
The home is in a great location and there isn’t anything close to the price and overall good condition.
Am I a fool to move forward with the purchase? I mean aren’t 90% of brooklyn brownstones not up to code?
Thanks for your advice.
Dear All,
OP here. We have decided to go into contract and take the risk. We’ve set aside a fund to bring things up to code as issues arise.
Thanks for everyone’s advice.
Brownstoner rocks!
You should bring in your own licensed master plumber and electrician to review the work. If seller brings them in, it won’t be an “independent” review. If you don’t want to pay for that and this is the only concession the seller will give you (and you want to move forward) then have seller agree that you will get a written opinion from a licensed plumber or electrician. Of course, teh problem is, they won’t be able to see the important work behind the walls.
Or, you can just take the risk. My point is, they are offering you a false sense of security. There is a chance that every thing will be fine, and there is a chance that they are pawning off bad work that you can’t see. If you have the tolerance, and the wherewithal, to live with the risk, go for it, especially if you are not paying a renovation premium and don’t mind the prospect of reopening a bunch of walls if you find out that there are real safety and quality issues. Just don’t talk yourself into the notion that the risk isn’t there just because seller’s guy tells you so.
I’m struggling with similar issues and finding it very hard to know how to negotiate. There is a ton of work that is altogether functional, but we *know* they never got permits for any of it. There are a few things that are seriously non-functional and we are trying to figure out how much we want to get estimates before we go into contract.
the house will burn down. That’ll be nice. Your basement will flood. that will be nice.
aren’t you glad it’s not up to code?
Dear everyone thank you for your informative advice. The seller won’t reduce price however is willing to bring in independent licensed electricans/plumbers to review all the work to make sure all is functioning and will give us visibility to work being done. We are going to go into contract but will make sure fixes are outline in the contract.
Essentially new electrical/plumbing work was done on the first, third and fourth floor where kitchen and bathrooms were added. This work was done out of code and not filed. The price is comparable to un-renovated homes in the area however it is somewhat renovated.
daveinbedstuy – not sure the details as the inspector didn’t give us specifics however hopefully our next inspection with a electrican give us more details.
I guess the OP isn’t going to provide any more info or answer questions posed by those who tried to help by posting…what an asshat!!!
As you say, you’re just a fool feelyng.
Of course you shold buy the house! You said it yourself… it’s a great house. I promise weather or not everything is up to code will never bother you once you are there.
it doesn’t bother me and it seems a lot of other people.
and by the way built to code doesn’t necessarily mean built well (and vice versa).
Given the age of the wiring in the neighborhoods, and the ancient look of much of what I’ve seen, it is truly amazing that there aren’t more electrical house fires. When there is one, it is often noted to be due to “faulty wiring.”
i agree with PP’s – I would ask for a price adjustment and do the work myself!
I own a 100 year old + house and time and time again there’s always some worker who enters the scary basement and is like “oh this is unsafe or why did the previous owner do this or that?” and then the questions are always followed by this comment -“it’s a brownstone, they all look like this and if you think yours is bad, you should see the other basments on your block”
so as said before 99% of the brownstones in the area are probably out of code!