Scott: you've gotten a lot of good suggestions here. My house was built in 1927, and has generally been well maintained. My wife was living in southern California and I was bivouacking in an apartment in downtown Kansas City when we bought the place in 2004. We were planning significant remodeling, and so the choice of a contractor as well as the inspection were critical for us. My personal practice is to try and only do business with people who have the resources to either pay up or settle if I have to sue them later on, and apparently the inspection outfit I dealt with understood that. I think I paid about $600 for the inspection and the resulting report, which was thorough and very professionally done. I actually used the report as a basis for preparing the request for offer for all the little minor stuff, e.g. replacing the garage door, some paving etc.
The team I had consisted of a structural engineer, a plummer, an electrician, a roofer, a heating and ac guy and a pest control fellow. Apparently these guys are all engaged in their respective trades but are partners in the inspection company. In addition to finding stuff I would surely have missed, they were also able to date the major appliances and predict how much longer they'd live before I needed to replace them, and so far, they've been mighty close. My realetorwas/is a niece of a good friend, so I let her pick the inspection service. Had I not had that kind of relationship I Probably would have done the research and hired my own inspection firm just to keep everybody honest. I'd be a little leary about the carpet too. I have a friend who took up carpet in the house she just bought, and apparently, the hardwood floor underneath it had been burned pretty badly and had to be replaced. Good luck. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Scott Howell Sent: Monday, June 14, 2010 14:39 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] older homes - what to look for Tom, I'm in Maryland and they are asking $349,000, which honestly the land alone is probably worth that much itself. On Jun 14, 2010, at 2:04 PM, Tom Fowle wrote: > Don't know where in the country you are, but if there is any risk of earth > quakes, I think presumably un reinforced brick would be a real earthquake > problem. > > Otherwise it sounds very nice, maybe you shouldn't tell us > where you are and what they're asking, many of us would probably cry! > <GRIN< > Tom Fowle near San Francisco which is still either overpriced or no where you'd > want to live. > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
