I'll repeat, take your time, Mold == bad. Its like mice crap just b/c you only see 2 droppings doesn't mean its a small problem its an indicator. We went through literally 100+ houses prior to settling on building and even then I still went through another 20+ houses prior to finding something I would have called my realtor about.
Additionally did the seller live in this house or was this a flip? Adam On 1/10/06, Jim Davis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Chesty Puller [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: Monday, January 09, 2006 10:40 PM > > To: CF-Community > > Subject: Re: Mold in my house Inspection (was Mortgage Suggestions?) > > > > Yes, you're being naive. You shouldn't pay a price for something that > has > > a > > lot of broken parts, unless you're getting a steal on it and you know > > that's > > it's going to be worth your time and money to repair it. > > But this is where I'm getting confused... "a lot of broken parts "? > > The way I'm seeing the items on the inspection report: > > +) The problems with the electrical system I can fix myself in a short > afternoon. The GFCI breakers/outlets will cost in the range of $200 but > that's the only cost for that. > > This work isn't needed at all however - we'll probably do it to get things > up to current code, but we don't have to. These aren't "broken" things. > > Most of the wiring has been replaced (Romex is newer than the house is). > The electrical boxes and accessories are all new as well. > > +) There's evidence that foundation cracks have been repaired - very > common > for a house this age (also evidence that the house has been cared for). > > There's no evidence that there are any current problems with the > foundation. > > +) One is loose (needs to be sealed to the floor again). I can do this > myself essentially for free. > > +) The roof. The roof is from 15-20 years old and in "fair condition". > There are "one or two torn shingles on the front slope of the main roof > that > will need to be repaired". The problem is exactly where you might expect > a > problem: outside bottom corner. > > For what it's worth redoing the roof (just shingling) is not going to be > $20,000. We're getting estimates for a 1500 square foot roof (this roof > is > smaller than that, has only a moderate slope and is a very simple design) > in > the sub $5,000 range. We've got some estimates and some friends that have > recently gotten the work done (albeit here in Boston) and the work will > probably be more like $1,500 - $4,500. > > The range is so wide because we're not sure if there's one or two layers > of > shingles now: its common practice to layer twice, then rip up and start > over. Even with new sheathing needed (and there's no evidence of that at > all) it won't be much more than double those estimates. > > We'll have to repair the one or two torn shingles (again, something I can > do > myself) and get all new shingles sometime in the next five years or so. > > Finally a new roof definitely does increase the value of a home. > > +) To meet current code standards a door will have to be added between the > garage and the utility room. There's already a finished doorway there so > this is, again, something I can do easily and cheaply myself. > > +) The air conditioning duct that's fallen off is easily fixed for > essentially no money (duct screws or duct tape). > > +) The water heater will need to be replaced sometime "soon" (it's > reaching > the end of the average lifespan although there are no known problems with > it). > > +) Although most of the kitchen has been redone (new countertops, > cabinets, > cooktop, garbage disposal, etc) the dishwasher is old. It does work, but > will probably need to be replaced (or ignored). > > > $145,000 is a lot of money, even if it's not a lot of money for a house > to > > some people. Things like mold, roofs, and foundations are things that > can > > make $145,000 out of your pocket turn into $200,000 or more out of your > > pocket and you still have a house that's worth only $145,000. > > Most of the predicted repairs do translate into a higher selling price > later > (houses with new roofs, new appliances and new utilities services do sell > for higher prices). > > With very negative estimates of all these things we might need to spend > upwards of $25,000 over the next five years. However doing all those > things > could easily push the selling cost of the house up just as much. > > (Although for what it's worth, and things can change, but we've no > intention > of flipping this house. We intend to stay there for a long, long time.) > > > You're right, roofs are cyclical. Which is why you look to get in on > the > > early part of the cycle. $20,000 for the roof on this house in five > years > > is money that you could be earning interest on for the next 25 years in > > another house. > > Again... there's just no way that a roof for this house will cost $20,000. > Think more like $2000-$5000 tops. The point is well taken however. > > If we went wild and did something like Virginia slate instead of shingles > then the price might get into the $20,000 range... but there's really no > reason to do that. > > > Mold is about the scariest thing out there. Get it fully tested. Your > > kids > > are worth it. > > We are - no doubt about that. We've already scheduled air quality testing > and are requesting a mold inspection tomorrow. > > This should let us know the extent of the problem. If it's a surface > issue > we're willing to dehumidify and deal with it. If it's a core issue > affecting air quality and health we simply won't consider the house any > longer - it's as simple as that. > > > Important question: Why is this house at the same price as houses with > > less square footage? > > Are all the reasons we just said not enough? ;^) If the house had new > appliances, a new roof and all that it could easily fetch more in that > area. > > We looked at nice, remodeled home with less square footage (and a very > leaky, unfinished basement) for $175,000 in the same area. Another had a > little more square footage but REALY oddly shaped living/dining room > (there > would be no way to put our current furniture in it) for $170,000. > > This is the price for average houses in the area - houses that need a > little > work and a few updates. > > Remember that most of the house has been redone. The living room/dining > room is beautiful with new wiring, track lighting, ceiling fans, etc. The > bedroom walls were all redone and are SPOTLESS - no cracks, seams or holes > or anything else. All of the wood upstairs is recently redone (and none > of > it's painted... I hate painted woodwork). > > The wood downstairs is gorgeous (although if there's an actual mold > problem > some other new owners will have to tear it out). The downstairs bathroom > is > in decent shape (newish counter, toilet, etc) but the shower stall was > never > replaced - we'll probably ignore it for now. > > The downstairs kitchen is older (older stove and sink and the like) but it > is a second kitchen... we'd have no reason to modernize it. > > I've uploaded some more pictures we had taken (the "picture xxx" files): > > ftp://ftp.depressedpress.com/ > > These have a lot more pictures of the yard (a little smaller than we > thought) and the driveway (much bigger than we thought), the living > room/dining room, the kitchen, the utility room, etc. > > It's also relatively rare in this part of Scranton to have a garage/off > street parking (and this house a one car basement garage, a two car > carport > and room for at least three cars in the driveway). > > The house does have problems, no doubt: > > As we've noted several fundamental features are reaching the end of their > useful lifespan and will have to be addressed sooner or later (although > hopefully not all at once!) > > The house is also on a grade which does limit it's usable yard space and > is > laid out a bit oddly outside (the lot is "wide and shallow" rather than > "narrow and deep as most are") - the big part of the yard is the side of > the > house, not the back. > > The big "extra" thing that we would want to do sooner than later is fence > in > the yard. The kids are still young enough that I like the idea of penning > them in. ;^) > > > Another important question: Have you looked exhaustively at other > houses > > in > > the area? > > No - but we can't. We don't live anywhere near there. But we've gone > through dozens online with the agent and visited around eight or nine in > person before settling conditionally on this one. This is the second one > we've seriously considered. > > This isn't a case of "oh we love it and are blindly accepting all its > faults". I'd say, realistically, we're perhaps 60/40 in favor of it IF > the > air quality and mold inspections come back good (if they don't there's > just > no question we're not getting it). > > We do have time - there's no reason that we need to take this house. We > do > like it but we're not blind to its faults... but at the same time I don't > see any service in demanding perfection or in continuously hoping for > something better. > > Jim Davis > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:191313 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
