Put in an offer for a house....

[LinvilleGorge]

42 minutes ago, thefuzz said:

Likely the correct call.  I will say this though, even if they knock off that amount to get it fixed, you will need to have that full amount in cash to fix it correctly.  Back in the day you could get a 2nd mortgage to do stuff like that....much much harder for that type thing these days.

This. You're not going to to be able to simply knock that amount off of the sell price. Either you or the seller is going to have to be able to cough up that cash.

[Zaximus]

Run from that house fast brother.

[Anybodyhome]

Not to mention that after it's fixed, the fact the problem existed to begin with will forever remain with the property. The permits and inspection history are all public record and disclosure would also be required when you decide to sell. 

The seller is now in a position to either sell the property as-is with full disclosure at a huge discount or pony up $28k in cash and have it repaired. Either way, the property is now poisoned.

[hepcat]

So the owner came back to us (finally) and offered $6k in cash at closing because of the plumbing issue. We haven't officially turned in our cancellation notice, given that today at 5pm is the deadline. We have both the cancellation paperwork signed and the owner's addendum to the contract. Signing the contract locks us in. Option period over. Signing the cancellation means we're out.

We have a master plumber I luckily found through a friend of a friend who agreed to come assess the plumbing system for free. He's out there right now assessing and snaking the drain pipes. He initially said the pipes just needed a solid water jet cleaning, and the cast iron all things considered is in much better shape than he thought based on the other plumbers assessment. 

[Arroz con Panther]

58 minutes ago, hepcat said:

So the owner came back to us (finally) and offered $6k in cash at closing because of the plumbing issue. We haven't officially turned in our cancellation notice, given that today at 5pm is the deadline. We have both the cancellation paperwork signed and the owner's addendum to the contract. Signing the contract locks us in. Option period over. Signing the cancellation means we're out.

We have a master plumber I luckily found through a friend of a friend who agreed to come assess the plumbing system for free. He's out there right now assessing and snaking the drain pipes. He initially said the pipes just needed a solid water jet cleaning, and the cast iron all things considered is in much better shape than he thought based on the other plumbers assessment. 

My dude. This is a starter home. Starter homes aren't supposed to be this complicated. You're obviously emotionally attached. Every website will tell you not to get attached before you buy. Sign those damn cancellation papers and get out of there. You've mentioned $10k to fix the foundation, but want a second opinon....doesn't matter. You've mentioned $28k to fix the plumbing but are getting a second opinion....doesn't matter. 

Right now, you're sitting at $30k pending second opinions. Even if those second opinions say it's not going to be as much, I guarantee they'll find something wrong while fixing the issues which will increase the price...these prices are only estimates. Do you have $30k+ lying around to fix those issues? Hell, even if you did, does it make the house $30k more valuable? I highly doubt it.

Also, news flash. You pay with your house in increments of monthly payments over 30 years. If the seller knocked off $30k off the price of the house, that doesn't magically give you the money to cover the costs of fixing that stuff. Even worse, he didn't even knock the price off the house. He just offered you $6k to cover the closing costs. L O L. GET THE FUG OUT OF THERE!

There are going to be other houses. There are going to be other locations. There are other ways to go about doing this. Don't fug your life over because of some starter house that you really, really want that sounds like it's a disaster. Use your head. If it's really as bad as you say, please sign those cancellation papers.

P.S. Sorry if I'm coming off strong, but literally everyone else in this thread, but you, thinks this is a bad idea.

[hepcat]

11 minutes ago, Arroz con Panther said:

My dude. This is a starter home. Starter homes aren't supposed to be this complicated. You're obviously emotionally attached. Every website will tell you not to get attached before you buy. Sign those damn cancellation papers and get out of there. You've mentioned $10k to fix the foundation, but want a second opinon....doesn't matter. You've mentioned $28k to fix the plumbing but are getting a second opinion....doesn't matter. 

Right now, you're sitting at $30k pending second opinions. Even if those second opinions say it's not going to be as much, I guarantee they'll find something wrong while fixing the issues which will increase the price...these prices are only estimates. Do you have $30k+ lying around to fix those issues? Hell, even if you did, does it make the house $30k more valuable? I highly doubt it.

Also, news flash. You pay with your house in increments of monthly payments over 30 years. If the seller knocked off $30k off the price of the house, that doesn't magically give you the money to cover the costs of fixing that stuff. Even worse, he didn't even knock the price off the house. He just offered you $6k to cover the closing costs. L O L. GET THE FUG OUT OF THERE!

There are going to be other houses. There are going to be other locations. There are other ways to go about doing this. Don't fug your life over because of some starter house that you really, really want that sounds like it's a disaster. Use your head. If it's really as bad as you say, please sign those cancellation papers.

P.S. Sorry if I'm coming off strong, but literally everyone else in this thread, but you, thinks this is a bad idea.

We are definitely still leaning on backing out, but the second plumber's opinion was wildly different. He did a much more thorough inspection and said the pipes, while old, are in solid condition. He said that we could expect 15-20 years out of these pipes if they are properly maintained. Everything is draining properly and there are no breaks in the lines. His inspection took 2 hours while the first company's took 10 minutes. I'm starting to think that first quote was a predatory business tactic designed to panic a first time home buyer into a costly repair.

If nothing else we learned not to use that first company ever again. I'm probably going to demand a refund from them. 

[PhillyB]

adding to the chorus of get-outs. you are needlessly looking for excuses to stay

[Anybodyhome]

Simple question....

After you've handed over a check for the down payment, paid for all the utility services to be switched over, paid for the move and all the associated incidentals, will you have $10k in cash to hand over for the foundation repair?

And, remember, that's $10k you won't get back. Ever. It doesn't increase the value of the property, does not enhance its worth or make it more attractive to the next buyer because, guess what, you'll have to disclose the problem when you bought it and the repairs you paid for. And, as a prospective buyer, I wouldn't care if you dropped $20k on a foundation repair. I don't know you and I don't know who did the work and if you think I'm going to be interested in any property with a foundation issue, you're mistaken. 

I owned a Ford Expedition many years ago. Big, enough room for the dogs and I really enjoyed the vehicle. At 70,000 miles it blew a head gasket and it cost me a couple thou to repair. Good as new, right? No worries, right? Fug that. I sold the truck a few weeks later as soon as I realized I couldn't trust it wouldn't happen again. It's one of those things that should never happen to a 6-year old vehicle with 70k miles on it. 

A foundation problem should never happen to a properly built house built to any building code from the past 60 years. Take the blinders off and you'll see a lot more houses out there which will fit your needs without the problems.

[KSpan]

7 hours ago, hepcat said:

We are definitely still leaning on backing out, but the second plumber's opinion was wildly different. He did a much more thorough inspection and said the pipes, while old, are in solid condition. He said that we could expect 15-20 years out of these pipes if they are properly maintained. Everything is draining properly and there are no breaks in the lines. His inspection took 2 hours while the first company's took 10 minutes. I'm starting to think that first quote was a predatory business tactic designed to panic a first time home buyer into a costly repair.

If nothing else we learned not to use that first company ever again. I'm probably going to demand a refund from them. 

That's good but still does nothing to allay the foundation or termite issues. 

[hepcat]

Been a whirlwind of a day! So I've got lots of news. 

We were all ready to submit the cancellation paperwork on this house when the owner reached out to us around noon. He said he understood our concerns and wanted to work with us. He really wants to sell the house to us because he wanted to sell to someone who would live in the house and also help someone that might not otherwise be able to buy a house in this neighborhood. As I've said, this house was already well below the median price range for this neighborhood and the agreed upon price was already below his asking price.

The option period is extended until Friday.

He added an additional $6k in cash for closing costs, putting us at the maximum allowed by the owner by law, covering all of our closing costs.

He said he would pay for additional repairs done to the foundation on the side where the flooding occurred by adding a pier and beam to that side to stabilize it, and adding another trench drain away from the house. He said he'd get this done immediately and already had a quote to get it done when the flooding originally occurred last year.

He also said he'd get the plumbing professionally assessed before Friday. If we don't like the results, we can walk away.

I'm pretty sure given all these extras, we might be accepting....but it's been a crazy process today.

[KSpan]

30 minutes ago, hepcat said:

Been a whirlwind of a day! So I've got lots of news. 

We were all ready to submit the cancellation paperwork on this house when the owner reached out to us around noon. He said he understood our concerns and wanted to work with us. He really wants to sell the house to us because he wanted to sell to someone who would live in the house and also help someone that might not otherwise be able to buy a house in this neighborhood. As I've said, this house was already well below the median price range for this neighborhood and the agreed upon price was already below his asking price.

The option period is extended until Friday.

He added an additional $6k in cash for closing costs, putting us at the maximum allowed by the owner by law, covering all of our closing costs.

He said he would pay for additional repairs done to the foundation on the side where the flooding occurred by adding a pier and beam to that side to stabilize it, and adding another trench drain away from the house. He said he'd get this done immediately and already had a quote to get it done when the flooding originally occurred last year.

He also said he'd get the plumbing professionally assessed before Friday. If we don't like the results, we can walk away.

I'm pretty sure given all these extras, we might be accepting....but it's been a crazy process today.

I hate to be skeptical but after being through this process  a couple of times it's also possible that no one else will touch the place, the owner now realizes what a situation they're in, and they are doing whatever it takes to get out of it. If there were truly other offers or a prospect of a sale other than yours they would probably stand their ground and try to get you to cancel.

[LinvilleGorge]

You've come this far, might as well stay in the game a little longer and see what they say. But, I'll just say I'd want to be the one choosing the foundation company and plumber.

And all of this:

25 minutes ago, KSpan said:

I hate to be skeptical but after being through this process  a couple of times it's also possible that no one else will touch the place, the owner now realizes what a situation they're in, and they are doing whatever it takes to get out of it. If there were truly other offers or a prospect of a sale other than yours they would probably stand their ground and try to get you to cancel.

Definitely a good chance that this owner has realized how has a buyer on the hook and he needs to do whatever it takes to get out from under this place. 

[hepcat]

30 minutes ago, KSpan said:

I hate to be skeptical but after being through this process  a couple of times it's also possible that no one else will touch the place, the owner now realizes what a situation they're in, and they are doing whatever it takes to get out of it. If there were truly other offers or a prospect of a sale other than yours they would probably stand their ground and try to get you to cancel.

Our realtor says he’s had several other cash offers at or over asking price from developers and I believe it. It’s a super great area of town and a house that with some TLC could be worth a lot more money. The issues aren’t horrible but they need attention and he seems willing to work with us. The fact he’s STILL offering us an out is at least somewhat reassuring 

[LinvilleGorge]

4 minutes ago, hepcat said:

Our realtor says he’s had several other cash offers at or over asking price from developers and I believe it. 

I don't. Think about it. The place was listed for awhile and pulled because he couldn't sell it. Did some upgrades and relisted. Willing to jump through all kinds of hoops including significant cash out of pocket to sell the house to you when he supposedly has cash offers for at or above list?

Nah. I don't buy that for a second.