FINALLY BOUGHT A HOUSE!!!

Congrats!!!!

In reply to John Welsh :

Yes, PA has disclosures and yes the seller will now have to include that on any and all future disclosure statements now that they are aware. Good leverage for sure, but leverage does no go unless the seller has the financial ability to do something about it.

Definitely at least somewhat common in this area, I remember my inspector being pretty surprised when he found no termite damage in my 170 year old house.

Good luck Curtis, hope everything works out for the best, whichever way it does end up turning out!

John Welsh wrote: Were the termites on the original disclosure statement (if your state has such thing)?

They were not on the disclosure, but PA disclosures are pretty loose. The first question is something like "are you a licensed contractor or have knowledge/experience in home building and repair?" If you answer "no" to that question, you are basically exempt from your answers. I truly think the owners didn't know. Something like that is easy to get them in trouble if they knew and didn't disclose it. If I wanted to be a dick about it, I could call all the local pest control places and ask if they came out for termite treatments. If one of them did, I could more or less sue them and get the house REAL cheap.

Now that you have proven the termites and made them aware of the termites do they have to rewrite the disclosure statement?

I believe so, yes.

If yes, they have to rewrite then the seller is going to get knocked for the cost of termites either way. I say this because the seller might be thinking they'll pass on your offer and find a different buyer who doesn't realize the termites. It might not be that easy for them and this can give you price leverage.

I think that is correct. Right now, I think the seller is over a barrel, but not too bad. They priced it very low to (speculating here) sell quick and avoid foreclosure. They bought it for $84k in 2012, so I think the 88.5K listing is basically getting back what they spent as quickly as possible. I had my offer in and accepted within 12 hours of listing and they had to cancel 8 showings scheduled for the next day. It will sell fast if they have to re-list it, even with termite damage. Similar homes in the area comp at 107k-117k, so they are already rock bottom "invoice" pricing.

The other thing they could do (again, speculating) is pull it off the market and rent it out for more than their mortgage payment, so I have to be careful about using it as a bargaining chip.

I just got off the phone with my agent who just spoke with the listing agent and I think we will agree to get an estimate for pest control and repairs and they'll either adjust the listing price or do a check at settlement for the cost of the work.

John Welsh wrote: Do you want to own a house with a history of termite damage? How common are termites in your area. Not all that common in my area.

I wouldn't call them common around here, but a known threat. On a 117 year old house, its not surprising.

The first question you asked is something I'll turn around and ask all of you.... Do I want a house with a history of termite damage? Is it like buying a car with bad bondo on the fender? I'm having a contractor come in on Monday to give me an estimate, and two contractors I spoke to assured me that its common and kosher to repair it, and they didn't tell me to run, but I will wait until Monday to see if my contractor gives me a warm fuzzy feeling about it.

So... do I want a house with repaired termite damage?

Perhaps another question to ask is, do I want a 117 year old house?

We are in the process of selling our 102 year old home - while it's super quaint and there are definite positives to older homes, "they just don't build em like they used to" is not one of them, and having generations of previous owners is often much more a liability than appears at first glance.

We are moving up to a 50 year old 1-owner home, and happy to be doing so.

bastomatic wrote: Perhaps another question to ask is, do I want a 117 year old house?

Actually, yes with this one. It really looks and shows like it was built in the 60s. All the plaster has been replaced with drywall, the roof is straight, it has replacement vinyl windows that probably aren't 10 years old, the electric has all been upgraded to romex in 2004 with a new 200-amp panel, new gas forced air furnace with evap... Its actually quite nicely upgraded.

Normally I would say no because plaster, insulation, electrical, etc, but even the plumbing is all PEX and sharkbite. I love the character of old houses, but not the heating bills and repairs. This one is so small and completely updated that it really doesn't need anything... of course, it also lacks the old-house charm as well. Something I plan to remedy with some trim work in the future. Looking at the 7' ceilings and small footprint I wonder if this house started as something else; staff quarters? summer cottage? doubtful it was a summer kitchen or carriage house because of the basement.

When the inspector pulled the outlet covers, some of the cavities had insulation peeking through which makes me think they did proper insulation when they did drywall. One of the bedrooms still had a wall with plaster which makes me wonder if the drywall was because of fire or water damage, but there is zero evidence of either anywhere else in the house. Come to think of it, I didn't ask about attic insulation, but that's easy to rent a blower, especially in an 850 sf house.

That house was here before you and will be here after you if it's taken care of. Things need to be fixed and replaced, just part of home ownership. You pay for a house, but you're really just a caretaker for the next person. The better job you do, the more money you get when you pass it on.

Update. Met with the contractor yesterday. He quoted $1000 to sister some lumber on the joists. (there are a few other things he's doing, like support posts in the crawlspace, adding joist hangers, etc.) I asked him with the damage he sees if he would still buy it. He asked how much I was paying for it. When I told him a ballpark of what I was paying his exact words were, "you'd be the dumbest berkeley I ever met if you didn't buy it." Then he gave me his card and told me to call him if I back out because he wants it. I'd say that's pretty confident.

Contract proceeds. I'll sign the inspection papers today.

I've owned a house with termite damage - found as part of the initial inspection, and repaired - and would own one again as long as the damage wasn't extensive and was well repaired. They're endemic to a lot of the US, and it's mostly a matter of when they find the house not if.

Side note, budget for a termite treatment too. In the mix of things I forgot to treat for termites after buying and ended up with more damage to repair. They don't stop just because you fixed the damage! I did Sentricon since it baits the termites and eliminates the nest. There are similar products you can DIY; Sentricon itself is only available through exterminators and they have to install it and it's kind of expensive.

Wow I never would've guessed the house was 117 years old. I was thinking it was built in the '60s or '70s. My grandmother used to live in a WW1-era house and it was clearly rather primitive. It looked like it had been retrofitted with electricity.

dculberson wrote: Side note, budget for a termite treatment too. In the mix of things I forgot to treat for termites after buying and ended up with more damage to repair. They don't stop just because you fixed the damage! I did Sentricon since it baits the termites and eliminates the nest. There are similar products you can DIY; Sentricon itself is only available through exterminators and they have to install it and it's kind of expensive.

Sellers have already scheduled with an exterminator and are providing receipts for treatment

GameboyRMH wrote: Wow I never would've guessed the house was 117 years old. I was thinking it was built in the '60s or '70s. My grandmother used to live in a WW1-era house and it was clearly rather primitive. It looked like it had been retrofitted with electricity.

I wouldn't have believed it either, except for the 7' ceilings and the entry to the kitchen is about 5' 11"

Just signed the price revision; now at $87k even. It appraised at $99k, so no worries there. Looks like I'm on schedule for a June 29th closing and its all mine!

Fantastic you must be so excited!

Woohoo! Congrats!

So, when's the housewarming?

Probably end of September. You'll all be invited in October for the September party

curtis73 wrote: Probably end of September. You'll all be invited in October for the September party

Awesome, I can't wai----heywaitaminnit!!!!