|
No Butt Stuff posted:Tl:dr termites are currently in my brain and I assume every seller is a scumbag attempting to hide any defects if possible. One house I looked at had bowing foundation walls (terra cotta block) and termites in the detached garage. The owner filled every available inspection space with junk to make it hard to find. uwaeve posted:Latent microscopic foundation cracks, obviously. Really digging my 115 year old house with a perfect foundation and waterproofing.
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2015 14:15
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 31, 2024 17:02 |
|
|
Citizen Tayne posted:Really digging my 115 year old house with a perfect foundation and waterproofing. I will never miss an opportunity to bring up your zero tolerance foundation crack policy.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2015 14:18
|
|
|
uwaeve posted:I will never miss an opportunity to bring up your zero tolerance foundation crack policy. It's a reasonable policy that will save you money.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2015 14:20
|
|
|
For some reason the bottom hinge of my front door has come loose from the wall. As in it's noticeably not flush with the door frame anymore. When I went to tighten the screws I found that the top and middle screw will spin freely when I try to tighten them, though the bottom screw can be tightened. Can I safely unscrew the bottom hinge to look at what is wrong without removing the door? It looks like most of the doors weight is on the top and middle hinge now anyway.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2015 15:49
|
|
|
.Z. posted:For some reason the bottom hinge of my front door has come loose from the wall. As in it's noticeably not flush with the door frame anymore. When I went to tighten the screws I found that the top and middle screw will spin freely when I try to tighten them, though the bottom screw can be tightened. No need to do that. Just drill a hole where the screws are spinning, insert a glue covered dowel, tap it into place, wait for the glue to dry, and then drill a new hole for the screws.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2015 15:56
|
|
|
The gutters on my house are in in poor condition. They were installed with spikes only and were probably never cleaned by the prior owner, so they are pulling away, bowing down, and the spikes are coming out. I had a local gutter company out today to check it out and he quoted me $890/about $5 a foot for the following: 164' total Full cleaning. "tune" gutters by adjusting the pitch and installing better braces that pull the front of the gutter toward the soffit and should hold it in place better than the spikes. Replace all the screws with stainless steel (the current ones are rusting and look horrible). Install a simple gutter cover. I've looked at some other online estimates and it seems a little on the high side, but it also the first company I've been able to get to actually show up to an appointment.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2015 18:57
|
|
|
Jealous Cow posted:The gutters on my house are in in poor condition. They were installed with spikes only and were probably never cleaned by the prior owner, so they are pulling away, bowing down, and the spikes are coming out. At that price, you are almost to the point of being able to DIY brand new gutters for your whole house.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2015 19:56
|
|
|
Antifreeze Head posted:At that price, you are almost to the point of being able to DIY brand new gutters for your whole house. Actually they quoted $700 for all new gutters, then it would be extra for the guard. The gutters are fine, less than 5 years old, just not maintained. Pulling away from the house, not sloped correctly (so they fill up and droop even more), etc. Not going to DIY this as I don't feel the need to get a gently caress-off ladder and do a bunch of poo poo 2+ stories off the ground.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2015 20:04
|
|
|
Hashtag Banterzone posted:No need to do that. Just drill a hole where the screws are spinning, insert a glue covered dowel, tap it into place, wait for the glue to dry, and then drill a new hole for the screws.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2015 20:23
|
|
|
SiGmA_X posted:Wouldn't you want to use an oversized dowel, so you'll need to remove the hinge from the frame? I would shim the door to not put added stress on the top hinges, but that's just me. No. The hole from the screw is already bigger than the hole in the hinge. Just drill it out a little bigger and shove some dowels in. Just don't drill all the way through the framing. Glue helps, but last time I do this I didn't have any and it turned out fine.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2015 20:32
|
|
|
No Butt Stuff posted:No. The hole from the screw is already bigger than the hole in the hinge. Just drill it out a little bigger and shove some dowels in. Just don't drill all the way through the framing. Glue helps, but last time I do this I didn't have any and it turned out fine. Should that be the other way around? The hole from the screw is smaller than the hole for the hinge? In either case, thanks for the advice. Will do that.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2015 21:11
|
|
|
The fucker buying my house still hasn't contacted an inspector. He has til Monday. The realtor asked if I'd give him an extension and I told her I'd play ball, but 10 days is already plenty of time to at least schedule someone. If he hasn't scheduled an inspection by Monday then no extension and he's buying as is. If he does, then he can have an extension to inspection day plus one day. Am I being unreasonable here?
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2015 21:11
|
|
|
No Butt Stuff posted:Am I being unreasonable here? Wrong question. It doesn't matter whether you're being reasonable or not. All that matters is: are you willing to lose the sale over this? If the answer is "yes," then feel free to stick to your guns. If the answer is "no," then give them more time. Regardless of whether it was "reasonable" or not.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2015 21:18
|
|
|
Leperflesh posted:Wrong question. It doesn't matter whether you're being reasonable or not. All that matters is: are you willing to lose the sale over this? Edit: Its been a long week blarzgh fucked around with this message at 23:53 on Apr 8, 2015 |
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2015 21:48
|
|
|
blarzgh posted:Yeah, because he won't be closing on his loan without an inspection, and he won't be paying for the house without the loan. Appraisal isn't the same as inspection. The loan requires an appraisal; not sure it requires an inspection? Mine did, but mine was an FHA loan, I didn't think conventional loans required them. I'm more saying that unless the buyer is a moron, he will walk away (or find some contingency he can use to walk away) rather than move forward with closing without an inspection.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2015 22:05
|
|
|
Most loans do not require an inspection, most do require an appraisal however. I'm not sure what that guy is thinking not scheduling an inspection right away. Maybe he is stuck for cash and is waiting on a paycheck to hire the inspector? Who knows. I know that if I was selling in this market and some guy was dicking around on me I'd be tempted to pass on to the next buyer as things are going quick here. Did he put down some earnest money on his offer?
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2015 23:04
|
|
|
Eryxias posted:Most loans do not require an inspection, most do require an appraisal however. Only a grand. It's still available for showing. I more took a hard like with the realtor, because I'm not sure she 100% looking out for my interests and I wanted the message he got to be "stop dicking around."
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2015 23:34
|
|
|
I'm just guessing, but it could be he had some specific inspector in mind, but that inspector was off on spring break or something and not available to make an appointment with. Or maybe the buyer was off on spring break, or who fuckin' knows.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2015 04:23
|
|
|
No Butt Stuff posted:
Realtors are only looking out for your interests where their interests and your interests coincidentally happen to match, you have the right idea.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2015 13:47
|
|
|
Ugh, loving appraisals. The appraiser came in at more than 5% below the contract price. Now my agent's trying to figure out wtf this guy is smoking because he's got other comps on listings that just closed rather than the ones the appraiser used that are proving the price. I know the seller's losing some money in some way no matter what (aside from the captured depreciation that comes back when you sell a rental property). Edit: in even more confusing news, an appraisal 6 months ago said the place was 11.8% higher then. I have zero idea what numbers a lender will come up with then. My ask price is right smack between the two values, coincidentally enough, so maybe the lender will use that as the basis for the loan? necrobobsledder fucked around with this message at 23:50 on Apr 9, 2015 |
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2015 23:08
|
|
|
No Butt Stuff posted:No. The hole from the screw is already bigger than the hole in the hinge. Just drill it out a little bigger and shove some dowels in. Just don't drill all the way through the framing. Glue helps, but last time I do this I didn't have any and it turned out fine.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2015 23:29
|
|
|
So had the inspection for the house yesterday. It went very well and the house seems to be in very good shape. The kitchen "upgrade" seems to have consisted of new counters, appliances, and the tile backing on the wall. I called the Calvert County Community Planning and Building to see if there were any permits or violations out on the property. The last permit on record for that house was 2003 when the deck went in (house was built in 2002). I asked the lady the answered if the kitchen remodel should have required one and she said no, not unless they did plumbing or electrical work (which it seems they didn't). I don't have the inspection report yet, but as far as I know, there was only one thing he made a note of and that was one of the wired smoke detectors in the basement didn't work right when he tested it. We went through every drawer and cabinet in the house, ran every appliance, ran every faucet/shower/toilet, opened and checked every window, ran the heat pump, ran the gas furnace (with the front off so we could see the gas clearing fan come on and then every jet), ran the sump pump, checked every outlet and switch, turned every built in light on and off, checked the garage door, and checked the attic and crawlspace (though we couldn't crawl around in there because it has that insulation that looks like shredded cardboard or something). It was also raining pretty hard yesterday morning which kind of worked for the better since I could see all of the down spouts working and look for drips or standing water in the yard and basement. The fence wasn't as bad as I thought it was initially. The two big problems it has is that it they didn't cement the posts in (and talking to others in the development, it seems that's pretty common for the original install stuff) and that it's all nails rather than screws. The nails are slowly pulling apart so it's causing a lot of the sagging and making the warping seem worse. I've already told my agent that I want some sort of remediation for the fence as part of closing, but we're going to wait and see what the inspector put in the report before we figure out just what we want to do (fix, replace, etc). Feeling pretty good about everything now, just wishing closing wasn't so far away. I want to get all of this poo poo over with. The process certainly isn't over, but thanks to everyone for the advice so far.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2015 00:46
|
|
|
One month ago, on March 9th, my mortgage was "Approved with Conditions" and sent to underwriting. It is still in underwriting. I have nothing weird going on. They've asked for my 4506T 3 times now. Apparently it keeps getting rejected from the IRS and no one knows why. They want written explanations of how $10,000 went from my savings account to my checking account. They're both under the same account with the same credit union. Yesterday they asked me to sign a single sentence statement saying, in effect, that while I inquired about rates with another lender on Feb 2nd, I ended up going with my current lender instead. Every 2 or 3 days, they ask me for something else. I get it to them within an hour. Then 2 or 3 days later they ask me for something else. The asks are getting more and more asinine. I feel like someone in underwriting thinks I'm someone they know with the same name, and they're going to gently caress with me over some perceived slight until I go insane.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2015 01:43
|
|
|
Othin posted:So had the inspection for the house yesterday. It went very well and the house seems to be in very good shape. The kitchen "upgrade" seems to have consisted of new counters, appliances, and the tile backing on the wall. I called the Calvert County Community Planning and Building to see if there were any permits or violations out on the property. The last permit on record for that house was 2003 when the deck went in (house was built in 2002). I asked the lady the answered if the kitchen remodel should have required one and she said no, not unless they did plumbing or electrical work (which it seems they didn't). There is an approximately 0% chance they will replace the fence for you. If it was me selling I'd offer you a $500 I'm sorry discount or something. BEHOLD: MY CAPE fucked around with this message at 03:06 on Apr 10, 2015 |
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2015 02:58
|
|
|
I'd still ask.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2015 03:43
|
|
|
BEHOLD: MY CAPE posted:There is an approximately 0% chance they will replace the fence for you. If it was me selling I'd offer you a $500 I'm sorry discount or something. Pretty much this. I'm not even sure about the 500 dollar part. It's no big deal to fix a fence at all, fixed mine in 2 hours with 5 bags of quikcrete and a box of screws. If you sabotage a deal on an otherwise good house over some minor fence issues, well I don't know what to tell you but it's unreasonable.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2015 04:16
|
|
|
Jesus christ, asking for a repair of something that needs repair is not "sabotaging a deal," and you guys have no idea whether the seller will be receptive or not. Was this their only offer this month? Was the next best offer several thousand dollars less? Are they highly motivated to get this deal closed? Did they budget ahead of time a few grand for "whatever the buyer winds up nitpicking about" and will actually be delighted to only be presented with a single $500 item? You don't know! When I go to sell my house, I'm assuming I'll be asked to do at least two or three thousand in repairs and whatever the gently caress. If all I get is "please fix a leaning fence" I'll agree so fast it'll make their heads spin. And I live in California, a super-hot seller's market.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2015 04:20
|
|
|
Yeah, I'm not drawing any lines in the sand or anything like that, but depending on what comes out of the inspection report we may ask them to at least fix the part that's being propped up and fix the gate that's broken. Now if the inspection report comes back with HOLY poo poo THIS THING IS GOING TO FALL THE gently caress DOWN AND MURDER YOUR CHILDREN AND MAKE YOUR NEW NEIGHBORS HATE YOU then we'll have to reassess. I should also say when I said replace, I was talking about the sketchiest sections and not the whole thing.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2015 04:40
|
|
|
Leperflesh posted:Jesus christ, asking for a repair of something that needs repair is not "sabotaging a deal," and you guys have no idea whether the seller will be receptive or not. Was this their only offer this month? Was the next best offer several thousand dollars less? Are they highly motivated to get this deal closed? Did they budget ahead of time a few grand for "whatever the buyer winds up nitpicking about" and will actually be delighted to only be presented with a single $500 item? The real issue is that an obviously sagging fence is something you know about before making the offer in the first place, the inspector didn't find that
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2015 04:44
|
|
|
BEHOLD: MY CAPE posted:The real issue is that an obviously sagging fence is something you know about before making the offer in the first place, the inspector didn't find that Unless the house is being sold "as is" there is no concept of "this defect was obvious, therefore you can't complain about it." Sellers can disclose defects, in which case buyers can't use those disclosed items to trigger inspection contingency, but everything is open for negotiation if anything can trigger a contingency, because the buyers can always use a contingency item to walk, and the sellers can always refund the earnest money and walk. (And the buyers can walk, even without a contingency item, if they're willing to lose the earnest money deposit.) So, yeah. Buyer can ask for fence repair, seller can accept, negotiate, deny, whatever. None of these outcomes are outrageous or impossible, and nobody should be especially surprised by the seller deciding to cave on a $500 item, or push back on it.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2015 04:49
|
|
|
BEHOLD: MY CAPE posted:The real issue is that an obviously sagging fence is something you know about before making the offer in the first place, the inspector didn't find that My inspection report had caveats stating that the pergola, gas pit and fences were not included in the inspection. I'd imagine that's pretty common? It's not really a part of the structure. Or was my inspector lazy? It seemed like a pretty thorough report and he spent a lot of time answering my questions about things like roofing and my fireplace being slightly out of compliance with code.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2015 05:07
|
|
|
Leperflesh posted:Unless the house is being sold "as is" there is no concept of "this defect was obvious, therefore you can't complain about it." Sellers can disclose defects, in which case buyers can't use those disclosed items to trigger inspection contingency, but everything is open for negotiation if anything can trigger a contingency, because the buyers can always use a contingency item to walk, and the sellers can always refund the earnest money and walk. (And the buyers can walk, even without a contingency item, if they're willing to lose the earnest money deposit.) I'm not saying you have no right to try to negotiate over it it, I'm saying it's gauche to make an offer with some defect in plain sight that you simply cannot be unaware of, and then come back asking to be compensated for it as though you discovered it in diligence. If I were seller I would ask you why I should not consider your initial offer priced accordingly. Also I'm not a fence contractor or anything but to fix that correctly with concrete pouring to stop it from sagging again seems like it's going to cost more than $500.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2015 05:17
|
|
|
BEHOLD: MY CAPE posted:I'm not saying you have no right to try to negotiate over it it, I'm saying it's gauche to make an offer with some defect in plain sight that you simply cannot be unaware of, and then come back asking to be compensated for it as though you discovered it in diligence. If I were seller I would ask you why I should not consider your initial offer priced accordingly.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2015 05:22
|
|
|
I"m also not a fence expert, but it looks to me like two guys who know what they're doing could fix that fence with a post hole digger, a wheelbarrow, $40 in concrete, and two hours of work. That's assuming only maybe two or three posts need to be set in concrete. For comparison, I had about 40 feet of fence completely replaced in my back yard for $300, a couple years ago, complete with two concrete footings for the endposts, overlapping uprights, and a top rail. That includes the cost of the lumber. A guy came and did it by himself in less than three hours.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2015 05:24
|
|
|
There's a bit of a difference between "They didn't set the posts in concrete and used nails instead of screws" and "sections of the fence are sagging so much it has to be propped up and the gate is busted" One statement implies the fence is fine and serviceable and wearing like a normal wooden fence would, but it is not up to the level of workmanship the OP desires. The other clearly shows the fence is in need of some sort of repair to get back to a reasonably functional state. I just fixed my sagging fence last year, the rear part of the fence didn't have enough concrete placed around the fence posts, and the soil here is pretty heavy with clay so when it's dry it contracts. A couple of 2x4's, a box of screws, a shovel, and 6 bags of quickcrete and 2 hours of my life fixed the sagging. In terms of home repair issues it was pretty easy.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2015 15:32
|
|
|
Spamtron7000 posted:My inspection report had caveats stating that the pergola, gas pit and fences were not included in the inspection. I'd imagine that's pretty common? It's not really a part of the structure. Or was my inspector lazy? It seemed like a pretty thorough report and he spent a lot of time answering my questions about things like roofing and my fireplace being slightly out of compliance with code. My inspector looked at anything. Maybe yours just didn't want to gently caress with it because it's harder to accurately gauge structural issues? Dunno, not a construction guy. As far as not pricing it into your original offer, I'd say it entirely depends on the report. It's not like you'd know they aren't anchored in concrete just by doing a quick walk around the yard. I could see them wanting to split the difference, but if he made a good offer and the repairs on that much, I could see them sighing and just doing it.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2015 16:07
|
|
|
Fences are upright sticks holding sideways sticks that are holding upright sticks
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2015 16:31
|
|
|
This is what the inspectors report ended up saying about the fence and deck. The smoke detector I mentioned earlier was the only item listed as a defect.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2015 17:13
|
|
|
I just locked in my mortgage rate and it wasn't with the guy we had been dealing with throughout the pre-approval and offer phase. Rates from the first guy went up sharply right as we were looking to lock down rates. I decided to do a bit of shopping around and found much lower rates elsewhere. So obviously we go with the lower rate. I feel a little guilty about wasting the first guy's time but my friend reminded me that we aren't in this to make friends. I mean l like the first guy but not for the $30k we are going to save over the life of the loan with the lower rate.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2015 19:44
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 31, 2024 17:02 |
|
|
In your best 80s bad guy voice: "it's just business."
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2015 22:23
|
|