Comments on: What would you do? The house is a little rougher than we expected

By: Rick NHS

Rick NHS — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:08:37 +0000

So did you get the job inspected yet? If so, how much will it cost to repair?

By: JC

JC — Sun, 11 May 2008 02:14:53 +0000

Whatever you do, get a home inspector that IS NOT CONNECTED to the seller or to the bank doing the financing. I don’t have time to check out all of the comments to see if someone else said that but getting an independent inspector is important. Then, you can make a lowball offer. They might take it just to get this problem house off their books.

By: glblguy

glblguy — Fri, 02 May 2008 19:57:31 +0000

@Nancy – I won’t leave you hanging Honestly, nothing is going on. There have been a few offers submitted to Fannie Mae by other people, but they haven’t accepted them yet. Once all of the offering subsides a bit, we’re going to have some contractors come in and estimate the work required and then maybe make an offer based on that.

We’ll probably do this next week. Just taking it nice and slow, as the longer Fannie Mae sits on the house, the more they will be willing to deal

By: Nancy

Nancy — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:02:20 +0000

I’m wondering how things stand with the house. Please don’t leave us hanging.

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By: Randall

Randall — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 11:52:19 +0000

You get what you pay for. If it’s a REALLY good deal, just consider how much it’ll cost as part of the price and drive on. Get it professionally done though, as it looks like the number of repairs is enough to last you quite a while if you did it yourself. That could sour you on the house if you live in it quite a while before fixing it up.

By: LollieMouse

LollieMouse — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 12:43:18 +0000

I would go for it, with eyes wide open — there are no perfect houses out there, unless you buy a McMansion like they are building in my area — I bought an 1855 farmhouse that needs a lot or work…my kids have grown up here, to them it is HOME…its comfortable, their friends like it here, too. Yeah, I have water problems in my basement, I dont even have an HVAC system, but this is HOME. It was the gut feeling I had when I looked at it, it was the gut feeling I had when I bought it, and, 14 years later, it is still the gut feeling I have. Yes, have the HVAC remediated, absolutely, but if you and your family feel this house can be HOME, don’t overlook that gut feeling.

By: Living Off Dividends & Passive Income

Living Off Dividends & Passive Income — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 19:46:45 +0000

I buy the land and tear down the house.

Or maybe asking a movie studio if they needed a house that needed to be blown up!

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Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:02:56 +0000

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By: ammbd

ammbd — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 04:17:10 +0000

Sounds like you are doing your best to gather vital information for review by yourself & qualified specialists. Don’t forget some sort of surveyor to check on the water table etc. & avoid any little land surprises down the road.

However, I worry about 3 things:

#1 do you seriously want to put that much time & effort into a house as compromised as described? water, vandalism, dry rot & mold to the degree already obviously visible are not minor matters to renovate.

#2 the economy is enduring a lot right now & may for awhile. because of that, i’d not want to have to hit up newly established equity for such a huge mess of renovation & repair. better to spend that sizable chunk of cash/loan, on something you know is of value – a properly built home.

#3 mold is really, truly not something to mess around with as it is known for causing long term health problems in people living exposed to it. it also is a right pain to get & stay rid of; plus, will likely make your insurance company quite unhappy enough to do unpleasant things to your policy.

Those 3 worries would have me demolish the house & replace it with one I know was built right & could trust. I would save my creative & restorative skills for that new construction. My family’s health is too important to handle otherwise.