Needham's prices are getting more ridiculous by the week, due to the proximity to Boston, and being right next to 128/Mass Pike/Rte 9.
Just got preapproved for a new haus
- Thread starter Sandwich
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Needham's prices are getting more ridiculous by the week, due to the proximity to Boston, and being right next to 128/Mass Pike/Rte 9.
Not yet. I won't be surprised if we balk and wait more time that we'll face some kind of preapproval fee or "I'm a realtor and faxing over an offer letter then sending a single followup email costs money" fee...but hopefully we'll just buy a damn house and not have to do anything stupid.
I'm beginning to think throwing around a few ridiculous offers isn't so bad.
I'm beginning to think throwing around a few ridiculous offers isn't so bad.
Only money you can/will ever lose is paying for outside services (mainly home inspections/water tests).
If a realtor asks for a fee for whatever reason, blow them off.
well, my my, how the tables have turned.
Cash buyer backed out due to evidence of termite damage on inspection. We made the same final offer and they bit. We just did our inspection yesterday and discovered some fairly extensive but not devastating termite damage, as well as plumbing, massive electrical, and a few other issues. We're asking them to fix all before moving forward.
Anybody with experience with termite damage, preferably up nawth? The sellers are fully willing to repair any damage and have already treated the property with termite landmines all around the perimeter. We saw a little bit of damage in the sill, and some significant stuff in a main beam of the house. I'm sure there's some way to fix it, and we've requested a full insulation removal inspection of the basement, but is there anything else to watch out for with that?
I think they'll balk at rewiring the entirely of the house (the house is 2 prong), but who knows.
Cash buyer backed out due to evidence of termite damage on inspection. We made the same final offer and they bit. We just did our inspection yesterday and discovered some fairly extensive but not devastating termite damage, as well as plumbing, massive electrical, and a few other issues. We're asking them to fix all before moving forward.
Anybody with experience with termite damage, preferably up nawth? The sellers are fully willing to repair any damage and have already treated the property with termite landmines all around the perimeter. We saw a little bit of damage in the sill, and some significant stuff in a main beam of the house. I'm sure there's some way to fix it, and we've requested a full insulation removal inspection of the basement, but is there anything else to watch out for with that?
I think they'll balk at rewiring the entirely of the house (the house is 2 prong), but who knows.
avoid
i hope you arent thinking of offering any where near what they wanted now
that bad, huh? If they repair everything, is it still worth lowering the offer? We won't carry the same offer and have to repair damages, but I wasn't thinking of lowering the offer unless they refuse to repair everything.
All new electrical/200A service (box, outlets, wiring, etc.) will probably be about $4-5k I would guesstimate (other monkeys could give a better number I bet), so come in that much lower than the initial offer for that alone.
The termite damage alone would keep me away from the place. I don't know the full extent of the damage, but you're easily looking at tens of thousands if major structural work is involved.
Wash your hands of it completely and go elsewhere.
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Think about it this way. Someone with enough scratch to pay CASH for the place washed his/her hands of it as soon as the inspection was complete. They know the house is a disaster and want no part, neither should you.
There are plenty of houses out there jsut as nice that DON'T have termite damage
Termites are a unrecoverable error. If you find them infecting interior structural components then it may require massive amounts of repair work. A inspector can only guess at the work required to repair or eliminate an infection. You will only know the extent of an infection based on replacing or repairing the obvious damge.
wow, lots of termite haterz here.
I do appreciate the advice....but again, if the sellers are willing to complete ALL termite related repairs, should I still consider this kaput? I mean, even if we hire a reputable termite guy and he finds what he can, and they replace it, is that still a bad deal?
I do appreciate the advice....but again, if the sellers are willing to complete ALL termite related repairs, should I still consider this kaput? I mean, even if we hire a reputable termite guy and he finds what he can, and they replace it, is that still a bad deal?
wow dude.... you must want this place pretty bad.
but I'm gonna agree with the others. There is NO recovering from an infestation. That house is fvcked unless big $$$ is invested into it. The very fact that you SAW damage to a main beam is BAD. For everything you can see there is 3x as much non-visible damage. "This Old House" told me so.
but I'm gonna agree with the others. There is NO recovering from an infestation. That house is fvcked unless big $$$ is invested into it. The very fact that you SAW damage to a main beam is BAD. For everything you can see there is 3x as much non-visible damage. "This Old House" told me so.
Only if you can have them contractually on the hook for full damages for a certain window AFTER final sale and closing...
Read what you just wrote - WHAT he can find. Assuming that he won't find everything.
Walk away quickly.
I changed my mind.
Buy the house
Buy the house
Look at it like this:
A bike frame has a crack in it. The seller has it welded, heat treated and repainted. Would you still want to buy it, knowing there's plenty of other bike frames out there that weren't cracked to begin with?
Must spread rep
This analogy only makes sense if one's girlfriend or wife is emotionally invested in you riding that particular, cracked frame
Then convert the analogy of a car that has a ruined engine for the wife.This analogy only makes sense if one's girlfriend or wife is emotionally invested in you riding that particular, cracked frame
It's like buying a car from upstate NY with 'minor' salt damage. Just because it looks good from the surface doesn't mean that the entire underbody isn't rusted through.
this. I'm ready to leave this house in the dust, but the wife likes it. It would be a great house, but I'm scared by a lot of things about it. She really wants it though. My job is to make sure it's either A) awesome or B) too not-awesome to buy.This analogy only makes sense if one's girlfriend or wife is emotionally invested in you riding that particular, cracked frame
Hmm... I defer to the expertise of MMike on this particular issue.
I don't know your wife so I'm going to tread lightly here......but figuratively (NOT literally....trust me) slap some sense into her.
I'm sure that the current owner will just bandaid the problem. Kill the nest, remove the tubes and do half of what actually needs to be done. The structural work and repairs need to be coordinated between the carpenter and the exterminator. Exterminators in MA are experienced with Roaches and the like and tend to not have the resources to fully tackle the job like they do in North Carolina or Virginia. My friends house in West Roxbury sits empty until he can afford to repair the damage to his house. He has had a very difficult time making his house termite free. He had to hire a exterminator from Southeast MA to kill them and now he needs to replace or repair all the infected/damged wood in his house. Its just crazy what he has had to do to fix the problem.
I hate youHmm... I defer to the expertise of MMike on this particular issue.
well, it looks like we're still looking...can't say I'm totally sad.
Take your mind off it and ride Lynn tonight. 5:30ish.
The worst thing is you bought another Jeep after it. I at least moved on from my cursed perpetually-broken Subaru, not that its broken state caused me to crash it.
Meeting there or you need to stop and change at ma apt?
Apartment at 5:00ish. Need to change and supply myself with H20 so I don't get parched and ride like a ninny.
Kinda like your DHR.
My $0.02:
1) Never have sellers repair issues as a condition of sale.
They will do it as cheaply as possible.
2) Get your own contractors to quote repair costs and use those numbers to negotiate the selling price down.
3) If you do steps 1 & 2, and proceed to buy this house, accidentally burn it down before moving in and use the insurance money to build something that isn't a conveniently located, termite infested ****hole.
Better, had a wicked concussion and been operating on Forrest Gump levels
drool
for the past several weeks. Cleared for trail riding this weekend and DH in a few weeks.
Awesome. Heard the story from Glenn last night then details from Bill this morning. Scary ****.
I'm with MMike. The Lounge has been pretty boring lately, and this could be a goldmine for future threads.
thanks, dick.
Ok, since you put it so nicely I'll answer you in a completely serious and honest way:
RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOUR LEGS CAN CARRY YOU!!! Do not fall in love with a house. Do not let your wife fall in love with a house. Think about this from a rational and business-like standpoint, where you could lose 10s of thousands of dollars (far more?) due to some young-lust-like infatuation with an inanimate object. Just think about the following situation: The owner of the house repairs the termite damage to your satisfaction. All the termites are dead, and the structural wood is replaced. In 5 years you get a sweet job offer from another state and you have to sell your house.... and home inspectors start finding evidence of past termite damage. Buyers (like the one before you) reject the house out of hand, except for the bottom-feeders who come in at 50% of what you'd agreed on. Suddenly you're stuck with a house you can't sell, and that's the *best* case scenario (you killed all of the termites). Worst case is they killed 99% of them, and after a couple years they start to come back.
This housing market is a total buyers market. I'm assuming that you're sitting pretty with a loan offer in hand, and are renting something so you can jump on something without having to sell your own house first. That puts you ahead of 90%+ of the other buyers out there. The majority of the buyers (in the last couple of years, anyway) all have stipulations in their buyers contract that they sell their own house first. Sellers HATE that. Go around and start low-balling people. Find a house that's twice as nice as the one that you're in love with, and offer them the same amount as you're willing to pay for this one. Tell them you've got your loan offer in hand, and can close in 3 weeks. If that doesn't work, try a few more houses. If you don't have luck, do some more research and find out the houses that have been sitting on the market for the last 12+ months, as the sellers are probably more likely to take something, anything if they're desperate.
But jeez, don't settle for the girl with the nice personality when you have a shot at the prom queen...
I was about to close on a property but I don't feel comfortable with so much uncertainty and all the signs pointing down. I made an offer of 11.5% below asking (10.5% below tax accessed value) which sellers eventually accepted (not too amazing as they were the original owners of 40 years so you know they are making money no matter what). I was going to do a cash deal but cancelled the contract at the last minute.