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mr_dove

buying a furnace on craigslist?

mr_dove
11 years ago

I'm trying to sell a house that has a 16 year old furnace. I've talked to a few local HVAC companies but the cost is more than I can afford. We're not even breaking even on the house as it is. Anything I spend goes on my credit card.

Is craigslist a viable option for purchasing a furnace? There are alot of them available locally as well as techs to do the install.

What steps should I take to insure that I don't waste my money?

Comments (10)

  • mike_home
    11 years ago

    Buying a used furnace is a big gamble. There is no gurantee it will work. Buying a new one on line means no manufacturer's warranty. If thre is a problem you will have to spend money to fix it.

    What is wrong with your 16 year old furnace?

  • brickeyee
    11 years ago

    Not lot of folks replace working furnaces.

  • AffordableComfort
    11 years ago

    I would strongly recommend staying away from used furnaces, I've seen too many people buy a used furnace and find out that the heat ex-changer is cracked. Which means that your looking at a new furnace .. again.

  • ionized_gw
    11 years ago

    At first, I assumed that the OP might be looking for a used furnace, but maybe not.

    Maybe we will find out today. Wouldn't that be exciting?

  • energy_rater_la
    11 years ago

    buying a furnace on craigslist? is a recipe
    for disaster

    What is wrong with your 16 year old furnace?
    aside from it being 16 years old?

  • mr_dove
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Well, our original HVAC guy couldn't examine the heat exchanger. We had another guy come in with a scope and he confirmed that the exchanger is actually cracked so we'll be needing to replace the 16 y/o furnace.

    Originally we just believed that it was age but now that theory is out the window.

  • joe_mn
    11 years ago

    if you are selling house, get buyer to have home inspected. if your guy could not inspect HE, than perhaps the buyers inspector would not have seen it as well? you sell house, buyer comes back and says HE is cracked but it was not caught during their inspection? who is to say when it cracked?

  • energy_rater_la
    11 years ago

    just give the person buying the house a lower price
    to replace it.
    rather than putting a piece of who knows what for
    them to have to deal with.

    any idea if the heat exchanger on craigslist
    is in better shape?

    why take the chance with someone elses family?

    sure wouldn't want it on my head.

    just do the right thing.
    let new owner purchase a decent unit.
    new, warrentied and safe.

  • mike_home
    11 years ago

    My advice is to get an estimate to replace the heat exchanger. You can take that amount off the selling price of the house and the buyer can decide what he wants to do with the money. This assumes you can close on the house before the start of the heating season.

  • cs42khan
    11 years ago

    If the old one is working fine then no need to buy another one. Still if you want to search on Craigslist then use SearchCK. Where you can filter you craiglists search by state.

    Here is a link that might be useful: SearchCK

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