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thehafamily

Inspection issues

TheHaFamily
9 years ago

Hi- This is my first time posting, though I've been lurking around for awhile. My husband and I are buying our first home in South Carolina's upstate, and our offer has been accepted on a house that is being sold through a relocation company. As far as we can tell, the ownership hasn't transferred to the relocation company yet, but as part of their involvement, they ordered a slew of inspections in February, and we now have the inspection reports. We do have our own inspection scheduled for Monday, but I'm trying to assess the sellers inspection report before then.

Our realtor has explained, and I've read here, that it is important not to nit-pick concerning seller repairs. My dh and I are not handy, however, and we don't really know what repairs really need to be addressed before closing. Here are the problems that the relocation company's inspection found. We would love to hear any of your thoughts about these items:

Roof- 15 year roof is 14 years old and has hail damage, cracked shingles throughout, flashing missing around chimney. "Roof has reached end of intended design life." This being the most glaring issue found, our realtor has already contacted the seller's realtor concerning it, and he has responded that they had an independent roof inspection performed, and the roof was found to have several years of life left in it. This seems unacceptable to me.

2 Loose toilets.

Coliform test positive (no other detail).

Septic: No inlet T, outlet T should be replaced, system flows in from side of tank (I have not idea why that is an issue).

Garage door opener failed to reverse when encountering an obstacle.

Electric: Missing cover plate for attic insulation box, garage outlet missing cover plate, exposed wire splice at well pump.

One of the upstairs bathroom's fan is venting into the attic.

Well's pressure tank is short cycling.

Pool: needs a new liner. Several areas of heaving/settling in the concrete deck creating a tripping hazard. Inoperable pressure gauge at pool filter.

It may be of note that the house was built in 2000, and was listed for $235,000, while we contracted for $220,000. The sellers purchased the home in 2009 for $230,000 (and also appears to have a 30K HELOC, so we figure that they think they've already given us a good deal and won't want to put any more money into the house.

Comments (9)

  • jewelisfabulous
    9 years ago

    Of all these issues, the ones I would focus on are the roof, the septic, the bath exhaust fan, and the pool. Three of the four (roof, septic, and pool) would be more than enough for me to walk away if the seller balks. They are not inexpensive fixes.

  • pixie_lou
    9 years ago

    Were you given this inspection report prior to making your offer? In which case these are considered disclosures and should have been taken into consideration when you made your offer.

    I would want to find out what tested positive for coliform.

    If the roof is deemed to have a few more years of life in it, then just expect to have to replace the roof in a year or 2.

  • TheHaFamily
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks for the responses. We got the report after our offer was accepted, which we and our realtor thought was a little odd.

    According to the inspector, the roof needs replacing now, but the sellers had a roofer tell them it was good for a few years. This was not disclosed.

    Incidentally, I just spoke to a septic repair guy, and he said those issues were minor. The well guy, however, said that a short cycling pressure tank means the tank likely needs to be replaced.

  • jewelisfabulous
    9 years ago

    Having the inspection completed after the accepted offer is standard. If the seller ordered the inspection, of course they weren't going to give it to you before you offered because it wasn't stellar. If you ordered the inspection, you're right where you should be at this point in the negotiations.

  • gyr_falcon
    9 years ago

    The short cycling of the pressure tank could be as simple a problem as needing to add air to the tank. Be certain that pump guy isn't just out to make money before paying for a replacement tank. I become suspicious when told the most expensive fix is considered "likely needed", when there are common, relatively inexpensive to fix problems that have not been ruled out.

  • TheHaFamily
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    So how can I know for certain whether it needs a new pump or if it is a smaller repair?

  • kirkhall
    9 years ago

    I'd be worried about "coliform postive" with no additional info.

    *What* is coliform positive? The well water? The toilet water? The septic tank?

    This could be a real issue, or it could be nothing, depending on what was coliform positive.

  • gyr_falcon
    9 years ago

    --> So how can I know for certain whether it needs a new pump or if it is a smaller repair?--

    How thoroughly did your pump person check the pump and tank? How much information did he relay to you? If he ruled out the less expensive causes, I would have expected him to tell me the various possible causes and why he ruled out the less expensive ones and determined that replacement was likely needed. Maybe he did that; I don't know. Maybe replacement is necessary. I just wanted to alert you that short cycling does not automatically mean that a tank replacement is necessary, and that you should determine if the less expensive corrections had been properly ruled out.

    On our water tanks, you could feel where the water level was by just placing your hand on the tank (the water portion would be noticeably colder). So we could tell where the water/air line was, and know if it was not located where it should be. We had to replace air valves on occasion, and pumps; the tanks themselves only needed replacement if a different size was needed or the tank was rusting out or had a leak.

  • two25acres
    9 years ago

    Get the roof issue addressed right away. You'll need to purchase and pay for insurance before you get to the closing table. Your insurance company will do an inspection of their own and curling/lifting/splitting/buckling of the shingles will be cause for policy cancellation. You will be replacing that roof on your own just to keep the home insured if it's not replaced first.