My wife and I made an offer of $282k on a home listed for $289,500. Sellers came back agreeing to other terms of offer but sticking w/ $289,500. We came back w/ $285,750 (meeting exactly in the middle). It was accepted. It is our relative-dream home and there's currently nothing else listed in the area we're looking at this price point that we like this much/checks as many of our boxes. For some specific reasons we'd be looking to sell in about 5 years.
The sellers are getting divorced. Our agent told us per listing agent it's a "nasty divorce" where the listing agent has to communicate everything to each of them separately. They're an older couple, late 50s. I mention this because it might play into negotiating w/ them.
The inspection occurred today. Infamous polybutylene (pb) pipes (home built in 1990) were found. In the disclosures the sellers had only listed "plastic" for plumbing system. Currently no known leaking per inspector but he recommended a plumber inspect it further as pb pipes can be a nightmare. The consensus online regarding pb is a bleak one. One consideration is that this house has its own septic and well. Chlorination, among a few other things, seems the main culprit in the pb failures. That the house has been w/ these pipes for 30 years w/o any noticeable issues thus far is perhaps a result of the sellers not putting chlorine in said well. Maybe just dumb luck. This is a big red flag for me but unfortunately not the only one.
The house is fitted w/ 1990-era hardboard siding. The inspector identified at least 15 places between the home and the detached garage (also the hardboard siding) that were rotting and in need of replacement (they don't use it anymore for siding - w/ good reason). The sellers had a section on one side of the house that they recently replaced the hardboard siding w/ vinyl citing rot as to why. It seems the best course of action is to replace all of the home and garage siding w/ vinyl.
We've yet to get quotes on the pb -> pex plumbing job or the hardboard siding -> vinyl one. From what I've seen online for our area we'd be looking at between $6-10k for the plumbing and about $7-10k for the siding.
We've yet to have the septic/well inspected as it was scheduled for 4/2 but we rescheduled for a 4/9 to give us time to try and work something out w/ the sellers here. That inspection is about $700.
We're in right now $1,500 for due diligence (non-refundable) and $750 for the home inspection. This $2,250 to me is a sunk cost. Sure, it would suck to have lost it but should the sellers not be too keen on providing any or enough of a repair credit we don't want to walk into a house w/ potentially $20k in repair costs between the plumbing and siding. And, we don't see the full inspection report until tomorrow. The inspector told me there were numerous other smaller issues as well. We know the well and septic are 30 years old. If they were in need of some repair, even something minor, that would only add to what right now seems like a daunting list.
The estimated sales range on the house, per zillow (median error is about 4%), is $272k. Redfin's estimate is $285,500 (claims an error of only 1.77%). It is a seller's market right now and my realtor told me this house is priced right. We have yet to have the appraisal done but time will tell I suppose.
The sellers seem a bit desperate to sell. They attempted for sale by owner back in December where they listed it for $309k. Jan they dropped to $295k. March they got a listing agent and priced it at $289,500. They accepted $285,750.
We have until 4/23 to back out of the contract (due diligence period).
What might be a reasonable expectation for me to have about how much of a repair credit the sellers might be willing to give? Is it common to accept their first offer or would I be fine negotiating it up? What percent of the total repair costs we end up quoted by a general contractor and a plumber might we expect the sellers to provide?
Sorry if this was too long. It's my first post here and my first time buying a house. I'm also using the VA home loan so I'm wondering if these particular siding/plumbing issues might end up resulting in a lower appraisal from the VA. Appreciate all insight here! Thank you!
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/RealEstate/comments/fstrrj/should_we_walk/
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