My husband and I recently became contingent on an older home (1970's) in a very desirable neighborhood. The location meets all of our requirements (great school district, large yard, character, close to a cute downtown area but still sort of remote.) It's difficult to find homes in this city at baseline, and even harder now that there is a pandemic.
However, our inspection had some concerning results.
The inspector stated the roof had a leak in the garage and would most likely have to be replaced in 2-3 years. We had a roofer come evaluate, who stated he could repair the leak and he believed the roof could last 3-5 years. The seller has agreed to pay for the roof repair.
The electrical was not up to date, missing GFCI outlets, and areas of reversed polarity. The seller has agreed to pay for electrical repairs.
There was evidence of mold remediation in attic (no active mold) which the inspector contributed to upstairs bathrooms without proper ventilation. This will be repaired when the roof is repaired.
The rest of the inspection contained things we didn't ask to repair, such as several windows with busted seals, some step cracking in the foundation (this did not concern the inspector), missing fire stop collars and other items we could easily fix ourselves.
The septic system was inspected and the report came back satisfactory, but the report states this is the original mound septic system which means it's 42 years old. I fear that we will have to replace this very soon. We wanted to have our own inspection done, but the seller has refused.
I'm not sure if I am buying a money pit or if this is par for the course with older homes. It is near the top of our price range. It's priced at $355 (originally listed at 369). We would have a mortgage of $285,000 and we make roughly $120,000 a year gross (both essential and stable jobs.) We have a sizeable emergency fund, but I'd rather not pour more money into this house right away. For what it's worth, we do intend to stay here at least 20 years and then downsize when the kids are out of school.
Would you have reservations buying this house? The roof and septic systems concern me the most. I'd like to ask for a credit for at least some money on the septic system given that it is so old, but I doubt the seller would entertain that given the system is currently in working order.
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/RealEstate/comments/gapgaa/having_second_thoughts_about_house_choice/
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