Termite damage concern

[spinner]

Some great advice given by previous posters.

I love it when the pest guy says 'no active termites detected'. Ha! A pest inspector said this on a report a few years back about termites in the garage ( timber structure). It turned out that since the inspection was done in the morning the termites will still snug in bed. The damage bill to repair and poison the pets, was around $2000.

Lesson: at least do the pest inspection in the afternoon.

Lesson two: before you buy, put yourself in the position of the next buyer who will be looking at buying your house. They will be really hard customers. So all repairs must satisfy the hard nosed buyer.

 

[AVS]

^ ^ this option, now.

I was considering this but after speaking with the inspector who did the treatment for the property before few years, his opinion is different. He reckons the property does not have much damage and should still be considered.

Can some one please suggest me a builder who would be able to inspect this provide more accurate idea. I would like to ensure I am not exaggerating it as the previous pest inspector and current building inspector don't see major damage\issue with this property.

 

[AVS]

Some great advice given by previous posters.

Lesson two: before you buy, put yourself in the position of the next buyer who will be looking at buying your house. They will be really hard customers. So all repairs must satisfy the hard nosed buyer.

If would be looking to negotiate the price now if I decide to go ahead with this. I guess next buyer may want to do the same with me, but I am more than happy to get the property inspected 12-18 months for my own satisfaction that may fulfill the requirements?

 

[SeafordSunshine]

Opportunity vs Risk.

"Damp bathroom wall,gutters are rusted and may need replacement, downpipes and hot water pipes not going to drain."

Without seeing the problem, I might say that the 'wide open invitation to the little termites' might just be the damp.

Look at the cost of removing the damp, and then you will not have an environment where the little darlings like to live!
With my investor's hat on, this is the kind of risk I would certainly be assessing! If you can remedy this problem, then it might be worth the risk.
also factor in the cost of annual termite inspections,

I hope this helps!

 

[AVS]

"Damp bathroom wall,gutters are rusted and may need replacement, downpipes and hot water pipes not going to drain."

Without seeing the problem, I might say that the 'wide open invitation to the little termites' might just be the damp.

Look at the cost of removing the damp, and then you will not have an environment where the little darlings like to live!
With my investor's hat on, this is the kind of risk I would certainly be assessing! If you can remedy this problem, then it might be worth the risk.
also factor in the cost of annual termite inspections,

I hope this helps!

Hi Seaford

Thanks for your feedback. This is certainly helpful. This is what I am assessing currently but since it is my first investment trying to balance it out. Need to work out a amount I should propose to negotiate. If I get a quote from builder, it will be certainly helpful.

 

[AVS]

Negotiation

Hi

After talking with the agent today, it sounds like owner are willing to negotiate. Any suggestions on what should I ask for? reduced price? fixing repairs? invasive inspection?

I am thinking about playing with dropping the price by 15k or so and while negotiating the price may be add some repairs in? What do you guys think?

 

[SeafordSunshine]

Termites

Do you have good relations with a pest controller?
Do you have a builder/structural engineer?
Once you are in a position to repair.

I would be 'best friends' with both of these people, ask them to come and have a look at costing some repairs, and an on going (annual) maintainence schedule.


Then when you negotiate, you're 'armed '.

I hope this helps
Cheers

 

[Demoivre]

Hi

After talking with the agent today, it sounds like owner are willing to negotiate. Any suggestions on what should I ask for? reduced price? fixing repairs? invasive inspection?

I am thinking about playing with dropping the price by 15k or so and while negotiating the price may be add some repairs in? What do you guys think?

I wouldn't consider anything unless its stupidly low. There's too much horror stories with termites that would make me run.

 

[AVS]

i have been reading more about it and now wondering should I ask for 50k less or get invasive inspection first?

I guess, I am being little emotional and thinking too much, since I am located interstate, thinking too much to let it go !

 

[wylie]

$50K off the contract price is a LOT, but it all depends on what you think the house is worth without the termite damage, and how much a builder quotes to replace what needs replacing, how keen the vendors are on selling, and how you can "sell" the reduction to them. To do that, I think you need to justify that sort of reduction, and having a builder quote would go a long way.

How much time do you have before your building/pest inspection needs to be decided? I would be getting in a local builder very quickly to quote on how much to fix what needs fixing. Don't forget there may be damage you don't find, behind walls.

Get onto Wayne at Rifle to give you an honest answer as to whether they really are gone, and he will see damage himself that you may not have seen yet, but a builder is the one to tell you how much you will need to spend to make good.

I'm not sure if Wayne always carries his heat sensor, but I know with our son's recent purchase Wayne found three sources of heat. None of them were active termites. They were possums tucked away, sleeping between the upstairs timber floors and the downstairs ceilings, which were coming out anyway.

I could give you a builder's name, but he is south side and would likely charge a hundred or two to make the trip and quote. You may find a builder more local to the house who will come out for nothing, but logically speaking, he will be quoting with little chance of doing the job, so I'm guessing some/most builders in this scenario would probably charge something.

 

[AVS]

I understand 50k would be lot but at this stage without any quotes, I can only make an assumption.

I got the extension on building and pest for another week. I was planning to call wayne today but it may be an issue for owner and time restriction if I am having few people going over to inspect the property. I definitely need to get an builder to have a look so trying to make that a priority.

I have sent reports to one builder to give estimate based on B&P report. Trying to find a builder to inspect, I dont have any issues with builder charging small amount of inspection but as you mentioned, will try to find local builder.

Thanks for your feedback.

 

[AVS]

Builder Update

Hi All,

I got an update from a builder today, he has not physically inspected the place but reading through the photos and talking to the inspector is estimating the cost of repairs to be around 14k.

He seems to be very confident on quote and does not think it can blow up ridiculously high. Should I negotiate the price now rather than pulling out of deal?

 

[Ed Barton]

Get yourself a pet Echidna!

 

[AVS]

I just wanted to give an update on this. The negotiation didnt work well and I decided to walk away rather than taking any further risk.

Thanks for all your advice and comments. I am back searching for my first property again :-(

 

[wylie]

Thanks for coming back to the thread with the update. It is good to hear the outcomes.

Good luck with the next one.

 

[Scott No Mates]

Should I walk away?

No, drive. Very fast.