Termites...to buy or not to buy?

[BeeGee]

Hi,

We have just gone to contract on our first IP. Had pest inspection yesterday. House was clear of termites at routine inspection 4 months ago. Now has evidence of previous acivity in robe and active termites in dining room now.

My question is: what now? Do we go for reduction in price (substantial?)or just ask for eradication of active termites and a barrier be done?

Or pull out?

Good area, house is 12 y.o, paying $390k, tenant in place paying $380. Ok as is but room for increase in value with a bit of tarting up. Husband is a builder. Queensland.

Looking forward to some opinions....thanks

 

[Jayro]

hmmmm I guess if its confirmed the damage is minimal and they are not too wide spread and hubby can do any building repairs then I would consider going ahead if the new price was nice enough. BUT if they were wide spread and the damage was also then I would personally walk..

We have just ourselves exchanged contracts on a property we were selling. Our property did have termites some 3-4 yrs ago now. The termites on our property were only in retaining walls etc and there was NO active termites in our actual home. We also paid top $$ to have a barrier system install around the whole of our home to try and prevent any termites entering the actual building. And ensured they were killed off at the time and had inspection each yr which confirmed they had not returned. At the end of the day my home was in an area (hills district) that does have a lot of termites and I think by us taking the steps we had taken it actually helped put some peoples minds at ease a little that we had protected out property the best we could.

What im getting at is that I wouldnt have a prob buying that property of mine as it was delt with properly at the time and there is reports to confirm there are no active termites and havnt been 4 a few yrs now. Your situation is quite different. I really think it depends on the extent of the damage and just how wide spread through the home they are.

Cheers Jas!

 

[Propertunity]

Now has evidence of previous acivity in robe and active termites in dining room now.
My question is: what now?

Answered here: http://www.somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51336&highlight=termites

 

[BeeGee]

Thank you both....took a bit of "working through" the mind spinning from scenario to scenario seeing as it is our first venture into IP!

Pretty sure we want to go ahead with purchase...still waiting for pest report to be e-mailed to us as it was only done 2pm on Thursday.

 

[Rockstar]

Nathan recently purchased a property with termite damage to his advantage. Whether you move on or stay with the deal really comes down to your ability to deal with the scenario. If you persist with the deal, make sure you more than cover the cost of repairs when you renegotiate the new price so that you actually profit from the excersise. Otherwise move on to something else.

 

[pennyk]

I would be very careful since there are active termites.
If it was just termite damage, i would ask the owners to repair the damage. We have done this with both PPOR purchases.
but with active termites, I'd probably walk away. Certainly, you would want them to be treated at the owners cost and another inspection done prior to purchasing.
Pen

 

[Dazz]

Good area, house is 12 y.o, paying $390k

Maybe the Vendor already knows about this, and has costed the repairs at 10K....that's why they agreed to sell their 400K home to you for 390K.

Obviously you can ask for a further discount, and if they are brain dead, they may agree....but any sane person would not.

If the property ticks all of your other boxes, (those boxes of course being far more important ones than white ants - like land content and location - are you really just going to turn around and high tail it out of there, and start the whole process again ??

Easy to say - harder to do in practice.

 

[fernfurn]

We are looking at a house on the GC (where termites seem to be rife) and they had had them in the fence, but the Agent said the house was built of (Cant remember but - pine ?? that termites dont like) Anyone know if this is true (that termites don't like pine)

 

[Rockstar]

Cypress Pine, a native, is termite resistant.

 

[Dazz]

Anyone know if this is true (that termites don't like pine)

Yeah, the REA is telling you the truth - they avoid it like the plague....too hard for them. They prefer to eat the softer woods like mahogany and ebony, but their favourite is citriartus radiarta huburis which has an enzyme which works in symbiosis with the enzyme in the white ant's stomach to form the pulp that they consume.


Wé chose pine for our roof timbers for the specific reason that the termites won't touch it. Pine is a little bit more expensive than jarrah or oak for example, but well worth it knowing that it will be termite free for decades to come.

 

[pennyk]

I don't know so much about building materials, but my understanding was that while cyprus pine is resistant, that it can still have termite attacks... maybe not as severe or as fast as other timbers though. I'm fairly certain our old house was built from cyprus pine, or at least some other quite resistant wood, but it still had a small amount of termite damage.
Pen

 

[arms]

I don't know so much about building materials, but my understanding was that while cyprus pine is resistant, that it can still have termite attacks... maybe not as severe or as fast as other timbers though. I'm fairly certain our old house was built from cyprus pine, or at least some other quite resistant wood, but it still had a small amount of termite damage.
Pen

any timber is prone to termite attack its just the level of attack that is different ,cypress has a turpentine quality that termites distaste but will still attack for a time ,i have seen houses with iron bark frames reduced to a wafer by termites ,with barely a mark on the outer of the studs

 

[fernfurn]

isnt that fascinating? The moment I heard pine I didnt remember the first bit because my mind had gone into "yeah right!" mode and knowing pine is so soft I would have thought they would love it, but that turpentine component explains it all. You would therefore assume, like burglars they would go on to the next house that tastes yummier. This also explains why they were in the fence and didnt attack the house

 

[arms]

isnt that fascinating? The moment I heard pine I didnt remember the first bit because my mind had gone into "yeah right!" mode and knowing pine is so soft I would have thought they would love it, but that turpentine component explains it all. You would therefore assume, like burglars they would go on to the next house that tastes yummier. This also explains why they were in the fence and didnt attack the house

bingo !!!!!!!!!!!

 

[craigb]

if your husband is a builder he will know all of this ? or should, as he can re build the house if required i would pull out and drive the price right down, cypress pine is resistant to termite attack but the bearers /joists and trusses are not likly to be constructed from this material. good luck.

 

[evand]

Pesties/builders inspections only go so far as the 10 pages of disclamiers allow them to. I have seen a few stuff ups in my time in the building industry and as a long time property investor with absolutely no recourse for the prospective purchaser.

Mostly the disclaimers/no responsibilty section of the report applies to areas not accessable by the inspector and thats pretty much where termites live. The disclaimers are usually equal in size to the report itself and therein lies the story.

I'd walk (ummm....make that run) unless its an out and out bargain and you you really want it. There's no shortage of good houses without termites.

Thank you both....took a bit of "working through" the mind spinning from scenario to scenario seeing as it is our first venture into IP!

Pretty sure we want to go ahead with purchase...still waiting for pest report to be e-mailed to us as it was only done 2pm on Thursday.

 

[wylie]

Termites never really worry me. In Brisbane, you kind of get them with the territory. However, we have always bought queenslanders where you can see pretty much every part of the house including the floorboards and the stumps, so knowing what to look for (the little blighters don't cover their tracks very well ) means going in with eyes open.

Having termites in old timber fences (entree) means they may not yet have moved onto the main course (the house).

Buying a slab on ground house is another thing entirely because they can hide away inside slabs and wall cavities. What sort of house is it?

The other thing is that we have had the same pest man for over 30 years and have never had a report done by a "proper" company but got our trusted pesty to check anything, treat anything and barrier anything needed. Sadly, he passed away suddenly recently, but his trusty sidekick will be taking over our properties. Personally, I wouldn't trust the big companies to find anything. Many years ago, on my first PPOR I got one of the "proper" pest companies in to check. They didn't find anything, but our trusted pesty found white ants within a minute of walking in the gate.

A few years ago a "proper" pest company had checked (prior to us bidding at auction) a house we bought and did a lovely job of disturbing the little blighters, which just means they move the nest. Our pest man was amazed that they could be so incompetent.

I would be waiting for the pest report, try to get them down in price and if the damage is minimal it would not stop me buying, but that's just me.

 

[Propertunity]

I'd walk (ummm....make that run) unless its an out and out bargain and you you really want it. There's no shortage of good houses without termites.

I find myself agreeing with evand on this point. If it were me - I'd move onto the next property.

But if like wylie you can deal with it and have dealt with it before and its not an issue for you - fine.

 

[wylie]

It all comes down to what sort of damage they have done, whether it can easily be rectified by your husband, and what the end price is.

I suppose I am saying that if you never touched a house in Brisbane that had had termites in the past, you would be narrowing the field somewhat. I am not suggest going ahead, but if things look easily fixed, why not?

 

[atti]

i am worried now that i read this thread, my next door neighbour just has his house treated, they've eaten half of his kitchen floor...

i cant find any traces of termites around inside/outside my house, but if i were to know a house that has termite i wouldnt buy it... unless its for instant developement.

thats just today woo.. if those termites decides to run away from pesticied and go to my place i would be very angry..