Our Building Inspection Turned Up Termites - What Now?!?!
Hello all,
Hope you can help!
We had a building inspection done on a property we are planning to buy. Of course nowhere is perfect but...Bad news, there's a termite problem.
Trouble is, with termites you don't know how serious the problem is until you start taking the scenery to bits. So clearly we need to ask for money off, but how do we find out how much? Who do we call out?
We're totally lost and today we've spoken to the realtor, solicitor, and the building inspector and we still don't know what to do?
Personally, wouldn't touch anything with termites! They are a big problem and as you say you don't know how serious it is! Loads of nice properties out there - I would carry on looking and have piece of mind. Good luck with whatever you decide nat x
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Attitude is a small thing that makes a big difference
Personally, wouldn't touch anything with termites! They are a big problem and as you say you don't know how serious it is! Loads of nice properties out there - I would carry on looking and have piece of mind. Good luck with whatever you decide nat x
Ditto on this, it could be a small problem or a huge one, if nobody can give you a price I would suggest that you don't buy it! As this poster says.........Plenty more out there.
Looking at it from the Sellers point of view they will now either have to get the problem fixed or seriously reduce the price to sell. In other words you have the upper hand!
If you really love the property then have a quiet word with the building inspector and ask him to give you a worst case estimate to get the property fixed. Then make an offer to the seller taking that into account and add on say 10%-15% as a contingency. Termite damage atlhough it can be a serious problem is not that uncommon in certain areas so there are plenty of companies in Oz that have experience in erradicating the problem.
The seller knows no more than you do regarding the extent of the damage.The worse that can happen is that they turn you down and you start looking again.
If you don't really love the property then walk away, as posted above there are plenty of other properties out there.
Looking at it from the Sellers point of view they will now either have to get the problem fixed or seriously reduce the price to sell. In other words you have the upper hand!
If you really love the property then have a quiet word with the building inspector and ask him to give you a worst case estimate to get the property fixed. Then make an offer to the seller taking that into account and add on say 10%-15% as a contingency. Termite damage atlhough it can be a serious problem is not that uncommon in certain areas so there are plenty of companies in Oz that have experience in erradicating the problem.
The seller knows no more than you do regarding the extent of the damage.The worse that can happen is that they turn you down and you start looking again.
If you don't really love the property then walk away, as posted above there are plenty of other properties out there.
We DO love the house, it has taken us ages to find it. We've literally looked at dozens. In 4 months there have been 2 houses we've found where we felt we could live.
The owners are apparently furious as they've been getting regular pest control carried out.
Building report guy wasn't keen on giving us a price. Apparently we need to organise a further inspection ourselves! That's where we're sort of lost. We're new to the area and country, and worried that we won't know if any quote we get is correct / comprehensive or not.
We want to buy this house - not if it's got huge problems that'll take ages to sort out mark you, we're not that insane - we just don't know who to call next. Building consultant?
Or we were thinking of just making the sale conditional on the termites being gone and any internal damage to the place being put right. But then we don't know if we might miss something important / expensive!
*sigh* Well, we'll work something out this week I guess!
We looked at 40 / 50 houses and like you only 2 we would have lived in! From a selling point of view you will always have to disclose that there was a termite problem - would future prospective buyers be put off??? There is obviously a lot of money involved so have a serious think and be practical!
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Attitude is a small thing that makes a big difference
We looked at 40 / 50 houses and like you only 2 we would have lived in! From a selling point of view you will always have to disclose that there was a termite problem - would future prospective buyers be put off??? There is obviously a lot of money involved so have a serious think and be practical!
LOL, yes $560,000. That is good advice and we need a bit of time to think it all through and get things into perspective. My other half said exactly the same thing earlier.
I'm swayed by the fact that I'm 31, getting broody, and haven't had a home of my own (and by that I mean private space) for almost 18 months. I just want it all sorted
Just my thoughts but if they've been having regular pest control carried out then either the company they were using were useless or the damage won't be that serious.
It sounds like the house you are looking at is in an area where termite damage/potential damage is common. If you buy another house in a similar location then potentially you could face potential termite problems in future anyway regardless of which house you buy.
I'd get in contact with few local pest control companies (not the one the owner used!) and get written quotes to get it fixed or ask the seller to do it.
We DO love the house, it has taken us ages to find it. We've literally looked at dozens. In 4 months there have been 2 houses we've found where we felt we could live.
The owners are apparently furious as they've been getting regular pest control carried out.
Building report guy wasn't keen on giving us a price. Apparently we need to organise a further inspection ourselves! That's where we're sort of lost. We're new to the area and country, and worried that we won't know if any quote we get is correct / comprehensive or not.
We want to buy this house - not if it's got huge problems that'll take ages to sort out mark you, we're not that insane - we just don't know who to call next. Building consultant?
Or we were thinking of just making the sale conditional on the termites being gone and any internal damage to the place being put right. But then we don't know if we might miss something important / expensive!
*sigh* Well, we'll work something out this week I guess!
maybe if you speak to the buyer and you both get a couple of quotes each?
It will need to be done wether you buy the house or not. If you do go ahead make sure all work is done and then get your original building inspector back in (at their cost) to give it the once over.
Once the a ok is given then sign! alot of messing but its better than costing you down the line!
A house is for life, not just for Christmas
