dkhedmo wrote:
The kitchen sink and laundry room are back to back (opposite sides of
the same wall). First load of laundry, dirty water backed up into
kitchen sink (double sink, very large both sides) and was a hair's
breadth from overflowing onto the floor. Plumber's snake came back
with mud on the tip, meaning the pipe under the slab was rotted
through.
It's unlikely the inspector would have been able to eyeball this
problem. Plumber was sure the seller must have been experiencing this
problem. Neighbor (retired plumber, no less) reported Roto-rooter was
on site weekly for a number of weeks, including 2-3 days before close.

Got four quotes on the job, and three of the four did not recommend
jackhammering the slab, because it couldn't be certain that the
problem was only under the laundry room, that it may very well extend
under a good portion of the house. (Young guys recommended taking up
the concrete just in the laundry room, just to see, but the guy
admitted that's what he would do if it were his house because he
would have a truck full of tools in the driveway and it wouldn't cost
him anything.)Quotes ran $1200, 2 at $1600+/-, and one at $2400.

Buying a house is NOT "Buyer Beware!" Look at the papers -- there should be
one stating the seller in unaware of any problems not mentioned in the
documents. The purpose of an inspection is to discover problems NOT KNOWN to
the seller.

If the seller knew of a problem that he did not disclose and such problem
caused the buyer to experience an unanticipated expense, the seller has
perpetrated a fraud upon the buyer. Slam, dunk, black-letter law.

I sure wouldn't eat over $6,000 worth of repairs foisted on me by a sneaky,
corrupt, goblin of a seller! I'd sue that sonofabitch and everybody he ever
knew!

Moreover, since you can PROVE he knew about the crappy plumbing, it is
reasonable to assume he knew about the crappy fireplace, the crappy wiring,
the crappy roof, the crappy foundation, the crappy carpet pads, the crappy
crabgrass, and generally everything crappy on your side of town.

In legal parlance, he does not "have clean hands."

Trust me on this: He's a goner. He, or his homeowner's insurance, will
settle for big bucks.

You should just hope he hasn't left town.