Gren wrote:
Oh boy. Just this past friday, my wife, our broker, an indepedant
inspector and I converged and met regarding a house we're looking to
buy. We love this house, and really have begun to dream about what we
can do with it. It's a little bit of a fixer-upper, but nothing
crazy... or so I thought.

Enter.. the inspector. "Hmm.. well.. that roof is an issue" "Oh?"
It turns out, the seller never replaced the roof.. they just layered
it. 4 -6 layers of shingles. We had an opportunity to get in the
attic and see the roof from the inside-out and found there was NO
plywood sublayer for the shingles. They were nail directly onto the
rafters and then scaled. No sublayer.. no tar paper.. just shingles.
4-5 layers of 'em.

Since rafters are generally 16" - 24" apart, I suspect that is not
exactly the case. However it does appear you should plan on a new roof.
Get an estimate from a professional to bring it up to norms.


SO. (1) We need a new roof.. the whole thing ripped up and replaced
with plywood (or whatever that first layer is) and shingles.

Next thing. (2) 60 amp electrical service to the house. (ugh)
ORIGINAL and ACTIVE knob and tube wiring throughout. I would say
10-20% of the house is knob and tube/fuses.. the rest on a curcuit
breaker. Need to have it updated to 100/200 amp service.

I would plan on updating it myself, but as noted by another, you may not
need to. Knob and tube was a great wiring system. However it is likely you
don't have the capacity to handle modern home demands any more and a new
system is in order.


annnddd.. (3) some wood boring beetle damage in the basement. One
load-bearing girder and the stairs leading into the basement need to
be replaced/treated.

Yea, again get an estimated. Local situations and the actual job on all
these issues can make a very big difference in the cost of correcting them.

If you like the home, then nothing you noted should cross it off the
list. However everything you noted should be a part of the price you should
be willing to pay.

A note here about price. I'll guess your broker is getting paid based
on the sales price. That makes him or her the seller's agent, not yours.
If this is the case, find a professional who will help you for a flat fee
and let them help you set a bid price for the home after taking into
consideration everything you found.

It amazes me that people think the buyer's relater is on their side when
they are paid to get the buyer to pay more.


that's the major stuff. we've asked the seller to address these
issues.. I'm just afraid of the fact that although we've fallen in
love with this home, the roof might be a serious problem and could
lead to us passing on the home.

I honestly don't know how much these various tasks will cost the
seller to fix. I'm guessing (I could be way off) but.. 10k for the
roof, 1.5k for the electrical (60 amp to 100 amp) and 1.5k for girder
to be jacked/replaced and new stairs. And this is to be performed by
licensed contractors, not by the seller's buddy handyman.

purchase price for home.. 154k. my 'estimated' cost for seller to
repair these issues: at least 13k. (could be much higher, I dunno)

need advice.

--
Joseph E. Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math