In article , Gren says...
we have a signed sales contract.. We, as the buyers don't have to
contact contractors for estimates.. it's up to the seller. We've
considering amending the sales contract to accomodate the repair costs
for the seller.. for example.. if it costs the seller 10k and we paid
154k, either the seller can pay out of pocket, or we can pay some and
lower our bid amount. Also, according to the inspector, he said
insurance underwriters would most likely not allow the 60 amp service
to the house. We thought to ask the seller to bring it up to 100 amp,
and then I'll pay out of pocket for the electrician, while he's there,
to bring it from 100 to 200 amp.
Like was earlier mentioned, if this falls through, the seller is just
going to run into another buyer with similar demands. We can look at
it this way, the seller is being 'penalized' for living 40 years in
the house and NOT addressing these issues.
He may not CARE - by his estimation the house worked for him for 40 years. And,
truth be told, another buyer may not CARE either - taking it for granted that a
lot of stuff gets ripped out and redone anyway.
I haven't even mentioned the host of other smaller problems we're not
asking the seller to address. Duct tape holding cabinet drawers
closed... The fact we have to prime and repaint every room in the
house, because of smoke stained walls. The water-heater is on year
11. The exterior garage is falling apart, we'll have to demolish and
rebuild. etc, etc.
I don't want you to think this place is a dump, it's a bungalow style
home built in 1915 with a fantastic foundation, beautiful woodwork
throughout and the structure is solidly built.
We're just hoping the seller is reasonable enough to address these
problems on his own accord. He bought the house about 40 years ago; I
would think he'd have the mortgage paid off by now, so I assume he's
not waiting on our monies to pay off all kinds of debt. Hopefully this
would make it somewhat easier for him to take a small hit on the bid
price to fix some of the stuff he never did, and not lump it in our
lap.
We'll see 
You're even talking *paint*?? Look, unless your state is a *lot* different from
mine, this is stuff you take into account as to whether or not you buy the
house, and the seller's responsibilities have to do with disclosure about the
condition, not with the condition.
The seller's main concern is as to how saleable his house is. Sure, he may find
the house hard to sell to someone else with no updates, but, hey, obviously
*you* will buy so he's not wrong in his estimation as to the saleability of the
house, now is he!
You can try to talk him down in price after getting the estimates, but he very
well may have taken the tack of putting the house on the market already priced
down to make up for the lack of updates (has he - that's what a realtor would
know). You can make *him* do the repairs, but really I think *you'd* rather do
it rather than have the seller throw some repairs on. *You'd* rather get the
estimates, too, else he'd get some bottom-of-barrel price for you.
It still comes down to: Do you want the house, and at what price? Unless your
state socks a lot on the seller more than I would imagine.
Banty
This old house that knew his children,
This old house that knew his wife,
This old house was home and comfort,
While they fought the storms of life.