Home Ownership (misc.consumers.house)

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Tony
 
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Default Buying a house: Some questions

I am buying a house here on Long Island. It is a cape with a full finished basement. It is in a
good, average neighborhood and has a good school district. They asked $399,000. I offered $350,000.
They said no. They had a few more open houses and didnt get what they wanted so they finally agreed
on $368,000. The house was built in 1960 or so. Most of the rooms have paneling from the 70's. The
basement and the 2nd floor have paint (maroon and tan, respectively) over the paneling. Most rooms
have no moldings where the paneling meets the ceiling. In other words, this house has many cosmetic
flaws but I am not concerned with that. A house in this area usually goes for higher than this these
days so I am getting a decent deal.

I had an engineer come in and he found some things out. My main concerns are that there is no ground
wire in the house, therefore, every room has a 2 prong outlet. No outlets in any of the 3 bathrooms.
The roof will be gone in a year (there are two now so I am going to have to go down to the
sheathing. There is 100 amp electric service, which is ok, even though most houses have 200. There
is very low water pressure despite the fact that this house is 2 blocks from the water tower. When
you run the kitchen sink and flush the first floor toilet, the sink water goes below 50% of it's
original pressure. The house has all 1/2" pipe (no 3/4").

SInce I will be pretty strapped after buying this house, I am not going to have the money to fix all
of the above problems. The engineer is figuring on $8000 or so to re-wire the house with a ground
wire and installing 3 prong outlets. I do not want the house reduced by any amount. I would rather
have the house in good order.

Also, the main bathroom needs a new shower body installed (tiles ripped out, new shower, re-tile)
and there is a leak in the lead bend.

In the end, structurally, the house is great. But the electric and plumbing need some work. The
seller has no legal obligation to upgrade the electric or the plumbing but can I expect him to
address the pressure problem? He said he and his son are plumbers. Hmm. I heard that the water
company will come down and do pressure test for free. My friend said that a lot times, the water
meter gets clogged on both sides (in, out) and sometimes that causes pressure problems.

Any ideas of what to do here? I do want the house but I based my house on there being no problems
that need to be fixed right away. I can live with the cosmetic deficiencies and the roof, but is it
too much to expect to have normal outlets in the house? I have many computers and I will have to buy
a bunch of adapters and have no grounding.

Thanks for any suggestions. What would some of you do?

Tony
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mkm
 
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Default Buying a house: Some questions

Been there, done that.

You're being penny wise and pound foolish.

You don't want a house with a lot problems and you can't force the seller do
to anything that they don't want to do, nor are you being forced to buy this
house.

Move on now while your only expense has been the inspection.


"Tony" wrote in message
...
I am buying a house here on Long Island. It is a cape with a full finished

basement. It is in a
good, average neighborhood and has a good school district. They asked

$399,000. I offered $350,000.
They said no. They had a few more open houses and didnt get what they

wanted so they finally agreed
on $368,000. The house was built in 1960 or so. Most of the rooms have

paneling from the 70's. The
basement and the 2nd floor have paint (maroon and tan, respectively) over

the paneling. Most rooms
have no moldings where the paneling meets the ceiling. In other words,

this house has many cosmetic
flaws but I am not concerned with that. A house in this area usually goes

for higher than this these
days so I am getting a decent deal.

I had an engineer come in and he found some things out. My main concerns

are that there is no ground
wire in the house, therefore, every room has a 2 prong outlet. No outlets

in any of the 3 bathrooms.
The roof will be gone in a year (there are two now so I am going to have

to go down to the
sheathing. There is 100 amp electric service, which is ok, even though

most houses have 200. There
is very low water pressure despite the fact that this house is 2 blocks

from the water tower. When
you run the kitchen sink and flush the first floor toilet, the sink water

goes below 50% of it's
original pressure. The house has all 1/2" pipe (no 3/4").

SInce I will be pretty strapped after buying this house, I am not going to

have the money to fix all
of the above problems. The engineer is figuring on $8000 or so to re-wire

the house with a ground
wire and installing 3 prong outlets. I do not want the house reduced by

any amount. I would rather
have the house in good order.

Also, the main bathroom needs a new shower body installed (tiles ripped

out, new shower, re-tile)
and there is a leak in the lead bend.

In the end, structurally, the house is great. But the electric and

plumbing need some work. The
seller has no legal obligation to upgrade the electric or the plumbing but

can I expect him to
address the pressure problem? He said he and his son are plumbers. Hmm. I

heard that the water
company will come down and do pressure test for free. My friend said that

a lot times, the water
meter gets clogged on both sides (in, out) and sometimes that causes

pressure problems.

Any ideas of what to do here? I do want the house but I based my house on

there being no problems
that need to be fixed right away. I can live with the cosmetic

deficiencies and the roof, but is it
too much to expect to have normal outlets in the house? I have many

computers and I will have to buy
a bunch of adapters and have no grounding.

Thanks for any suggestions. What would some of you do?

Tony



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Chris Hill
 
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Default Buying a house: Some questions

On Fri, 13 Aug 2004 04:27:04 GMT, Tony wrote:

I am buying a house here on Long Island. It is a cape with a full finished basement. It is in a
good, average neighborhood and has a good school district. They asked $399,000. I offered $350,000.
They said no. They had a few more open houses and didnt get what they wanted so they finally agreed
on $368,000. The house was built in 1960 or so. Most of the rooms have paneling from the 70's. The
basement and the 2nd floor have paint (maroon and tan, respectively) over the paneling. Most rooms
have no moldings where the paneling meets the ceiling. In other words, this house has many cosmetic
flaws but I am not concerned with that. A house in this area usually goes for higher than this these
days so I am getting a decent deal.

I had an engineer come in and he found some things out. My main concerns are that there is no ground
wire in the house, therefore, every room has a 2 prong outlet. No outlets in any of the 3 bathrooms.
The roof will be gone in a year (there are two now so I am going to have to go down to the
sheathing. There is 100 amp electric service, which is ok, even though most houses have 200. There
is very low water pressure despite the fact that this house is 2 blocks from the water tower. When
you run the kitchen sink and flush the first floor toilet, the sink water goes below 50% of it's
original pressure. The house has all 1/2" pipe (no 3/4").

SInce I will be pretty strapped after buying this house, I am not going to have the money to fix all
of the above problems. The engineer is figuring on $8000 or so to re-wire the house with a ground
wire and installing 3 prong outlets. I do not want the house reduced by any amount. I would rather
have the house in good order.

Why rewire? Unless code is forcing it, two prong electrical outlets
were safe enough for the longest time. If you just want to have
additional safety, see about installing some gfi receptacles in the
kitchen; these don't need a ground to operate. If you want 3-prong
for your computer, consult an electrician about just running a new
circuit and find out what code would say about making it grounded.

I wouldn't give the electrical the highest priority, that is
relatively minor. I'd be worried about the roof! It may need more
than just reshingling; no way to tell until you pull it all off and
check.

This house sounds like a fixer-upper; not a problem as long as you
understand that going in. If you aren't willing to do the work or if
your standards are too high, move elsewhere.


Also, the main bathroom needs a new shower body installed (tiles ripped out, new shower, re-tile)
and there is a leak in the lead bend.



I'd see if I could get something knocked off for that.

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D. Gerasimatos
 
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Default Buying a house: Some questions

In article ,
Tony wrote:

[snipped cosmetic items]

I had an engineer come in and he found some things out. My main concerns are
that there is no ground wire in the house, therefore, every room has a 2 prong
outlet. No outlets in any of the 3 bathrooms.



This isn't a problem. Most old houses are this way, although yours isn't
very old. Like someone else said, just install GFIs where you want them.
Maybe ground the bathroom outlets. My house had only one GFI in it when I
moved in. It was in the bathroom and they had run a ground wire for it.
Since then I added a grounded outlet (no GFI) in the kitchen for the
refrigerator and it cost me $80 for an electrician to do it. Rewiring the
entire house would be nice, but is not essential. It sounds like you can
do better things with that $8K.


The roof will be gone in a year .



This is your biggest problem. With no roof you have no house. Water damage
is your worst enemy. Roofs are expensive, too. If you back out of the deal
for any reason then this is it.


There is 100 amp electric service, which is ok, even though most houses have
200.



100A is more than plenty. This isn't a problem.


There is very low water pressure despite the fact that this house is 2 blocks
from the water tower.



You will need to repipe.


I do not want the house reduced by any amount. I would rather
have the house in good order.



It sounds like it is *already* reduced $32,000 from the $400,000 figure
which was fair for the area. This is probably what it will cost to bring
it into good order.


Your biggest problem is the roof and you have it listed as the problem you
are least concerned about. Your smallest concern is the electrical and you
seem most concerned about that. Since you won't have the money to fix
any of these things that are wrong then how can you expect to buy this
house? Your best bet is to ask the seller if he will give cash-back at
closing to do some of the repairs. If he balks then there is still a
chance. Offer him, say, $10K more ($378K) and ask him to give *that* back
to you at closing. It sounds like the appraisal will make it in any case
and at least you can roll the repairs (some of them) into your mortgage.
You can also have the repairs done to your liking.


Dimitri

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Tracy
 
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Default Buying a house: Some questions

Tony wrote in message . ..

The seller has no legal obligation to upgrade the electric or the plumbing
but can I expect him to
address the pressure problem? He said he and his son are plumbers.


They're plumbers, and neither one has gone to the trouble of fixing
this house? Either they're bad plumbers, they're really lazy, they
don't actually use water, or this plumbing problem is going to be huge
and expensive.


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v
 
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On Fri, 13 Aug 2004 04:27:04 GMT, someone wrote:

Thanks for any suggestions. What would some of you do?

Don't buy a fixer upper if you can't afford to fix 'er up.

If you buy a fixer, you need to have the money for both the purchase
AND the renovations, and it should still be a "deal" even AFTER you
add those two numbers together to put up with the PITA of doing it.

If you only have barely enough $ for the initial purchase, then it is
elementary that you should purchase something that is in good
condition at the time of the purchase and will not need any work.

You need to set your sights lower if all the money you have can only
buy a fixer and not the repairs.

-v.

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Jim Erickson
 
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Default

I do not want the house reduced by any amount. I would rather
have the house in good order.
Any ideas of what to do here? I do want the house but I based my house on there being no problems that need to be fixed right away.


From what you posted you should move on.
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Tony
 
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Default

On Sat, 14 Aug 2004 22:22:26 GMT, (v) wrote:

On Fri, 13 Aug 2004 04:27:04 GMT, someone wrote:

Thanks for any suggestions. What would some of you do?

Don't buy a fixer upper if you can't afford to fix 'er up.

If you buy a fixer, you need to have the money for both the purchase
AND the renovations, and it should still be a "deal" even AFTER you
add those two numbers together to put up with the PITA of doing it.

If you only have barely enough $ for the initial purchase, then it is
elementary that you should purchase something that is in good
condition at the time of the purchase and will not need any work.

You need to set your sights lower if all the money you have can only
buy a fixer and not the repairs.

-v.

In all fairness to the house, there really are not any houses under $400,000 in this area. As long
as the leaks are repaired, which the owner has to do, I could live with the 2 prong outlets. It is
just an incovenience. I got the guy down to $368,000 and there is NOTHING for this price in this
neighborhod. I could have bought a MINT Splti Level house a few miles east of this one. It is the
same town but it is close to the shady side of town. Everyone I know says to buy a piece of junk in
a good neighborhood before I buy a mint house in a worse neighborhood because I can change the house
but I cannot change the neighborhood. I will have money for repairs, just not enough money to do
everything right away. If I had to live in it the way it is, I could and it is nice as long as the
leaks are fixed.

Tony
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D. Gerasimatos
 
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In article ,
Tony wrote:
-v.
In all fairness to the house, there really are not any houses under $400,000
in this area. As long as the leaks are repaired, which the owner has to do,
I could live with the 2 prong outlets.



The owner doesn't have to do anything. The fact that this house is the
lowest priced house reflects the condition it is in. It has nothing to do
with how you think *you* might repair it. If you have the means then it
might be a bargain. If you do not, then it's not for you.


If I had to live in it the way it is, I could and it is nice as long as the
leaks are fixed.



I guess you'd better plan on fixing the leaks then.


Dimitri

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