House with termite damage - how to still move forward?

Question

Hello all,

We have our first house under contract. It is located in Mount pleasant and we got it offered at a great price.

The house has a older roof and AC but we factored that in with the offer.

During the CL100 we identified some termite damage. There is a life oak and where the leaves and miss fell a small leak, and apparently there the termites came in.

The house is 60k under market value and we love the location, neighborhood, yard, floorplan, etc... And really hope to make it work.

The damage was only spotted in the frog.

We had a contactor there and he estimated the damage at 17-25k but could be much more once you open the sheetrock and see how far the damage goes.

There was a TV moved in front of the storage door. So the owner obviously knew... But had it not disclosed. He wants to fix it on his dime. We got the quote from the contractor 3k maybe more depending when what he finds when he opens the wall. He also wants to get a termite bond from the same small company, 800$ for that.

Bigger company offered me 1700 for initial treatment + 200 for the repair bond.

Repair starts Monday. I don’t know if I can go there, what to look for? How to make sure it’s done right? I just don’t know if it’s worth the risk? But we love the house...

Any help is appreciated

Danielle

John Teachout · Answer

Here in Georgia, termites are very prolific and most houses that have been around a while have some infestation history. Assuming these are the common subterranean termites, a treatment should cost somewhere between $500 and $1500 depending on the size of the property. I never pay for a bond, just retreat every 8 to 10 years. As far as the damage noted in the pics, that's not horrible. It needs addressing but I think 2 or 3 thousand is a lot closer than the astronomical number you were quoted. This is not an old house (based on the fact that it has OSB sheathing) so repairs should be pretty standard. I don't usually open walls unless there is something obviously awry.

Lynnette E. · Answer

Unless you have had great experience with Terminex, I would suggest you avoid them.  They often are a lot higher than other just as competent companies.

It also makes a lot of sense to get the bond from the company doing the work.  They will do the work with more consideration knowing they are on the hook if there re issues later.

Not sure what market you are in, but even if they have to replace and paint drywall on one side of  the house and sister a lot of boards I would think you are under $5000.  Might want to look at that electrical box / line in the attic too while you are working there.

John Semanchuk · Answer

Termite damage can be much worse than it appears on the surface... or not.   It's often not bad at all but I've seen houses with extensive damage that was hardly visible without tearing things apart.  Did they say what kind of termites it is?

I would never allow a seller to use their own contractor to rectify damages and always recommend my clients away from that idea.  The seller has no incentive to choose anything but the cheapest way out... often at the expense of doing the job correctly.   Also I'd be really suspicious of a $3k vs $17-25k repair bid.  One of those contractors is missing the mark whether intentionally or not.

I have a Realtor partnership with Terminix and can usually get a repair bond that also covers Formosan Termites in place for ~$875.  If you get a bond, you will want to make sure it's a Repair Bond and that it covers Formosans.   I also agree with going with a bigger company for the termite bond.  Last year I had many neighbors on my nextdoor.com site who were scrambling to find a new company when their current one man company suddenly shut down.

Disclosure: I get some "points" that I can use for my own termite bonds if you go through me to put a Terminix bond in place.  I only recommend them based on their price though.  I've not found a comparable bond at a lower cost.

Joseph Cacciapaglia · Answer

I'm not sure I follow your scenario. Are you saying that your contractor said $17-25K in repairs, but his contractor quoted $3K? I'm not sure what construction costs are like where you are, but $17-25K would be pretty unbelievable in my market. I know a lot of people are afraid of termites, but I don't think they're really that big a deal, once you actually know they're there. I've owned properties with termites, and have never had tens of thousands of dollars in damage. I've seen $3-4K, at the top end. Of course it's always possible that there is a lot more, if it goes untreated for a very long time (or if your construction costs are higher). When I had a property that was prone to termites, I paid to have it treated regularly, so I wouldn't really be concerned with the bond anyway.

John Teachout · Answer

From the pics, you have the common subterranean termites. Hence the mud tunnels. (not the more challenging drywood termites)

From what I see in the pics, other than the trim section you show, there probably isn't anything that actually needs repair if you can stop the infestation. A termite treatment can take several weeks to kill the colonies but based on what I'm seeing, there's nothing there that would scare me away from the deal.

Lynnette E. · Answer

Everyone has their own way of developing relationships.  I find that, for me, the relationships with the smaller businesses are generally better, longer lasting and flexible.  The folks with the small businesses need to work to live.  They want to survive.  With the larger companies, someone miles and miles away makes the decisions and its usually a very wealthy person who has not 'needed' income for decades.   Major companies go under all the time.

I can get carpet installed within a few days at most from a local carpet installer.  Lowes will be at least 3 weeks with their pre-measure, order the carpet, then schedule the installation process.  The local appliance store will deliver the same day I buy it.  Best Buy or Home Depot is at least a week out, and only deliver on Tuesdays to my area.   The local HVAC guy will come out within 24 hours of any problem.  The major companies, in a cold or heat wave, put you on a list and you wait.  The pesticide company will charge $220 for a years service per house and comes 4 times a year on a schedule and will come when called any amount of times I call during the year for regular bugs and ants at no extra charge.  He charged $400 when he found termites.  That is the only extra charge and he looks for them on his quarterly spray.    The big guys are at least 3 times more expensive.

I consider the local guys gold.  I could not get better customer service.

Russell Brazil · Answer

Same here in the midatlantic...if the property has a yard, it has termite damage nearly 100% of the time.  And it simply isnt a big deal. $500 for a treatment every 5 years.

Also, that huge $17k or whatever quote on repair is total bullshit.  Thats a contractor trying to rip the op off.

Avery Carl · Answer

I'd push to use your own contractor/pest company. That quote is astronomical. At the very least you want to select a third party contractor yourself to inspect the seller's company's work before removing any contingencies.

Marian Smith · Answer

@Danielle Fraser  I would think you’d want the bond from the company doing the repairs and treatment.  Incentivize them.  Have the guy take photos after he removes the sheetrock, after he replaces studs, etc and before he replaces sheetrock.  I would think it makes sense to have a termite company replace damaged studs as they’d know where to look based on evidence and framing is not as difficult as finish carpentry.

Terrell Garren · Answer

Certainly you need to be cautious, however I love the smell of cat urine and some termite damage. A lot of buyer competition will walk away from the smell of cat urine even though a low cost repair.  Termites damage scares most everyone away even though my experience is the same as @Joseph Cacciapaglia.   I've generally spent $1-5K replacing or sistering a few floor joists, maybe a piece of rim joist, a few studs and sheeting.  Then treated for termites.  Spent $5K and saved $30K.  Best, Terrell

House with termite damage - how to still move forward?

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