Home Inspection Reveals Material Deficiency!!!

[Matt Romano]

To material deficiency, or to not material deficiency. That is the big question.  But really thats just the subject title.  I'm pretty sure I have a decent understanding of what is and whats not considered to be material deficiencies. So I had a home inspection done on my first purchase ever. And I am just going to bullet point everything here that was noted with some type of recommendation by the inspector: 

-repair / seal walkway / (cracked concrete)

-cracked retaining wall

-some cracks in foundation (house was built in 1930)

-few areas of rot around window trim***

-1 piece of vinyl siding missing

-garage structure very questionable, including roof, and signs of previous (maybe even current) pest activity***

-front gutter brackets not under shingles like they should be*** 

-crack in chimney

-some broken basement windows

-doors throughout the house that don't close / latch as they should 

-2 visible signs of knob and tube wiring 

-lack of support to beam in basement*** 

-cast iron water pipes in basement rotted (should be replaced with PVC)***

-some leaky faucets throughout 

May seem like a lot, but honestly I didn't think it was too bad of a list considering the age of the house. I starred (***) the things that I would consider to be most important and hope to get a price reduction so I can address said issues. This is going to be my first purchase (owner occupied house hack), and its currently under contract.  Closing date is supposed to be next Friday, but I honestly feel that its super rushed to meet that.  I am having a contractor get in there on Monday afternoon to quote me repair of at least the items I starred.  But I guess my question for you veterans is: how do you usually deal with contingencies. Obviously I feel like I'm being picker than most because I will be living there myself, and I want my first investment property to be a sound one with as little headaches as possible (surprise surprise, right?). But how far do you usually go with addressing issues that come back from home inspection report,  Would love ANY and ALL feedback.  Thank you so much in advance!

-Matt

[Elisa Uribe]

Matt, your Realtor should be helping you navigate through all of the inspections and explaining to you what you don't understand. Were you at the home inspection?  I hope so! If not, call the inspector and ask him questions on any thing you don't understand. A few good questions are: 1.  if this was your property, what items would concern you most? 

2. Are there any red flags or items that need to be repaired that you think need to be done within the first year? 

If you don't have enough time to do your due diligence, ask for more time from the sellers, get the tradesman out there to give you bids, and if you need to ask for a credit from the seller, make sure you do before you move forward with the sale. Best of luck and congrats in advance:)