HELP: Amazing Potential, CRAZY Termite Damage

[Kristyn Grimes]

So I intend to put an SFH under contract this morning. I went and viewed the property yesterday which has every plus you could imagine. It's priced 30 grand under any other property for sale in the neighborhood. it's three bedroom two bath across the street from an elementary school that was just renovated in the States second best school district. It has a large backyard that needs a little help. Two full bathrooms, big bedrooms, and on and on.

HOWEVER...... There's obvious major termite damage. The owner bought the home and rented it out to his family member who ran a convalescent home for 10 years and never did a dime worth of maintenance. The sellers disclosure claims he has no knowledge of any issues with the home however, there are camera holes in the baseboard with sawdust below. I'm assuming the previous contract fell through based on what the WDO report found so financing couldn't be attained. The framing around both garage doors has been eaten so bad that the tracks for the doors have dislodged rendering the doors ineffective. The soil from the barren backyard has all washed towards the foundation I'm sure contributing to the termite issue. The old wood siding will need to be replaced as well because of combined termite and squirrels going buffet style on it.

With all that being said I'm wondering if anyone has remediation experience with major termite issues. What was the extent and/or a rough estimate of your costs? We're emailing the seller's agent this morning to ask if we can begin some inspections before putting the home under contract. She's extremely difficult to work with because she doesn't have a working phone number. The phone number listed does not ring and when we emailed her for a new one she just simply replied My phone doesn't work. The home has an ARV of 209K and was reduced by 10K two weeks ago to a listing price of 170k. My thoughts, since he's had one or two contracts fall through, was to offer 130k with an option. And 30 to 45 day closing. My second option would be to offer him 110k cash with a 10-day closing because I have resources that can run title checks for me. This one gives me the butterflies because of its potential but the professional repairs and my own elbow grease I put into it will be great.

LMK what y'all think.

[Aaron K.]

@Kristyn Grimes I think you are putting too much thought into an offer that is very likely to be rejected.  Your cash price is more than a 35% mark down off list your other price is still about 25% off list.  That isn't to say that isn't what the house is worth, but most sellers aren't going to accept that.  As for the termites, I'd factor in a tenting, and replacing the siding and trim, it seems unlikely they ate enough to significantly damage the structure but a termite report would tell you that, which if that is the reason they fell out, they may already have a copy of or at least knowledge of.