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Updated over 4 years ago on . Most recent reply

User Stats

59
Posts
11
Votes
Jia Liu
  • New to Real Estate
  • Orlando, FL
11
Votes |
59
Posts

Who to trust? Our home inspector or seller terminate bond company

Jia Liu
  • New to Real Estate
  • Orlando, FL
Posted

Hi everyone!

Looking for some opinion here. We are on contract to buy a house right now. We hired a home inspector who told us that there are possible termites and termite damages. (He has a termite license and performed a separate WDO inspection). He estimates anywhere from $10k to $100k of repair. He saw evidence of termites including wood rots on exterior trimmings and sidings and mud tubes. We asked the seller if they are aware of this possibility. So they asked their terminate bond company who told them that there are no live active termites.

Who should I trust? My termite licensed home inspector who can't see behind the walls or the seller's termite bond company who's best interest is to say they did their job in the past and there are no issues.

Thank you!

  • Jia Liu
  • Most Popular Reply

    User Stats

    28
    Posts
    28
    Votes
    David Silver
    • Investor
    • Atlanta
    28
    Votes |
    28
    Posts
    David Silver
    • Investor
    • Atlanta
    Replied

    @Jia Liu I would trust the expertise of your inspector. That’s what you’re paying them for!  Don’t pay attention to anyone working for the seller, that’s just noise. I would also get another opinion. 10k-100k is a huge range!  As a buyer, once you’ve discovered termites you have the right to cancel the contract and get a full refund.  Because of that fact, you have a lot of bargaining power. 

    In my experience, termite damage is always worse than imagined looking at it from the outside. Because it affects framing, it affects most aspects of the home construction. If you have to reframe a wall, you will have to put up new sheetrock, trim, paint, etc... so the costs escalate quickly.  I would expect the damages to be on the higher side of the range. 

    On a positive note, if you get the house on a discount, you may have a construction budget to rebuild it as you want and improve the value. This could be an opportunity to add a bathroom or bedroom for example!  

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