Big Issue at Final Walk through

[Maneesh Joshi]

Hello All,

I am in the process of buying a rental property in Philly and I live out of state. We were to close today so I had my agent do a final walk through yesterday. When he got there he found that the bathroom on the second floor had been leaking and water accumulated in the first floor ceiling and finally broke through the dry wall spilling water onto the wood floors below. From what we can see it is possible that its been leaking for weeks.

Has anyone come across this before? What did you do? Did you back out or renegotiate? The seller is going to make the repairs now but not sure what I want to do.

My gut is telling me I should back out. Water damage is pretty serious and who knows how the work will be done.

If I do go ahead and have them fix the issue should I ask that I be given the invoices of the work that was done? Should I have them do a mold analysis? I would want them to replace the wood floors and also check to make sure that the recessed lighting wasn't compromised.

Is there anything I am missing?

Appreciate any insight.

Thanks!

[Abel Curiel]

Originally posted by @Maneesh Joshi:

Hello All,

I am in the process of buying a rental property in Philly and I live out of state. We were to close today so I had my agent do a final walk through yesterday. When he got there he found that the bathroom on the second floor had been leaking and water accumulated in the first floor ceiling and finally broke through the dry wall spilling water onto the wood floors below. From what we can see it is possible that its been leaking for weeks.

Has anyone come across this before? What did you do? Did you back out or renegotiate? The seller is going to make the repairs now but not sure what I want to do.

My gut is telling me I should back out. Water damage is pretty serious and who knows how the work will be done.

If I do go ahead and have them fix the issue should I ask that I be given the invoices of the work that was done? Should I have them do a mold analysis? I would want them to replace the wood floors and also check to make sure that the recessed lighting wasn't compromised.

Is there anything I am missing?

Appreciate any insight.

Thanks!

Hello Maneesh,

This is unfortunate to say the least!

You should be able to have the seller pay for a mold remediation specialist to assess damages. Receipts/invoices are definitely things you want to request as well as the full report from the professional who assessed the damages. I'm not sure if a plumber would be necessary but if someone can identify the source of the leak, you can have the seller pay for that assessment as well. As far as the lighting, if you strongly feel there may be some issues there you can also request that the seller pay for an electrician to come in an check the place out as well.

I don't think the seller would fight this too much since it is totally reasonable. If they do object, I would have your attorney threaten to delay closing (which no seller wants to do at this stage). Your attorney may also be able negotiate to hold funds in escrow after closing.

Best of luck to you on this!

Abel