All Forum Posts by: Andres Ruiz

Quote from @Andres Ruiz:

Quote from @Andres Ruiz:

Quote from @Chris Seveney:

@Andres Ruiz

So there was a fire 20+ years ago and the property was repaired - what’s your concern???

If it was large enough they would not have gotten a new certificate of occupancy, live in the property or been able to refinance or get another insurance policy

I don’t see this as being an issue / big deal.

 Thanks, it's the first time I've had this come up so appreciate thoughts on this.

 How would you handle it, if this was your deal?

How I would handle this if this were my deal?

If the contract included a due diligence period that allowed for the return of EMD and the numbers on the deal made sense, then I would request an extension on the EMD and hire an architect or structural engineering to review the area pointed out by the inspector.  If the repairs are sound I would close.  If the repairs are not sound I'd get an estimate to fix it and request a price reduction.

I may also decide to do nothing- If I find evidence that the modifications were done using permits and passed the city inspection & maybe even obtained occupancy certificates then I would just close on the deal. 

If I had submitted a non-refundable deposit but the financials still made sense I would still go through the same process. (By the way- I would never do a non-refundable deposit until all due diligence is completed)

This may not be a big deal like many people are saying… but this is a huge purchase for you so why not do as much due diligence as possible. 

I would get a structural engineer to the property. Most would charge about 800 to $1k to do the observation. It has been many years since it happened… so you should be fine… but doesn't hurt to check. 

Also think about future for the property? Will you keep it forever? or will your rent it out or sell it in the future. 

The next buyer will also inspect it and will also have a problem with evidence of previous fire… 

So it will help to have an engineer look at it and say it is safe to live there. 

It's all about you feeling safe in it. If you feel this would help, simply do it! Same for the foundation, roof, electrical and plumbing systems. 

Good luck 

How was the past fire discovered? What evidence remains?

Why would you be walking away from $10K? You should be in the due diligence period.  Is it possible the current owner didn't know about the fire (ie it happened before they bought the place and it wasn't inspected)?

For some places if the damage was repaired, they may not need to disclose it-not sure about fires. I had a friend whose house had major structural issues as an underground pipe wasn't sealed off.  They got it fixed after suing the developer and their lawyer said that now that it is fixed, they didn't need to disclose it when they sold...they did sell it AND disclosed it to the seller and provided them all of the paperwork and warranties.

Quote from @Chris Seveney:

@Andres Ruiz

So there was a fire 20+ years ago and the property was repaired - what’s your concern???

If it was large enough they would not have gotten a new certificate of occupancy, live in the property or been able to refinance or get another insurance policy

I don’t see this as being an issue / big deal.

 Thanks, it's the first time I've had this come up so appreciate thoughts on this.

Quote from @Andres Ruiz:

Quote from @Russell Brazil:

Have they owned it prior to 2002?

Why does it bother you that the house had a fire 22 years ago?

 Hi Russel. it bothers me because they didn't disclose it and when asked about it they maintained they didn't know there was a fire and there have been a couple of other items they didn't "remember" that were in the disclosures. Also, there's no evidence that the issue was properly permitted/remediated so I will have to do more work to get comfortable. Apparently the house was stuck by lighting that caused the fire. Do you think I'm overreacting? I guess integrity matters to me.

Yes I do think you're overreacting. 

@Andres Ruiz

So there was a fire 20+ years ago and the property was repaired - what’s your concern???

If it was large enough they would not have gotten a new certificate of occupancy, live in the property or been able to refinance or get another insurance policy

I don’t see this as being an issue / big deal.

Have they owned it prior to 2002?

Why does it bother you that the house had a fire 22 years ago?

1) ask your realtor if the seller was required to disclose a previous fire and they "forgot". If so, you have nothing at risk and you can request your EMD back and just walk away.

2) ask your realtor what the common discount is in your area for fire damaged homes if any. Ask for that amount of a discount for forgetting to disclose the fire. 

3) you should be able to walk anyway as your inspection contingency came back unsatisfactorily. 

4) is there really any structural damage or did they just leave behind charred by functioning lumber?

I’d be disappointed they didn’t disclose it (if they knew and it didn’t happen 30 years ago and 2 owners ago.). But if you can’t smell it and it’s not structural. It’s basically an escape clause for you if you want to bail but not a real issue.