All Forum Posts by: Ashton A. Moore

Currently under contract on a property. Just got an email from Ally bank stating: “We recently received information indicating you are not currently living in the United States. Unfortunately we would not be able to proceed as per guidelines lenders can only provide financing to those currently in the United States.”

I’m currently military working at an international organization. I also purchased my last property while being overseas. This seems like BS. Thoughts? Advice? I don’t want to lose this deal! 

 If it is brand new and there are HVAC and electrical issues, ask for a copy of the final inspection permits from the city.  I can't see a city inspector passing that.

@Ashton A. Moore

I see.  I really think the other stuff on your list is extremely negligible.  Assuming your inspector did his job and he didn't miss anything major, this (and maybe the moisture) would be the only things I'd want to have looked into.  If you are happy with the deal otherwise, I'd just get an HVAC company over there for an inspection (should be reasonable), explain the situation, and ask them to verify correct installation of the unit, etc.  If everything but the intake checked out, I'd ask them (or your handyman on the other little jobs) if you can give them an extra $50-100 bucks to make a cheap, screw-in plate of some sort for the filter.  They'd be making a tidy profit at that price, imo.  It should take 5 minutes and $3-5 for them.

I find the intake/filter thing VERY odd.  Especially for a new unit.  I'd be way more concerned about larger issues with the system.  If there aren't any, I think getting a filter on that thing is a chip shot.  You could honestly even make it look decent if you cared enough to.

If you proceed, I'd love an update.  You've got my curiosity.

Best wishes!

@Ashton A. Moore

Weird.  Well, honestly, who knows how much serviceable time that thing has left anyway?  If that's the intake, I'd just jigger something up with self-tapping screws and clips.  It doesn't have to be art since it's most likely in a closet anyway and it won't take much to keep the filter covering that hole with the help of gravity.

If you are planning on relying on that system for an extensive period of time though, I'd probably get it inspected by an HVAC professional.  It'll probably come back with a less than glowing report which you can use to negotiate the price.  If you think you're unlikely to get anything back from negotiating further and are expecting to replace the HVAC when it goes, I'd do the self-tapping screws and clips...

I agree with all of the fixes being cheap and easy (except for potentially the moisture), but am I the only one confused by this:

"- No air filter and nowhere to place one on HVAC"

What does this mean?  The HVAC doesn't filter air?  

Did the inspector actually identify outlets with a bootleg ground or is just suspected. They would need to pull the outlet out of the junction box to confirm this which most inspectors won’t do. If this is a valid issue it means whoever did the work actively tried to deceive the buyer into thinking the electrical was done correctly and I would question what else they covered up. There’s an interim easy fix but you could need a complete rewire in the future. No filter or place for a filter before he hvac system is also an easy fix but shows that whoever did the work was not a trained hvac professional. I would use this report to get a credit and plan for maintenance items to come up sooner rather than later due to installation error on the new work.