All Forum Posts by: David London

@Blake Golom and @Michael Noto thank you for your advice. 

wanted to give an update of the situation which might be useful to other members with similar situations.

Since on the whole the house I found seem to be a good deal and the market I chosen is very tight I proceeded as follow:

1. Got a local engineer to assess the situation and severity of the bulging of the foundation. Getting him to come to the property cost me $300...getting a written report would have been another $200 which in this case felt not necessary in my opinion.

2. Got a local contractor to propose a fix and give an estimate. Contractor bid for the job was $3,000 which was much less then I expected.

Both engineer and contractor (accompanied by my RE agent) visited the property and concluded that the bulging of the foundation isn't very serious and quite typical to the age of the house in that area (where all houses have stone foundation) and that the slope of the floor is more likely caused by a bowing cellar beam which can be jacked over 4-6 weeks and then reinforced after reducing the slope of the floor to a more acceptable level. 

With this information I asked my agent to request a reduction of $6,000. Seller countered at $5,000 and so the deal is proceeding. 

Working in a less heated market with more available properties to choose from I might have backed from the deal but over all house is in good shape and have great potential for improvement and cash flow. 

Will try to update more as the work begin in couple of weeks.

Best,

David

Just completed the inspection on my first accepted offer SFH in Bethlehem PA. Inspection biggest finds were a bulging section of the stone foundation and a bowing beam in the cellar both cause slight (but noticeable) slanting of stairs and floor on main level.

My main question at this point is who is responsible for the cost of fixing the problem? Me or seller or to be negotiated? And if negotiated how do I go about it?

Some background:

- I made the offer without inspecting the house, but basing myself on my agent photos and impressions (I live 2.5 hours away and market is quite hot so had to act quickly). Being a regular MLS listing there was no AS IS clause to the best of my understanding.

- House is about 100 years old and other then these problems require lots of cosmetics but in decent shape otherwise.

- During the inspection I saw a disconnected downspout just above the area where the bulging is occurring. Seller is an out of state and based on the condition of the place was not to engaged in keeping it up. Inspector didn't noticed it but I had him add it to his report.

- Going to have an engineer and contractor coming to give their opinion and hopefully a repair estimate, but in my mind the damage is more likely caused by deferred maintenance such as the downspouts and lack of gutter cleaning than the age of the house (saw already about 12 houses in the same neighborhood, all with stone foundation but none seemed to be in such condition.

- My inspection period is ending in a week? What happen after if me and the seller don't reach agreement as for who's responsibility it is to fix the problem? 

Being so far from the property and it being my first major rehab I already figured a high cost for the work so adding a possibly 15-20K to it will be a very taxing.

Other then that I'm happy with this house and feel it has a good potential and wouldn't like to walk away from the deal (already lost 3 offers in the same place due to quicker and higher offers by others).

Any advice?

Going out to Bethlehem, PA to check a very promising 3BR/1BA single family home in an estate condition which need some rehab.

Kitchen and bath need to be completely redone and the rest is mainly cosmetics.

Can I assume about 30-40K for such work in Lehigh Valley?

I'm located in NYC where renovation prices are over the roof and it sometime even hard to find contractors to bid jobs as they are not even worth their time...how do I evaluate rehab cost in a market so different then mine before making the offer.

Any decent budget contractor recommendation in the area?

Thanks,