All Forum Posts by: Sara Siri

Thank you Jim Piper. That's a good point. I posted my reply before seeing yours. I'll brainstorm this thought with my agent.

Hearing this from the professionals in this forum makes me believe that we should not pursue any legal actions. Thank you all for your input.

I'll convey these messages to my agent and see if she has any further advice. I'll post an update here if there is any turnaround.

Thank you again.

Sara

Hi,

We just purchased a home and closed the escrow recently. We moved in 3 days after closing. After living there for 2 days, there was a major sewer line issue. Both toilets and both bath tubs were also clogged (the house has 2 bathrooms ).

We hired a plumber to hydrojet (via the back of wash/dryer). He said the force was 2100 psi (sorry if this is not the right unit; it's a technical term which i'm not familiar). It couldn't go through. It went only so far and got stuck. The plumber said we needed a clean out. In the mean time, my real estate agent who helped us with the purchase of this home suggested that us to contact a home warranty. The plumber from a home warranty came and said he couldn't do anything because we didn't have a clean out. We called the 3rd plumber and he evaluated the situation similar to both plumbers.

This was the tree roots problem. So the 3 professionals said we need a clean out. They would do a video analysis and then clean it. If the pipe was compromised, they will have to replace the pipe which it was the case too. The quote was roughly the same from the 3 which is between $4000-$5000.

We have communicated this issue to the seller via the agents of both sides. The seller response was that they said a similar issue back 10 years ago when they purchased this home. Their plumber just hydrojetted the pipe and it worked afterward. They were willing to pay for $150 for hydrojetting.

We had no water for almost 2 days so we decided to hire the 1st plumber due to his good reputation and we paid $4000 after all. Our agent agreed that this should be seller's responsibility since the roots have been there years and years and if seller were to have regular maintenance, it should not cost this much to fix the problem.

I would like to get your thoughts on this issue if we should pursue things further as legal action. How much money/ time should I be expected to pay if we go the legal route? Do you think it's seller's responsibility.

Much appreciated your input. Thank you

Sara

Hi ,
I'm look for an advice on market situation in San fernando Valley (near Los Angeles, CA).
I have a townhome in Sherman Oaks, CA that is currently rented to a tenant on a 4-month lease. I plan to put it on sale soon after the lease is over which is end of this month (Aug 2013). My tenant has just asked me to extend the lease 5 more months until January 2014 since she has to stay longer for her work project. And she is willing to pay 30% more of the existing rent. The higher rent is tempting but I eventually has to sell this townhome (adj rate will kick in in Nov 2014 and I would not be able to afford it).
I would like to get some thoughts from you if you think it would be worth it to extend the lease and start selling in Feb2014 or I should play it safe and sell it now (Sept 2013) just to be sure. I definitely can't afford to hold on to this place after Nov 2014.
What is your thoughts on market situation around beginning of next year? I understand no one has crystal ball but just want to get some comments before making a decision.
Thank you.