Home inspection dilemma - missing gutters

No, they aren't a "necessity". Most homes, if properly landscaped and maintained, will do just fine without them.

Sorry, unless code in your jurisdiction _requires_ gutters (which is highly unlikely), you do not have grounds to break your contract.

Gutters are cheap yes, so its trivial.

I'm not a lawyer, but isn't the fact that there are no front gutters obvious? It's not like the seller is trying to hide the fact that they aren't there.

Barry

What does your inspection contingency clause in the contract say? Usually these things are so vague that you can walk away from the deal for any reason at all within the allotted time, but you need to have your attorney (you do have an attorney, right?) look over the exact wording in your particular contract, instead of asking random people on the net for advice about it.

Well, what if the seller holds firm in refusing to install gutters? Is that really a show-stopper for you? You could have the gutters installed yourself after you move in, after all.

-Sandra the cynic

look at other houses in the neighborhood do they have gutters?

get an estimate to put them on. I would much rather get the gutters I want than have the seller put on the cheapest they could find!

Wayne

I respectfully disagree. What if you "felt" a red front door was a "necessity?" Could you insit the homeowner re-paint the door?

Correct, because you would have placed a deposit on the home which had front gutters, and those gutters would be gone when you closed. That's not the case here.

They're not the same, either "legally" or in "real life."

I'm no lawyer, but the front pond, the front waterfall, and the front 6' tall slate wall are also "missing." You left a deposit anyway.

I think it's wishful thinking. Gutters are too cheap to hold up the sale of a home.

You are willing to walk away for maybe $500 gutter install? Seems petty to me. Try get some money taken off the purchace price, if that woun't fly, jusy buy the house and put them on latter. Greg

The ranch my folks live in is gutterless. There is an eve over the front door so you don't get soaked when it's raining, but no gutters to speak of. I live in a dutch colonial that has gutters only because if it didn't you'd get soaked if it was raining, plus I don't have great drainage like the folks and I consider them "required" so I don't have basement leak issues.

Gutters are cheap enough, see if you can get him to move on the price a bit. Unless code says gutters are required (haven't seen this in a local code, just a few HOAs required them) then either get them to drop the price accordingly or walk away. If you like this place enough to have put a deposit down on it then see if she'll budge - or meet you half way. On the upside you'll be able to put in the gutters that YOU want, not what SHE wants.

Lastly, talk to a lawyer.

If the lack of a gutter is the biggest problem with this house then you don't have a lot to complain about.

The seller does not HAVE to do anything. You can buy the house as-is and then YOU can install the gutter yourself. Installing a gutter and a downspout is not a huge expense.

The grading at the foundation is a bigger problem than the lack of a gutter. Properly graded the runoff from the roof will flow away from the house rather than puddle and seep into the baement. A good mulch will help dampen the water so you won't get splashback on the house.

Jon wrote: > [snip]

There were no gutters on the front of the house when you put down your deposit, so apparently it didn't matter that much at the time. IANAL, but it sounds like you have no basis at all to back out and expect to get your deposit back, and you either just want to back out of the deal or are trying to get something for nothing.

On the other hand, maybe the owner will agree to put gutters on -- the cheapest ugliest gutters he can find. Why not? He won't have to look at them for the next 20 years. (sounds like the makings of a good practical joke to me.)

If you wait and put the gutters on after you buy, you can get the ones that you like.

Good luck, and I hope you get what you deserve, ;-) Bob

You have several options left:

1. Walk away from the deal now.
2. Buy at agreed price as is (and have a gutter installed at your expence)
3. Ask to have the approximate cost (or perhaps 1/2 the approx cost -- in essence you offer to split the cost) of a gutter deducted from the selling price agreed to -- and if they balk, go to (1.) or (2.) above.

As the missing gutter was always visible, and the seller is doing some other tasks, I'd suggest 3, followed by 2 if it fails, which it likely will. In the total cost of the purchase, gutters will be a very small fraction, and are probably not worth walking away from a deal for.

In any case, always be polite, you want to encourage the seller to see your point of view, but do not want to annoy them.

Good luck.

Thanks for the input. You're probably right in terms of what code requires--but from what I've been led to believe, it is not uncommon for a home seller to agree to repair or replace his/her gutters if the home inspector finds them to be defective. It just makes me wonder why these people wouldn't just tear down their gutters, rather than spend money on something that apparently holds no contractual merit...

Jon

Never have the owner do the repairs, you will get the lowest, cheapest shoddiest repair. I am currently buying a home that never had gutters in 25 years and needs them along with a roof, repairs to the deck, fence around the pool, work on the electrical system and bannisters.

I based my purchase price on doing these repairs myself, however the current owner has insisted on installing the bannisters, even though I do not want him do because of the workmanship I will expect to get.

He may be concerned about liability if someone gets injured before you put in a proper banister. Ed snipped-for-privacy@snet.net

Just for perspective, I'll tell you that my house has gutters on the front, and not in the back. We have a water seepage issue in our basement, but only in the front, where there are gutters - not in the gutterless back.

Figure out how much it would cost you to put gutters on the front of the house. Is it worth killing the whole deal over that amount of money? We are going to put gutters on the back, we just haven't gotten around to it. The estimate we have is for something like $800. Would you kill the house deal over that much? If not, let it go for now.

(snip)

If you really want to back out of the deal, wouldn't the water seepage into the basement be enough to say it failed your inspection?

Sure. Your lawyer, your realtor, and you should too. Or you shouldn't have signed the offer.

Is this a deal breaker? As in you won't buy the house unless the seller installs gutters? If so, then walk.

Hate to be crass here, but here's your first lesson in buying a house. Know what you're signing, know what you're getting into and know the value of the home to you. Be prepared to walk if the home doesn't meet the value you desire or the money you're spending.

Jeff