The house we're in right now was bought contingent on an inspection that turned up two cracks in the furnace heat exchanger. There was haggling as a result, but we ended up seeing $1800 off the sale price.
Given the history of flood, I would not buy without an inspection. If the seller balk, I would walk. There are always other homes in nice neighborhoods, and it sounds like your chances of actually getting this place are iffy.
Most any living arrangement is preferable to living in a crime ridden area.Take it from an ex cop who's interviewed far too many crime victims...
Doc
Maybe you should look up "false dichotomy", and consider the implications as relevent to the current discussion.
OMG, I take almost that amout of time for doing a HVAC inspection on a resale. What does the guy do, fly through the house?
I'd find it hard to believe the seller
I didn't have title insurance on my former house. We bought it and ended up refinancing it 4-5 times in 15 years. When we went to sell it the title search turned up a note from 2 owners before us(~18-20 years before). The closing attorney said to forget about it. We did.
Most sellers who have sold a home utilizing the home inspection process are somewhat cynical because most buyers expect the seller to correct everything the inspector finds. They use the inspection report to renegotiate the price. If on the other hand you explain to the sellers that you lender requires or you need it for your piece of mind and you will use it only to proceed or cancel the contract if more X amount of items or $ are discovered they should be fine with that.
Your lender will require a full title report before proceeding. Any research you do along those lines is a waste of your time unless you are plopping down a large earnest money deposit. You are paying for the title report and should receive a copy of it.
Your lender will also require an appraisal of the property. You are entitled to a copy of that since you are paying for it.
The tax rolls will provide you with a sanity check about the value of property in the area.
Only you can judge the area and the quality of life you might have there.
Colbyt
Flood and weather disasters seem to hit areas on a 30-40 year intervals anyway and this year has been a doosey. This spot is probably due. Glad to see you found the real reasons to stay away.
"HeatMan" wrote in news:bRB5f.4984$ snipped-for-privacy@bignews1.bellsouth.net:
In many places a "General Purpose" home inspector isn't allowed to do very much to an HVAC system. (Gotta respect the unions)
They can check for obvious leaks and do pull a few panels to check fans etc. If you want the core or burn chamber checked, that's another inspector.
Brad
On Wed, 19 Oct 2005 11:28:54 GMT, "James" wrote:
: : wrote in message :news: snipped-for-privacy@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com... : :> Apologies again for making this so long, but I've gotten some good :> advice here over the years and would appreciate "What's the Worst That :> Could Happen?" answers. : :I happened to read this post out of curiosity. Thought I'd chime in here :with a ridiculously basic thought. I assume you don't know these people :from Adam. Since from the way you've put it, there appear to be mildly :"fishy" elements, do you know for a fact that the "elderly bachelor :brothers" are who they say they are and that they own the house? : Having bought a fixerupper (that I'd rented for 17 years) I'll chime in. At least when I bought (and I think this is standard), the purchase involves an escrow officer and what's called "title insurance." You pay for title insurance, which assures you (up to a cash limit, hopefully approximating what you pay for the house) that the house is indeed owned by the people who appear to be selling it to you and that you are the title holder after the transaction. This process tends to eliminate the danger of a bogus transaction.
You're welcome.
Translation: "a lot of jigs and spics in the area and they're breeding more"
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