Too good to be true.. buying a home

[a1tinkfans]

An update, OP?

Hope all went well........

 

[CluelessDisFan]

Because we're also in a long home search/buying process. The only way to get your money back is to have documented proof. Get the inspection, and then you'll have the document you need to back out of purchase agreement, and your deposit will then be returned. Also I've learned to never trust anything your realtor tells you they only want your money. They'll pretty much tell you anything to sell you any house.

 

[DisneyPFamily]

An update, OP?

Hope all went well........

Thanks to all for have offered their advice, experiences and opinions. It has been a busy and stressful Monday with work (kind of put on the back burner today with all that I was pre-occupied with about this house lol) and talking with the Orkin exterminator company, scheduling (then cancelling) a home inspection, talking with my dad's friend who is a "Closer"/works for a title company and very close with the attorney, and lastly- speaking with the attorney about what to.. oh and can't forget the slimeball realtor who I do NOT trust after all of this and listening to her fibs!

The end result: I cancelled our contract to purchase the home. In the state where I live, you can legally cancel when you are in attorney review and get $ back. I had my attorney cancel outright to the seller's attorney and request they send my $1,000 check back.

Basically, my attorney reviewed my contract to purchase the "As is" home and he felt the contract was not at all protecting me. The bank wanted to close within 2 weeks and if we didn't close on that specific date, they would charge me $100 per day. It's called a "Time of the essence clause" they threw into the contract.

Here's the deal- the home we were purchasing, we were paying $189k cash. When I said great deal at first, I was emotionally optimistic. My dad tried to steer me away from it... The list price was for $200k. Zillow estimates it to be valued at $247k. My dad's friend who's an experienced builder and contractor came out to the property and gave his opinion on Saturday. He said if we were paying $175k cash then that would give us some wiggle room to fix the repairs the home needs: A new furnace, new hot water heater, the air vents in the attic are not up to code, there was a leak from the upper floor bathroom down into the lower floor bathroom. The roof was 20 years old and needed to be replaced. Another downside was the roaches. I couldn't get a straight answer- my realtor said she called the listing agent and he said no they did not exterminate... the home was vacant and the roaches must have died from not having water.... ???? Nothing makes sense and I no longer trust her.. she tried to tell me at first the roach I saw was an ant. Then today in a text she said it was a water bug. Then later admitted they were roaches but what did I expect..it's a vacant home. No trust in her anymore.

What made us ultimately decide to back out was the roaches and the price- afraid we will put all of our savings into the home and then have to do expensive repairs. As for the roaches, our thinking: we would be afraid to bring all of our belongings and furniture, etc there in fear the roaches would come back after being exterminated. It's so unfortunate these nasty insects invade homes. Back to house hunting----- I dread it but also look forward to the day we will own our own home and be happy and content. After all, this is a pretty big purchase!!

 

[purpledisneyprncess]

. Also I've learned to never trust anything your realtor tells you they only want your money. They'll pretty much tell you anything to sell you any house.

Sadly, that is very, very true! My DH & I are looking to buy a home as well, and the realtors we've encountered were snakes. Unreal to us how they could lie thru their teeth, in hopes you will buy. "Buy anything, who cares, just as long as you buy"!

To OP, good luck with everything and best wishes.

 

[iheartdisney]

So sorry it didn't work out, but always, always ALWAYS go with your gut- your intuition is telling you something!

For anyone else reading this that might be battling an infestation.....
We bought our home and didn't notice the roaches until we moved in. A few in the bathrooms... by summer it was a full on infestation. We tried spraying and bombing ourselves, but tahat didn't do anything. We tried the Orkin man, it worked long enough until the next time it was time to charge us again. And spraying the outside of the house did NOTHING, because they weren't outside of our house, they were in the KITCHEN!! After 6 months i told them not to come back. A few more months of trying to treat ourselves, we called a local company that uses a baiting system instead of spraying. One week after they came, I didn't see another roach! And that is over a year ago!
basically, he told me that the spraying doesn't work long term, because the ones that aren't there when the spray is applied don't die, they just smell it and know to stay away until it dissipates. With baiting they walk through the poison and take it back to the colony.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

It is a mistake to rely on Zillow; their home value estimates can be extremely inaccurate.

There are many excellent real estate agents; I suggest you find a good buyer's agent and educate yourself a lot more about real estate before you even think about buying a house. This is not a dis; you just seem to be making some serious mistakes and you could potentially lose a lot of money if you aren't careful.

 

[NotUrsula]

Also FYI on the topic...

If you are dealing with roaches in a home that you plan to move into, have it thoroughly treated with a dry poison well before you move in. (Put your stuff in storage and live in a short-term rental for a little while if you have to, you want to be sure that you are not seeing live ones or new eggs before you move in. Visit at night with a flashlight to be sure.)

It is MUCH easier to eliminate pests from an empty structure than from an occupied one. When working on getting the house ready for move-in, don't bring anything personal in that is not either disposable or sealed in a glass container until the extermination has been done and the corpses have been removed. Bring a sledgehammer and a crowbar and completely tear out any carpet, and all wood or drywall that has gotten damp, because that is their favorite atmosphere for laying eggs.

Also, try your best not to use the home's running water while the extermination is going on; roaches crave water, and if you can keep the atmosphere as dry as possible, that will help get rid of them.

In a situation this bad in an empty structure, professional extermination is called for. After that, the best do-it-yourself poison that I know of for a minor infestation is Bengal. The gold can version will normally work for maintenance after major extermination if used every month for a while.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I'm glad you backed out. Find something that doesn't have so many problems.

 

[a1tinkfans]

glad you thought this thru and it worked out for you, op. I hope you get your $ back and its asap......

best of luck finding your home!!!!

 

[winkytink]

Just wanted to say I share your frustration in finding the right home to purchase.

We have been looking since last March and put a bid on only one house - we even bid over the asking price by $10,000 - and were outbid by someone else.

We no longer have faith in our realtor; she was nice but really not good at her job. Showing us houses that were 45 minutes from our lives and in horrible shape. One house was so bad she actually waited outside with our kids when we showed up to look because it was unsafe in her opinion. The basement had A FREAKIN TWO WAY MIRROR and the room it looked into had a drain; there was even an intercom with switches and knobs...and a portion of ceiling that was mirrored. Wtheck?!

Now we have been involved with Habitat for Humanity and it has become increasingly stressful and complicated. Our first property offer? 45 minutes away, bad neighborhood with FOUR SO's within five blocks of the address. Um, no. How is that safe and affordable housing? We feel we just wasted seven months of our lives chasing a plastic carrot.

I hope you find your dream home soon. We know how difficult it is. I'll be thinking of you!

 

[DisneyPFamily]

Just wanted to say I share your frustration in finding the right home to purchase.

We have been looking since last March and put a bid on only one house - we even bid over the asking price by $10,000 - and were outbid by someone else.

We no longer have faith in our realtor; she was nice but really not good at her job. Showing us houses that were 45 minutes from our lives and in horrible shape. One house was so bad she actually waited outside with our kids when we showed up to look because it was unsafe in her opinion. The basement had A FREAKIN TWO WAY MIRROR and the room it looked into had a drain; there was even an intercom with switches and knobs...and a portion of ceiling that was mirrored. Wtheck?!

Now we have been involved with Habitat for Humanity and it has become increasingly stressful and complicated. Our first property offer? 45 minutes away, bad neighborhood with FOUR SO's within five blocks of the address. Um, no. How is that safe and affordable housing? We feel we just wasted seven months of our lives chasing a plastic carrot.

I hope you find your dream home soon. We know how difficult it is. I'll be thinking of you!

Thanks, I hope you find your dream home as well. I've come to the conclusion that it will not be 100% dream home but am crossing my fingers that we eventually will find something soon that we will at least be happy in. I'm not picky to where we have to have the most up to date kitchen or bathroom, etc. I just want to find a clean home (clean as in no roach infestation!!) and no water issues in the basement, which lead to mold issues. Is it soooo much to ask for a dry home? Geez it has been frustrating! It doesn't help that inventory on homes for sale is very low.

I'm glad we didn't buy the roach home. For a person like me with a roach phobia, it would not have been good. Hoping we find something soon-- and of course hoping everyone else reading this who is also looking for a home, wishing you all luck as well. It's tough but the right home will come along soon enough... **gotta keep being positive**

 

[bellearwood]

Not sure about the legal formalities associated with this. But what I can tell you is that you need to give your house a thorough clean up, apart from the extermination process you carried out. Call up any reliable home cleaning service people and get it done asap to avoid any new chances of this repeating all over again!I usually call the Molly Maid , the cleaning company based in UK!

 

[Judique]

Not sure about the legal formalities associated with this. But what I can tell you is that you need to give your house a thorough clean up, apart from the extermination process you carried out. Call up any reliable home cleaning service people and get it done asap to avoid any new chances of this repeating all over again!I usually call the Molly Maid , the cleaning company based in UK!

Roaches don't care whether you are clean or dirty. If they find their way into your home, they will live with you until you exterminate them.

I found out all about roaches the hard way, by purchasing a home and moving into it. And this happened twice!

You were lucky in that you saw them. We didn't. The homes we bought appeared spotlessly clean. The above referenced Molly Maid must have been there right before we walked through!

Anyway, we got rid of them. We tried the do it yourself methods trying to save money. Waste of time. Called Orkin one house and a small company for the second house. Both did a great job. It is not a one step process. You have to have repeat treatments because of the life cycle. And the granular treatment around the perimeter of your home is a good idea. Our neighbours also had them but chose to do their own treatments. That meant when they sprayed the roaches went on vacation - across the yard to the next house! (or the next condo, townhouse or apartment.) Then their roaches would return when the area was clear for them.

If you google these nasty little bugs you will see how they operate. They can survive through a lot and for a long time. They are pretty amazing as well as totally icky.