House update: Full of pictures. (Serious Dial up warning!)

[WillParkinson]

Today we put an offer on the house. We also walked around inside and took pictures of some of the things that will need to be fixed. It turns out that there's quite a bit and it also turns out that the guy who owns the property was doing a lot of the work on the house illegally (he took out no permits for any of the stuff) and it appears as though he was trying to turn the single family home into a duplex. The guy was asked for the plans he was working with and the wife said he hadn't any. No one knows what he was trying to do. Apparently a lot of the neighbors complained about him, though. They are asking $75,000 for the house. Due to the amount of work that needs to be done we offered $69,000 to give us room to bargain should we need to. The house has been on the market for about 120 days with no other offers or takers. The current assessed value is $144,900.

Front of the house:


Zone Zero Refrigerator:


The ceiling fan that I love:


Wall in the living room:


Second floor bathroom - Rear Wall:


Rear "deck":


Another bedroom:


Possible Upstairs Family Room:


Attic Crawlspace:


Upstairs Front Bedroom:


Front Room:


Basement Beam:


Basement Lower Cable TV Connections:


Basement Phone Connections:


Basement Wall:


Stairs outside from basement:


Basement shows leakage (bad grading outside)


Basement wiring:


2 electrical boxes:


Furnace/Boiler - Radiator heat (81.9% efficient):


Crack in the wall:


Plaster on wall to basement:


Front Porch - Has slope to it near door:


Front steps - Not attached, gap is about 1.5 inches:


Gas meter - Only found 1:


Back "deck" - Unfinished:


Back yard:


Garage:


2 electrical meters:


Basement door - Outer view:


Stoop to house back door:


Steps to house back door:

[csziggy]

1. Unpermitted owner work - no wonder the realtor was spooked!

For the price, though, the house looks great.

Here's what you do - contact Mike Holmes on HGTV ("Holmes on Homes"). He specializes in fixing houses that have had bed/incomplete/incompetent work. Maybe he'd fix it as part of his show! ;) :P

[WillParkinson]

3. The realtor...

Did not know this information until today. She's not his agent and had no prior knowledge of the house. She's been quite forthcoming and helpful as far as we're concerned.

And I like your idea! But we don't have the time to wait for them to decide.

[csziggy]

5. I missed the post about why the deal was at risk

I hope you can make it work. The house is charming - I love that Craftsman cottage style. But you will need to get a very good home inspector to got through it and look for every detail, just to be safe. If it is safe and finished enough to move into, you can take time to fix it up and make it perfect.

Good luck - that house needs good owners!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. All I can say, my dear WillParkinson...

You'd better really love this house.

Because that will be a lot of time and money that you'll spend fixing all that.

No wonder they wouldn't give you a loan.

Good Luck!

[WillParkinson]

4. We do love it...

Of course we'll need someone to come clean it....<looks at Peggy and then turns head and whistles lightly>

[CaliforniaPeggy]

11. Did I ever tell you just how much I hate to houseclean???

I do.

Whistle all you want! I'll have none of it...

:hi:

[femmocrat]

6. Sorry, Will..... but that house needs a lot of work.

That wet basement screams, "Run, Will, run!"

Get a damn good home inspector in there before you get in over your head, please!

[WillParkinson]

7. A home inspection...

Was one of the contingencies we put in place. We are going in eyes wide just in case. We're hopeful but very cautious.

[Kali]

8. make an offer on the fan and run?

the basement looks really scary to me - wet for a LOOOOOOOONNNNNGGGG time down there - is that normal for the climate/old houses there? (I live in a dry climate and we have termites and dry rot)

the wiring looks a little scary too but it is fairly new so probably not as bad as it looks, but the plumbing - especially for the gas...:scared:

the rest seems mostly cosmetic (although there is a hell of a lot to do)

how handy are you? how well can you afford a contractor/skilled craftspeople if you are not? and how flexible are you for living in a place with construction projects going on a lot? that means people around all the time, noise, messes etc

read some of this: http://thedevilqueen.blogspot.com/

[Tuesday Afternoon]

9. gosh, I don't know --

sounds like you heart is set on this place. I wsih you all the best whatever happens. Keep us posted. *fingers crossed*

[handmade34]

10. too bad you don't want to live in Vermont...

I have a great house for sale that doesn't need any work... except lots of snow to shovel in the winter (I love your house though!)