Quick side note:To anyone who's been following, or later follows this whole process, I know I'm verbose. So I hope maybe some of it is helpful or at least worth a laugh now and again. This thread has sort of turned into a pseudo blog thread about the first time buying process for us.
I also want to take a moment to thank everyone for all of their encouragement, advice and knowledge they've passed our way. It's all helped us a lot.
We may not be done yet, but you've definitely helped us get this far with less worry and despair.
And onto the latest...I couldn't sleep the night before the inspection--I was so nervous--so after we got home and sat down to hash out some immediates, I then crashed like a cat in a welcome sunbeam right in my desk chair. Spouse had to wake me up and scoot me to bed.
The short story is the selling agent did show up, and we're going ahead after we receive a written promise that the permitting issue will be fixed by/before closing. Spouse got camera happy while we were there, but I haven't had time to download or look at them yet. I'll get to that soonish.
Good news from the inspector:- although the roof is definitely newer than 10 years, he is certain it was not put up recently. (This is the shingles portion, not the rubber portion, though he said that part looks good too.) So still not permitted whenever it was done (last roof permit in '75), but at least not the fault of the current owners. He did say they are architectural, so it should hold for a while still to give us breathing room there.
- the grading does need some work on the one side and a bit on the back, but that I can do. He and I talked about that a bit, so I'm confident in doing it right.
- no new electrical was done aside from an outdoor outlet that needs a GFI (the line it leads to has one on the sub box inside, but that one is old and not working). A few things were tidied up en process of other bits they were working on, but nothing is brand new. (We thought the brand new dishwasher wasn't working, but someone had left the breaker off--probably because they still had the paperwork inside. I was surprised that our inspector even tried it, though it makes sense in hindsight.)
- when we looked at the fireplace inside, he said everything looks good, and the damper seems to be working quite well. I have dealt with stubborn ones, and am glad that won't be an issue. (We brief laughed when we opened the two basement clean outs and stuff just poured out. Easy remedy, just one of those things you'd think a seller would check even if they haven't lived there.) I did learn what those four screened squares are for--it's a convection system to help circulate the warmth.
- all but I think two interior outlets are grounded properly (and the two that are not are still the old brown 2 prong, so easy to spot)
- he had no issues with the steam system at all, even the radiators got a "at least these have X and Y on them" for per radiator controls.
- no sign of pests, though he did say it wouldn't hurt to later get a full pest inspection, and in particular to look in more detail in the crawl space since there's cleanup that will need attention. I'm happy to say he said the sills were sound throughout.
Not so good news from same:- he did point out a few spots on the roof where better flashing will be needed, and one small area where the metal soffit on the addition needed to be righted. This is only not so good because I'm not very skilled with such, so might need to hire someone. (But at least there is a metal extension ladder in the basement that seems to be staying--woo.)
- both chimneys need some love, even if the one is no longer attached to anything. Sadly it does not seem that the old cooking fireplace is still there, and definitely not an old wood stove either. He pointed out when we were in the walk in above attic the evidence that the chimney had been moved to the outside wall.
- although it's evident there have been upgrades over time to the plumbing throughout, not only are there out of date or missing trap styles, but most of the most recent work is currently not to code. The copper from the main was. I had no idea crimped end copper was a thing now...live and learn. I also kicked myself for not looking under the cabinet sinks at the viewing, but that's why you get an inspector, right? So you can take some time and not miss stuff you would in a viewing.
- the half bath ....no heat, no fan (required even if there is a window), and the door opens outward right at the top of the stairs. He said not to worry about the door too much because we don't have kids.
- For a lot of issues, he said that without kids, we can probably not worry about immediate remedy, but should down the line. He pressed that we should still consider getting a lead test done even if not before buying so we at least know what might need doing down the road
- I wasn't sure during our viewing, but now I am...asbestos around old cast, disintegrating or already off in chunks. He was pointedly plain in saying "Don't sweep or dry vac this cellar. Hose it, wet vac." I know we'll have to address that sooner than later.
- There are some metal supports down there, and I hadn't noticed during our viewing, but they're not solid, they're the adjustable temp kind, so another budget for the future thing.
- the replacement windows are not to code for an upstairs fire egress, but he said they don't look brand new. Oddly, I noticed that despite replacing the windows, they left those interior wood adjustors I had queried about in
another thread! I hadn't noticed before because the hardware/trim is buried in paint layers.
(Dare I hope the cords and weights are still in the wall since they didn't expand the window size?)
Selling Agent/Part Owner good & interesting news:- he showed up! He said they are firing the original plumber, and the van I saw on Monday looks to be the replacement who will be fixing what was most recently done. He's waiting to hear if they can do the work in a timely fashion. I had web searched the name when I saw the van, and only saw positives, so hopefully that works out.
- we did find out that one of the sellers actually inherited the property, and they originally had a very different plan for it, so their company "bought" it from him, but then when they realized what a headache it would be to convert the entire building over to a business, that's when they did what they did. Apparently all their other properties are business/commercial. They don't want to be dealing with residential tenants.
- the selling agent used to do assessments for banks. Because we offered what they asked, that's why they accepted so quick. In his mind, he thinks bidding wars are dumb. He thinks if you set a price and someone meets it, sell it. He says there's less chance that way if a mortgage is involved that the lender will later say the assessment is below the offer, so less hassle.
- I asked him not to get rid of the bricks in the wheelbarrow out back, and he said no problem. Even if we can't use it again on the chimneys, I might use them to make a keyhole garden in the back. Someone is always trying to get rid of rocks and bricks around here.
~~
I'm still waiting for the full inspection report with all the specifics and the more minor stuff so I can remember it all, but overall I feel relieved on many fronts. I took some notes during, but I knew from our discussions with him that the report would have everything clearly laid out. When he asked if we had any questions at the end of his rounds, I asked if he owned the home, what he'd address soonest. He told me that the report would detail bits like that, which I knew that anything especially bad would be noted such, but not that there would be overall priorities given. He took time explaining all the paperwork we would get from him, and how to print it out so certain forms had the correct front to back sequences. Very thorough.
I really liked the inspector. It's hard to describe since we'd only phoned a handful of times and met once, but he's a straight to the point details kind of guy, and full of useful little reminder asides like turning down boiler temps seasonally when the heat will be off sorts of things. He's also good at knowing when you understand or have knowledge of something and moving on quickly. Definitely no stranger to old homes, and very knowledgeable in general. No wishy washy vibe or generalized talk. A very dry guy, ambling about, carrying his poke rod (not sure what the formal term is) with the ease of a gentleman with his fancy cane. You could practically hear his mental checklist ticking as he ambled. I like folks who have mental zones like that.
He gave us a huge amount of helpful info concerning local programs for energy efficiency and others useful to an old home owner. He also told me that in his experience, since I came to the town on my own, if any permitting issues came up down the road based on prior work, the town would not go after us and would help as they could--especially not if everything goes as it seems it will and the plumbing permit issue gets settled.
The lack of any trap/outdated traps is a bit concerning with the plumbing, but we'll see what we see in regards to what the sellers will have the plumbers do. The garbage disposal (not new) was barely draining (he suspected it's clogged), and I mentioned to the seller that if it were to go away instead of getting fixed, I'd be more than happy with that, and he seemed pleased with that. (We compost, and I personally don't like the maintenance of them.)
When he poked his head into the uppermost attic hatch (which we hadn't seen), he saw evidence of a fire. He did say when I asked that it wasn't from the fireplace, and nothing he could see looked to be structurally compromising. I'm now wondering if that's when a lot of the plaster vanished, possibly some of the wiring upgrades as well.
Speaking of, I noticed both in the walk in attic and the basement some very new wood supports. I was a bit concerned about the ones in the attic, but he said although their method wasn't optimal, it was still to code. (Fortunately, they were braced better in the basement.)
Bits and pieces of what he told me in his useful asides have been running through my mind today, and I need to make sure I noted in full in my quick scribbles, since I don't expect them in the actual inspection report.
The selling agent jetted out while I was seeing the inspector out--I joked he was fearful of a stream of questions from me now that I wasn't laser focused on following the inspector like an eager student.
One thing we did make sure for our agent to pass along is that if they are worried about time, for us, if closing gets pushed too close to Xmas, we'll be more than happy to have it in January since we're not in a time crunch to move in. We know there will be a higher chance of colder weather and likely ice/snow, but we'd rather no one rush the important stuff. And with the delay we already had due to the lack of permits, since we had aimed for a 6 week instead of 8, I'm not sure we'll be able to get the assessment done in time anyhoo, since our mortgage guy was wanting to hop on that.
Once we get word that the sellers have sent the written confirmation on the permits, I can call our mortgage guy and tell him we're definitely moving forward.
Happy Thursday!.....and good luck.
just went back on the market.