The long and short of it. It's in very good shape, but it was owned for most of its life by someone (the parents of the current owner) who clearly thought they were Bob Vila. In reality, they were more of a Tim the Toolman.
The things we knew. Poorly laid kitchen flooring. Busted old vanity in the upstairs bathroom. Poorly laid bathroom flooring in said bathroom. Most of the fixtures are original (i.e. 1971). Bathroom downstairs is a train wreck.
The property condition disclosure was a mess of "I'm not sure, I think it was done xx years ago but it's in very good shape." In fairness, if you asked me when my parents put a roof on my childhood home I could tell you mid-eighties but not the year, so it all seemed plausible.
The roof. Turns out its almost certainly less than twenty years old. Good news, except Tim the Toolman added insulation to the attic and blocked all of the soffit vents. The roof baked and is dying (has died) an untimely death. There is no damage from moisture yet, but that won't be the case by next fall.
There aren't service tags on anything. Boiler heat, which is fine, but when was it serviced? It's in fine working order but clearly in need of some routine TLC. I suspect more do-it-yourselfing here.
The basement was finished at some point, and all of the wiring is, yes, homeowner-installed. Ran a new breaker, right? Nope, spliced off the dedicated circuit for the sump pump. Exactly half of the outlets in the basement are wired backwards. Law of averages FTW. None of the electrical outlets or switches are rated for use with...
...single-strand aluminum wiring. The condition disclosure for wiring type is "duh, we're not sure". Built near the tail-end of the use of this relic of home construction, there is unmodified single-strand aluminum wiring throughout the house.
Every other problem (of which we weren't aware just from our initial visit) is indicative of a house owned by an aging couple with failing health. Meticulously maintained until somewhere around 1995 or so. It's developed a few minor problems in the intervening years, but nothing that can't be fixed up for a few hundred.
It's not all bad. The house inspector was a very freindly and chatty sort, and its not his busy season, so he was more than happy to talk shop for a while. Asked if he'd buy the house for what we've accepted, he allowed as how he thought it was a fine price if either the roof or wiring were fixed. It's a nice brick ranch with, by area standards, a gigantic yard.
We sent our agent back to the buyers and she told them they needed to deal if they didn't want us backing out. Both sides are getting quotes on tear-off roofs, and we're getting a quote or two for the wiring work. The house is priced under area market value. With a ballpark of $10,000 or so for a roof and wiring work, it's smack on market value for houses with much newer interior work. So, yeah, they need to fix the roof. Bringing the price down to cover at least part of the electrical work would be nice, but not a deal-breaker at this point. Whatever, they need to deal. At this price range, in this market, they're not going to find someone willing to eat five figures out of the gate, and they've lost the ability to use the "we're not sure about that" line in condition disclosure to other potential buyers.
I just like things done. Uncertainty kills me.
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