received inspection report; deciding what to do

for those who have wanted a home, really wanted its location and amenities, the engineer's report of the potential residence's soundness is a complicated issue--i mean, you can not ignore the peeling paint in the basement when the report specifies water damage and identifies --convincingly-- the source of the water entry on the outside of the structure...

so, what would you do if the inspector says there is a total of $175k of "needed" repairs?

when we officially get under contract, we'll disclose the full details.

p.s. we really liked our inspector. props will be granted here, and on angie's list as appropriate, once the contract is signed. thanks for reading thus far.

home inspection feb 2, 2011

here in nyc, it has been a good-old-fashion winter.  lots of snow, below freezing temperatures, and messy conditions.  so, what should be different about the home inspection day?  below is the video from the event.  the camera movement is annoying at times, but i was going more for the sound than for the visuals in many cases.

all and all, the inspection was what we expected.

the voice in the beginning minute or so is the current owner talking over some renovations/improvements she made over the last seven years of ownership. i stuck some stills in over the video--

first floor bedroom
second floor kitchen
outside, back of house
outside, side of garage
second floor, front bedroom

for the remainder of the video i gave the transitions between rooms/floors on-screen subtitles.

home-inspection from christopher james on Vimeo

floor plans and rough dimensions

First Floor

Polly has diligently been taking measurements of the space with a Bosch laser-digital distance measuring pocket tool.  she highly recommends this little gadget--about $100 at Home Depot.

Second Floor

Basement

less panic on our part, and things settling down

admittedly we panicked with the worst-case-scenario thought of, "what if the tenants don't leave?" 

so, our lawyer called their lawyer, who then called the seller, who wanted the deal to go through, and agreed to tell the tenants about our intentions to buy the house empty.

i wrote some language for our lawyer to insert in the contract to try and help us feel better:

In regards to the tenant: 

"Upon receipt in writing from the buyer's lender of guaranteed mortgage financing , the seller agrees to, in good faith, provide written notification to their second floor tenants of the seller's intention to sell the property, and such written notification shall specify that the tenants have 30 days to vacate the property.  Copies of the written notice shall be given to the buyer.  If, after the 30 days have passed, and the tenants have not vacated the property, the seller will proceed with serving the tenants with eviction papers as per NYC law.  If, after the eviction papers have been filed, and the tenants have been duly served the papers, the tenants remain in the property at the time of closing, the seller will have executed their obligation in good faith, and the continuing eviction proceedings become the buyer's responsibility."

In regards to the closing date: 

we would like it stipulated that closing be "on or before" a specific date.  If that date needs to be May 1st or June 1st, so be it.  We need to 1) be able to lock in a rate as soon as possible after execution of the contract, and 2) feel comfortable that when we set all our moving plans in place, that we can abide by the closing date being on, or before X date.

i think we can get the agreement to the first, but i am not sure about the second item, the closing date being "on or before."  the standard language, "on or about" kinda scares us, because in NYC the about can stretch some thirty days beyond the actual closing date...

two family nubie fright

um...what do you mean that the tenants "are included with the property?"

home inspection

from the NYC DOB website...

"Take note of any construction that looks new or different from the rest of the house, such as a new bathroom, deck, porch or extra bedroom.

If you think work has been done, check our website at NYC.gov/buildings to see if applications were filed to perform the work and if the work was properly inspected by a Department inspector or a licensed professional. As the new owner, you must legalize any work that was previously done on the property without the proper permits or that was done in violation of the Building Code."

So my question here is "How does one encourage compliance if the new owner is going to to get stuck certifying?"