patrick.net

We're you not able to get the property inspected?

Yes, but inspection are not always through.

This is a standard issue. REO is usually sold as is because the bank does not want to take the heat is something goes wrong. The inspector has to act in your best interest because of California law. If he with holds information he can be held liable and you can sue him/her!

Demand any test during inspection.
Make sure you're Title guy is a Lawyer, and have him include any services to cover your concerns.

If there are any violations he'll be sure to find out, and if there are any facts they are with holding, he'll get to the bottom of those as well.

Are you using a lender? If so, the lender will require that be checked.

If you are not using a lender, then you are using cash, and you should reduce your bid by the amount a contractor tells you it will cost to make the house meet your standards.

Two choices, both easy.

remember, The house is "as is", so it is up to you or whomever gives you a loan to worry about any issues.

p.s., your REtor is not to be trusted.

Crawl spaces are usually wet. You have a headache when it rains. Even on concrete slab foundations; water seeps out of the concrete!

How is the topography? Does water seem to settle on the said property?

You want that crawl space Leo. better than slab. you can dry up that moist water with special sand. this is not a thing any handy man worth his salt cant help you with.

Yeah, some maintenance like improved crawl space ventilation & making sure that the ground is graded away from the foundation will help (the latter with rain, anyway...not so much ground seepage form the bay). If it was inspected for MOLD and tested negative, you are probably OK. Wood-rot is also an issue, and can get costly, but mold is the biggie.

Hire a contractor to inspect the house. He advises to scrape it and rebuild. Costs of demolition and rebuilding are deducted from the purchase price. Move in & patch it up or flip it.

Would that be an immoral thing to do to the seller ? Then gimme the address !

If You don't ask, You don't get.

inspection. 'nuff said.

Please go and visit your neighbors homes. Introduce yourself and ask about their property. If raised crawl underneath. Find out if they have minor flooding at times. Neighbors will be honest. They are your best bet to know all there is to know about your purchase.

What did the inspector say? Ask your insurance company if the house is in a flood plain. If not occasional dampness in a vented crawl space is irrelevant. It happens to most crawl spaces after heavy rain. If it really bothers you have someone lay down plastic over the dirt.

Continuous dampness would mean a drainage problem or very high water table or as happened to me once a leaking water supply line. Those would be problems that the inspector should have noticed and addressed.

Buy a house up on a hill, the sea levels are rising. Check this map to see if the house will be inundated with the expected sea level rise:

http://geology.com/sea-level-rise/san-francisco.shtml

Did the inspector indicate any problems? Can you observe any damage to the house that could have been caused by this? The inspector should have checked the stuff that bmwman and bob mentioned and you often can find out about flood plains from the disclosures.

As someone mentioned, REOs are generally sold as is. If you're concerned, you should follow up on this before closing.

woggs1 says

Buy a house up on a hill, the sea levels are rising. Check this map to see if the house will be inundated with the expected sea level rise:

http://geology.com/sea-level-rise/san-francisco.shtml

That link is set to 7m sea level rise. Probably in our life times we will only have to worry about 1 or 2 meters.

There are currently solutions for floating houses, and by the time the sea rises you could just put a floating house on your plot of land... uh... errr... I mean plot of water.

uh oh the global warming fraudsters are here.

Save the world, drive a prius. lol. total fiction.

PockyClipsNow says

uh oh the global warming fraudsters are here.

Thank you for announcing your presence, but who did you bring with you?

I for one both believe in and welcome global warming! Being easily sunburnt, I look forward to living in a warm climate at a high latitude.

And an extra meter or two of sea level sounds like fun. Though I'm sure the Bengalis and the Dutch would disagree with me.

No idea about that crawl space though.

No idea about that crawl space though.

Patrick, is it possible to merge the thread located at http://patrick.net/?p=1187133 into this one? Seems like the OP double-posted.

update comments set thread_ID=1187151 where thread_ID=1187133;
delete from threads where thread_ID=1187133;

OK, done.

Thanks for telling me.

update comments set thread_ID=1187151 where thread_ID=1187133;
delete from threads where thread_ID=1187133;

I love it when you talk dirty...