hi, I bought a property and yesterday inspection found some hairline crack about 1 meter long in 4 places on the wall. My inspector said it's nothing major as it's 30 yrs old house.. but one of the pillar under the floor is damage due to larva activity, he said the larva came with the timber and won't infest other wood nearby. but the repair cost is about 2k. Anyone know about larva damage? Never heard of this before, not sure if I want to continue the contract, kindly share your thoughts..
Is this consider major defact? The conditional offer in contract mentioned major defact otherwise I can't do anything about it.
I would re read the conditions of contract. as there may be a grey area here as,
what exactly is considered to be a " major defect".. there is no real clear definition.
I feel that if you consider it to be a major defect then pull out of contract
immmediately…
or get a 2nd opinion from another building / pest inspector…asap.my inspector said if that beam not fixed, it's not safe for future owner to live in.. I told that to my agent but he insist that's minor defact and I have to bear the repair cost, and I can't pull out because it's not major defact.. If that's still not major, I don't know what else is major defact??
if I just walk away without vendor and agent agreement, what sort of problem will I get into?
Hi Calvinci,
I would get a another building inspector in, if he comes back with the same findings and says its a minor fault,
I would get some quotes of how much it would cost to fix it, take that to the vendor and ask for a cheaper sale price orif you have a pending finance clause in the contract (you should have one) you could say that you cant get finance the deal will fall over.. its a last resort but could be the difference in you getting an expensive lemon, you could lose part of your deposit as well(im assuming you put a deposit down)
Dont worry about what the agent says, he is only looking at his commision walking out the door. Look at your wording. I always have mine say words to the effect of "building inspection satisfactory to purchaser". Ask you solicitor where you stand. They will advise you on the wording. If it simply says " subjsct to building inspection" then you dont really have anywhere to go as you got the inspection – pedantic but its all in the wording.
Good luck
Mick
I got my finance approved and the agent knows about it. The clause said, subject to B&P inspection, and only can end the contract if it's major structural defact. So the question here is if this is major or minor defact. This can be fixed by changing the beam, cost about $2000… there are other defact like flashing incomplete, brick missing, windows /door in poor condition, cracked wall etc but that's expected because it's 30 yrs old. So I only claiming this $2000..
Another thing, contract sign 7pm 11th Aug, and inspection only allow 5 days, I notified agent 9am 18th and email inspection report 6pm 18th, is this too late?
its not too late as its 5 business days
I think its not that big a deal, house has stood 30 yrs with the problem so why would it fall down the second you buy it?
The building inspector is just covering his own ass by giving you worst case scenario.
dont waste money on another inspection.by all means try a claim, but dont ask for $2k, try $500 and get the cracks filled & painted
sounds good.. but we are not sure how important is this beam, to be safe, I prefer to get it change..
calvinci
Congrats on your new purchase. I think you need to look at things as they are. A few hair line cracks, the place is 30 years old man. This is common even in younger houses. Larva damage, your inspector should give your the correct info, as your are paying him/her. If its not major, only 2k, so its not major at all, you just get it fixed.
As to pulling out of the contract:
Will you find another property for the same price?
Cancell, You may not be able to, as it for ony major structual faults. You can put in your own wording as " as to purchasers satisfation".
Why not try it on with the agent. I have not seen your contract but. Say you may not take the place but are willing to do so if the vendor pays the 2k.
Are you sure you want the place some time we get cold feet and look for the negatives in a place. After all its only 2.5k.
All the best to you, hope all works out.
Cheers
T………..
hi Tony, thanks for yr advise. The vendor finally agreed to fix it for us.. 2k is not much if it's a bargain, however I feel like my purchase prices is higher than market prices… So not happy to pay for extra cost…
With the vendor agreeing to fix the issue, do you feel more confidant in your purchase?
hi Guys, Just been inform the vendor didn't replaced it as she promised, instead her builder just braced it. Anyone experience bracing a beam, is it any good?
I guess it is up to you to decide if you are happy with the outcome. How much do you really want to purchase the property. If you are happy that it is a good buy then dont quibble over the little things. If you are doubtful (which it sounds as though you are) then stick to your guns and say you expect the original report recommending replacement be upheld otherwise you are within your rights to walk away no penalty, especially if there was agreement that the replacement would occur. At the end of the day it will come down to how much you want to buy it, how much the vendor wants to sell it and how well the whole purchase sits with you and how well you will sleep at night. There is no hard fast rule, that is why it is called sales negotiation. It is whatever is acceptable to BOTH parties.
Do you still want to purchase the property?
it's a deal, I paid 10% deposit when vendor agreed to replace that beam. Only yesterday I was told it's been braced instead of replacing it. I am not sure about bracing, so I hope someone experience, or builder himself can advise me if bracing has been done commonly..
And I don't think bearer beam it's little thing, especially cost $2000 to replace..
I do not believe what you are saying. You knew there was a problem and you paid a deposit! Have i missed something here; or do you stand to loose your deposit if you don’t proceed.
Were you aware of this defect and you still paid a deposit?
A 30 year old house is not ‘old’! Replacing a ‘beam’ for $2000 is not such a big expense and the house may represent good value after the repair work.
The fact that the ‘former owners’ braced the beam clearly points out that you may be better off doing the repair work yourself. At least you will do the job correctly.
I am here asking for help and opinion, it doesn't matter if you believe or not.. As said, vendor agreed to replace it, so I paid deposit, but turn out she didn't keep her word. Since it's done, if it's acceptable, I will live with it, otherwise I will still proceed with the sales and replace it myself, but will get my solicitor to claim back the expenses.
marsden wrote:I do not believe what you are saying. You knew there was a problem and you paid a deposit! Have i missed something here; or do you stand to loose your deposit if you don't proceed. Were you aware of this defect and you still paid a deposit? A 30 year old house is not 'old'! Replacing a 'beam' for $2000 is not such a big expense and the house may represent good value after the repair work. The fact that the 'former owners' braced the beam clearly points out that you may be better off doing the repair work yourself. At least you will do the job correctly.If the vendor stated that they will replace it and they haven't, then they haven't full filled their side of the contract. That is a pretty simple part. If you wanted to walk away from the deal you could possible get your deposit back due to non perfomance of that conidtion. (Get legal advice first)
Simple part out of the way…now the hard part. As newbie was mentioning, don't look at this one small problem, but look at the big picture. Decide if this is the place you want. If you signed the original contract its a good sign that it is the place you want. Is it possible that you got a little nervous after signing the contract and now reconsidering the whole thing. As you said you feel that you have paid above market price for the property, how much is this influencing your current thoughts.
It this is the place that you do want then it may be easier to just wear it. What is it costing you in stress and time in delaying settlement over this issue. $2k compared to the CG you would expect over coming years. Are you planning on doing other renovations, planning on knocking it down and subdividing, is the rest of the place going to last long enough to justify the beam been changed.
Its now over a month since your first post. You need to decide what you want. The vendor may feel annoyed at it been drawn out and may not be interested in negoiating much more.
hi, thanks for the constructive opinion. When she agreed to replace it, I paid deposit and she insist about 90 days settlement, I guess she bought another property and planing to do reno before move in too. I agreed and now it's like another one and half month before settlement. If she replace the beam as agreed, then it's pretty straight forward.
Now she didn't, and today I ask for another inspection to check if bracing is adequate, she disagreed and reckon I can only inspect during final inspection a week before settlement.. This really upset me as I try to compromised and accept bracing if it's not too bad, and she give me this… i will get my conveyancer to work this out tomorrow.
gibbo1 wrote:If the vendor stated that they will replace it and they haven't, then they haven't full filled their side of the contract. That is a pretty simple part. If you wanted to walk away from the deal you could possible get your deposit back due to non perfomance of that conidtion. (Get legal advice first)
Simple part out of the way…now the hard part. As newbie was mentioning, don't look at this one small problem, but look at the big picture. Decide if this is the place you want. If you signed the original contract its a good sign that it is the place you want. Is it possible that you got a little nervous after signing the contract and now reconsidering the whole thing. As you said you feel that you have paid above market price for the property, how much is this influencing your current thoughts.
It this is the place that you do want then it may be easier to just wear it. What is it costing you in stress and time in delaying settlement over this issue. $2k compared to the CG you would expect over coming years. Are you planning on doing other renovations, planning on knocking it down and subdividing, is the rest of the place going to last long enough to justify the beam been changed.
Its now over a month since your first post. You need to decide what you want. The vendor may feel annoyed at it been drawn out and may not be interested in negoiating much more.
Depending upon how the beam has been braced it shouldn't be a problem – the 'problem' that you mentioned sounds minor considering that it is old damage (probably during the growth of the tree). The bracing may consist of similar sized member bolted through the existing timber, 2 peices of timber bolted either side or 6-10mm steel plate to one or both sides bolted through. Should extend 600 mm min either side of the damaged area (would depend on the size of the beam).
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