Sister Hazel's House is For Sale, BUT . . . .
Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2006 3:26 pmI think the word is "caveat emptor?"
So, the person who currently has title to this house is a professional "house flipper." He slapped on some paint, inside and out, and put new shingles on top of the old shingles. Lucky for me, I thought something might be "up," so I spent $200 on a home inspection. The inspector found (1) a buried oil tank in the back yard and if it ever spills open, guess who gets to foot the bill mandated by the EPA?, (2) the "new" stove (advertised as new but not brand new) has a plug that won't fit with the plug in the kitchen wall from 1962, (3) the kitchen sink leaks, (4) the air conditioner runs all day long without cooling the house properly and the AC guy told me I would need a whole new system, since the old system is about 40 years old, and that's about $7,000, (5) the garbage disposal doesn't work, (6) there are rodents and squirrels living in the attic and they've chewed through parts of the screen on the overhang to reach their destination. A friend of mine told me to go up in the attic and throw firecrackers at them! YEAH, RIGHT!!!!!
And when I pointed all of this out to Mr. Professional Flipper, he said he wouldn't lower the asking price and wouldn't fix anything, not even remove the oil tank. So, he put the sign back up in the yard, after flipping me off, and I guess some other sucker will just buy the house as is, since they might not ever discover, 'til they move in, the lovely "extras?" Can he do this? Can he sell this house without informing the buyer of these defects? What do you think of this? I really like this house, and I thought it was extra "blessed" that members of Sister Hazel used to live there, and it's right across the street to the entrance of a public park which has jogging trails, tennis courts, swimming pools, raquet ball, skateboarding, and indoor activities. . . .
I don't want to buy a tar baby, but I really like this house. What is the likelihood that an old buried oil tank from 1962 is going to leak, if it already hasn't? Should I buy this house?
So, the person who currently has title to this house is a professional "house flipper." He slapped on some paint, inside and out, and put new shingles on top of the old shingles. Lucky for me, I thought something might be "up," so I spent $200 on a home inspection. The inspector found (1) a buried oil tank in the back yard and if it ever spills open, guess who gets to foot the bill mandated by the EPA?, (2) the "new" stove (advertised as new but not brand new) has a plug that won't fit with the plug in the kitchen wall from 1962, (3) the kitchen sink leaks, (4) the air conditioner runs all day long without cooling the house properly and the AC guy told me I would need a whole new system, since the old system is about 40 years old, and that's about $7,000, (5) the garbage disposal doesn't work, (6) there are rodents and squirrels living in the attic and they've chewed through parts of the screen on the overhang to reach their destination. A friend of mine told me to go up in the attic and throw firecrackers at them! YEAH, RIGHT!!!!!
And when I pointed all of this out to Mr. Professional Flipper, he said he wouldn't lower the asking price and wouldn't fix anything, not even remove the oil tank. So, he put the sign back up in the yard, after flipping me off, and I guess some other sucker will just buy the house as is, since they might not ever discover, 'til they move in, the lovely "extras?" Can he do this? Can he sell this house without informing the buyer of these defects? What do you think of this? I really like this house, and I thought it was extra "blessed" that members of Sister Hazel used to live there, and it's right across the street to the entrance of a public park which has jogging trails, tennis courts, swimming pools, raquet ball, skateboarding, and indoor activities. . . .
I don't want to buy a tar baby, but I really like this house. What is the likelihood that an old buried oil tank from 1962 is going to leak, if it already hasn't? Should I buy this house?