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BASTIDS OUT!
Picture of yanici
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Anytime I hear water and sump pump I put on my sneakers and run.


John

"Building a wall will violate the rights of millions of illegals." [Nancy Pelosi]
 
Posts: 2402 | Location: N.E. Massachusetts | Registered: June 05, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Certified All Positions
Picture of arcwelder
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Get estimates.

Then deduct the cost of the repair from the sale price.

OR

Run.

I vote run, unless the house or location is amazing.


Arc.
______________________________
"Like a bitter weed, I'm a bad seed"- Johnny Cash
"I'm a loner, Dottie. A rebel." - Pee Wee Herman
Rode hard, put away wet. RIP JHM
"You're a junkyard dog." - Lupe Flores. RIP

 
Posts: 27000 | Location: On fire, off the shoulder of Orion | Registered: June 09, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Donate Blood,
Save a Life!
Picture of StarTraveler
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quote:
Originally posted by RespectTheAmish:
Ever see the movie, The Money Pit , with Tom Hanks.....

As a structural engineer, I would keep looking at different houses. This could be simple fix and remediation of the cause for the movement, but is worth the headache at the beginning of owning the home?

Good Luck..


Also as a structural engineer, I was thinking the same thing, right down to the Tom Hanks-Shelley Long movie. Good luck is right, too.


***

"Aut viam inveniam aut faciam (I will either find a way or make one)." -- Hannibal Barca
 
Posts: 2094 | Location: Georgia | Registered: July 19, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Old, Slow,
but Lucky!
Picture of dsmack
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If you're willing to take the chance of "doing without" for 6 months or more, rent the "Money Pit" and bring it home and share with your wife! Eek

As has been mentioned repeatedly by engineer types, running away is the prudent thing to do, even though your wife has already taken emotional ownership... always a dangerous position to find yourself in, as you already seem to know!

I wish you luck, my friend!
Don


_______________________
Living the Dream... One Day at a Time.
 
Posts: 3418 | Location: Spokane, WA | Registered: March 15, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by Gustofer:
Run.


I'd hire a damned airplane to get me out of there quicker.
 
Posts: 7011 | Registered: April 02, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Well I spoke to my wife and I set a repair budget including wall repair,sump pump, barrier and French ditch to 4000.00. I am hoping to god it’s double that. I know it’s a crappie thing to hope that but I just have a bad feeling. I figure this way I do not look like the bad guy.
 
Posts: 1046 | Location: North Carolina | Registered: August 14, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
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quote:
Originally posted by gambit123:
Well I spoke to my wife and I set a repair budget including wall repair,sump pump, barrier and French ditch to 4000.00. I am hoping to god it’s double that. I know it’s a crappie thing to hope that but I just have a bad feeling. I figure this way I do not look like the bad guy.


Bad guy my ass. If you think that putting your foot down now is going to cause relational distress up to and including risk of divorce just wait till your broke in a house you can't sell and are upside down in. Think about what I just said clearly. The sellers in this case know your wife correct? Your wife will have motivation to save face and this will cause her even more motivation to go forward with a bad decision here.
You are in a bind no doubt but think long term and remember that if you do buy it and need to unload it the next buyer will be a hell of a lot more shrewd than you are being. You stand a good chance of getting yourself upside down in a loan.

Edit to add - try and coach her some to not feel bad about walking. It's common. I've gotten inspections and because of said inspection walked on plenty of them. If you've put a contract on it surely your inspection was a contingency of it. It's not your or your wife's fault and count yourself lucky it was found.
 
Posts: 3718 | Registered: August 13, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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She decided to seek her dads advice and she ALWAYS listens to him. He even told her it’s a $hit sandwich and she just blew it off and is ready for a bite. I am telling you I am in deep here.
 
Posts: 1046 | Location: North Carolina | Registered: August 14, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Nullus Anxietas
Picture of ensigmatic
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With your latest photos I'm going to suggest in the strongest possible terms you bail.

Why? Because those latest photos show a grave problem. A problem much more concerning than the first photo: A crack in a corner and a diagonal crack in a corner. These signal serious (read: expensive) problems with the foundation. (Foundation isn't the wall. Foundation is what is supposed to keep the wall from sinking into the ground. Like this one's foundation is not.)

In my inexpert opinion somebody didn't build this correctly.

I would be surprised if you could get insurance on such a place. If you do, and in so doing fail to disclose this to the insurance company, and something happens related to this, they'll leave you hangin' out to dry.

What the hell is the deal with your wife that she'd ignore all this? My wife'd take one look at that and go "No way!"



"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
 
Posts: 26009 | Location: S.E. Michigan | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
In the yahd, not too
fah from the cah
Picture of ryan81986
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quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:
I would be surprised if you could get insurance on such a place. If you do, and in so doing fail to disclose this to the insurance company, and something happens related to this, they'll leave you hangin' out to dry.




This is huge. Having worked in the industry I can tell you that a lot of homeowners insurance companies will do an inspection on a home after writing a policy. And something significant like this can cause them to cancel the policy, leaving you high and dry after already buying the home. Run.




 
Posts: 6339 | Location: Just outside of Boston | Registered: March 28, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:
With your latest photos I'm going to suggest in the strongest possible terms you bail.

Why? Because those latest photos show a grave problem. A problem much more concerning than the first photo: A crack in a corner and a diagonal crack in a corner. These signal serious (read: expensive) problems with the foundation. (Foundation isn't the wall. Foundation is what is supposed to keep the wall from sinking into the ground. Like this one's foundation is not.)

In my inexpert opinion somebody didn't build this correctly.

I would be surprised if you could get insurance on such a place. If you do, and in so doing fail to disclose this to the insurance company, and something happens related to this, they'll leave you hangin' out to dry.

What the hell is the deal with your wife that she'd ignore all this? My wife'd take one look at that and go "No way!"


As ensigmatic says, your second set of photos shows a MUCH bigger problem than the first you showed. If that is the corner of your foundation, as it appears to be, all I can add is, good God in heaven, you must be kidding, to even think of getting into this. Unless you got an incredible price, way below market for the area, and were ready for some serious work; and even then I would think of it as a crap shoot. I couldn't run from that fast enough. There are so many houses on the market. Keep looking and a good one will turn up.
 
Posts: 2687 | Registered: November 02, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Nullus Anxietas
Picture of ensigmatic
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by ryan81986:
quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:
I would be surprised if you could get insurance on such a place. If you do, and in so doing fail to disclose this to the insurance company, and something happens related to this, they'll leave you hangin' out to dry.

This is huge. Having worked in the industry I can tell you that a lot of homeowners insurance companies will do an inspection on a home after writing a policy. And something significant like this can cause them to cancel the policy, leaving you high and dry after already buying the home.

Even more interesting if it's mortgaged. Imagine: Mortgage company gets notified by the insurer they're dropping insurance, at which time mortgagor notifies homeowner and begins to arrange for insurance before the current coverage lapses. You can guess the rest, save what the mortgagor will do when they discover the property is uninsurable.

quote:
Originally posted by ryan81986:
Run.

Definitely.



"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
 
Posts: 26009 | Location: S.E. Michigan | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Not really from Vienna
Picture of arfmel
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I doubt you’ll be able to even get a loan on it to begin with. I believe you’re gonna just have to man up and tell her it’s a bad deal and that you refuse to go along with it, and live with whatever consequences result.
 
Posts: 26852 | Location: Jerkwater, Texas | Registered: January 30, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
In the yahd, not too
fah from the cah
Picture of ryan81986
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:
quote:
Originally posted by ryan81986:
quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:
I would be surprised if you could get insurance on such a place. If you do, and in so doing fail to disclose this to the insurance company, and something happens related to this, they'll leave you hangin' out to dry.

This is huge. Having worked in the industry I can tell you that a lot of homeowners insurance companies will do an inspection on a home after writing a policy. And something significant like this can cause them to cancel the policy, leaving you high and dry after already buying the home.

Even more interesting if it's mortgaged. Imagine: Mortgage company gets notified by the insurer they're dropping insurance, at which time mortgagor notifies homeowner and begins to arrange for insurance before the current coverage lapses. You can guess the rest, save what the mortgagor will do when they discover the property is uninsurable.


They will purchase insurance on the homeowner's behalf which is multiple times higher than what you would purchase yourself.




 
Posts: 6339 | Location: Just outside of Boston | Registered: March 28, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Page late and a dollar short
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Daughter and S-I-L bought a house with a foundation crack, block wall. House was built in 1948, sold by the original owner. Inspector notified them of the crack in the wall, in his opinion it had been there for many years and no sign of water intrusion. They signed off on it. They wanted the house badly. No concession on price either, it was sold under market average for the area. No problem with the mortgage or insurance companies. This was in 2012.

Well fast forward to 2015 and they are now selling it. Different inspector finds all sorts of problems and potential problems with the crack. Short story, it cost them several thousand at closing back to the buyer. I would have told them to run especially when I found out how close it was to Detroit and Harper Woods, even though it was in one of the Pointes.

P.S., when they bought it, they said that they wanted nobody's opinion on the house and it was to be their own decision. So it was. Last year when they bought again our advice was asked for........


-------------------------------------——————
————————--Ignorance is a powerful tool if applied at the right time, even, usually, surpassing knowledge(E.J.Potter, A.K.A. The Michigan Madman)
 
Posts: 8067 | Location: Livingston County Michigan USA | Registered: August 11, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Don’t walk.



RUN
 
Posts: 21335 | Registered: June 12, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by gambit123:
She decided to seek her dads advice and she ALWAYS listens to him. He even told her it’s a $hit sandwich and she just blew it off and is ready for a bite. I am telling you I am in deep here.


Perhaps you should be looking for a divorce attorney instead of a house! Hehehehe
 
Posts: 21335 | Registered: June 12, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Never miss an
opportunity to STFU
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I suspect the sellers know all about issues concerning this house and what it will take to correct everything. They are not selling it to you out of the goodness of their heart; they want to unload this headache. My guess is if you go through with the sale/purchase, you not see much of them in the future. Your wife should not feel socially obligated to go through with this. They are not selling it because they like you, they want to get the hell away from this disaster. Their previous mistake will be inherited by you.




Never be more than one step away from your sword-Old Greek Wisdom
 
Posts: 2294 | Location: SE Mich-- USA | Registered: September 10, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by gambit123:
I do not look like the bad guy.

Putting your families best interest first makes you a Hero. Doing the right thing isn't easy but it's the right thing.


____________________________________________________

The butcher with the sharpest knife has the warmest heart.
 
Posts: 13386 | Location: Bottom of Lake Washington | Registered: March 06, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
His Royal Hiney
Picture of Rey HRH
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quote:
Originally posted by gambit123:
She decided to seek her dads advice and she ALWAYS listens to him. He even told her it’s a $hit sandwich and she just blew it off and is ready for a bite. I am telling you I am in deep here.


You've already gotten great and excellent advice in this thread.

You need to man up, find your balls, and say, "N. O. No."

You'll feel worse if you say yes and the house becomes your headache and your wife will be nagging you and telling you all that has happened is your fault.



"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.
 
Posts: 19588 | Location: The Free State of Arizona - Ditat Deus | Registered: March 24, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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