Complaint Thursdays

[matter2003]

On 1/19/2023 at 11:42 AM, spndnchz said:

Flu season sucks. Even with a shot I got it. 

Surprisingly I have never gotten the flu even tho I don't get flu shots either.  I do take 10,000 IU's of Vitamin D to ensure my Vitamin D levels are in the good range(mid 70s) year round and it is no surprise that flu season occurs when people's natural Vitamin D levels are at their lowest point of the year in the winter due to shorter days and weak sunlight.

Edited February 2, 2023 by matter2003

[Weave]

House flippers.

My son and his fiance closed on a house that they bought from a flipper. I’ve spent the last two weekends with my son getting everything “fixed” so it is liveable.

Insulation stuffed down the plumbing. Plaster and paint down the plumbing.  Water lines not connected to anything.  Furnace ductwork just open with no grates or flues.  Shoddy carpentry.

The project list is substantial but at least it is move in condition now.

The housing market in October when he looked at it was hot enough that they only got one look and a home inspection was an automatic no.  It’s not to the point where he should have accepted the “no”.  But its been a huge surprise to them that they weren’t prepared for.  Hopefully he learns from this one.

In the meantime, Dad is burning the candle at both ends helping the kids.

It does feel like they were taken advantage of to some extent.

Edited February 2, 2023 by Weave

[mjd1001]

I've got 2 things food related today:

1.)  When you make something to eat, a sandwich, a baked item, a 1-2 hour long prepared meal for the family, and you/everyone loves it.  Then you make it again a week or two later, do EVERYTHING the exact same way with the same ingredients, and it just isn't as good, it doesn't turn out the way it did before.

2.)  When you find something in the store you love. A sauce, an ingredient for cooking, maybe a frozen dinner, anything.  You try it and it goes on your list of something you buy every week.  6 months later, it is discontinued. No problem, go and buy it online, right? Nope discontinued for good and the manufacturer isn't even making it anymore.

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, Weave said:

House flippers.

My son and his fiance closed on a house that they bought from a flipper. I’ve spent the last two weekends with my son getting everything “fixed” so it is liveable.

Insulation stuffed down the plumbing. Plaster and paint down the plumbing.  Water lines not connected to anything.  Furnace ductwork just open with no grates or flues.  Shoddy carpentry.

The project list is substantial but at least it is move in condition now.

The housing market in October when he looked at it was hot enough that they only got one look and a home inspection was an automatic no.  It’s not to the point where he should have accepted the “no”.  But its been a huge surprise to them that they weren’t prepared for.  Hopefully he learns from this one.

In the meantime, Dad is burning the candle at both ends helping the kids.

It does feel like they were taken advantage of to some extent.

That should not be legal.   

 

Edited February 2, 2023 by Pimlach

[MattPie]

14 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

That should not be legal.   

 

I think everything that's normally done for a flip is below the threshold for a building permit, and selling as-is doesn't mean you have to meet code or anything. It's scummy, but like selling a house that's badly in need of repair the buyer can buy anything they want, ill-advised or not. I'd probably not buy without an inspection but I understand what the market is like so that's easier said than done.

[shrader]

18 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

That should not be legal.   

 

Yeah, if I'm told an inspection is a no go, I immediately think scam.

[MattPie]

Just now, shrader said:

Yeah, if I'm told an inspection is a no go, I immediately think scam.

I can understand not wanting one. In my experience, buyer pays the inspector $N (N ~= 500), they look at the house, and find at least around $N of things to "fix" and the seller either fixes them or eats it. For the buyer, it's a little work to possibly get some money off the house plus piece of mind. For the seller, it's an immediate deduction from the asking price or an additional cost to them. I still wouldn't buy without one even if it meant missing out on a house.

[Weave]

37 minutes ago, shrader said:

Yeah, if I'm told an inspection is a no go, I immediately think scam.

Over the last 2 years the market has been hot enough that sellers are just saying no to inspections.  It’s a very buyer beware market.

And its ripe for people to be taken advantage of.

[LabattBlue]

When we sold my parents house a couple of years ago, we had to sign a form with our realtor stating basically that there are no known major issues(I’m paraphrasing), that we are not disclosing.  I assumed this was a binding document that became part of any sale contract. 
 

Doesn’t that stop this kind of BS. 

Edited February 2, 2023 by LabattBlue

[shrader]

12 minutes ago, Weave said:

Over the last 2 years the market has been hot enough that sellers are just saying no to inspections.  It’s a very buyer beware market.

And its ripe for people to be taken advantage of.

On top of the people trying to take advantage of someone, then you also have the tons of shoddy work that is out there. 

[Weave]

10 minutes ago, LabattBlue said:

When we sold my parents house a couple of years ago, we had to sign a form with our reator stating basically that there are no known major issues(I’m paraphrasing), that we are not disclosing.  
 

Doesn’t that stop this kind of BS. 

What is the mechanism to enforce it and how much is it going to cost two kids who just put everything they had into the purchase?

6 minutes ago, shrader said:

On top of the people trying to take advantage of someone, then you also have the tons of shoddy work that is out there. 

Mostly we’re dealing with shoddy work, but some of it (insulation and plaster stuffed down drain plumbing) is simply being *****.  Not sure it qualifies as taking advantage of someone, but it’s in that direction for sure.

[Porous Five Hole]

2 hours ago, Weave said:

In the meantime, Dad is burning the candle at both ends helping the kids.

I understand your gripe. I would be upset too. 
 

I’m sure their excitement of homeownership is through the roof and your job satisfaction gets you by. 
 

Sounds like a great time to me. Good luck with everything. 

[shrader]

2 minutes ago, Weave said:

Mostly we’re dealing with shoddy work, but some of it (insulation and plaster stuffed down drain plumbing) is simply being *****.  Not sure it qualifies as taking advantage of someone, but it’s in that direction for sure.

Yeah, I was thinking of two possibilities as I read it.  For the person flipping the house, you either have a person who either knowingly hires crappy contractors or has no idea about the quality of the work.  At the end of the day though, I don't care how hot the market is, if someone won't allow an inspection, they're more than likely looking to cut corners. 

[Weave]

1 minute ago, shrader said:

Yeah, I was thinking of two possibilities as I read it.  For the person flipping the house, you either have a person who either knowingly hires crappy contractors or has no idea about the quality of the work.  At the end of the day though, I don't care how hot the market is, if someone won't allow an inspection, they're more than likely looking to cut corners. 

Believe me.  I have the same suspicions.  But in the current market, if you’re selling and your realtor tells you we’re not accepting inspections, you go with it because you trust they know best how to get your house sold.

[LabattBlue]

14 minutes ago, Weave said:

What is the mechanism to enforce it and how much is it going to cost two kids who just put everything they had into the purchase?

I modified my post.  As a document as such becomes part of the sale contract, I am guessing it would allow them to cancel the sale after closing when problems are discovered, and recoup all funds involved.  Now how long that would take and legal fees incurred, I am not that much of an expert to know. 

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, MattPie said:

I can understand not wanting one. In my experience, buyer pays the inspector $N (N ~= 500), they look at the house, and find at least around $N of things to "fix" and the seller either fixes them or eats it. For the buyer, it's a little work to possibly get some money off the house plus piece of mind. For the seller, it's an immediate deduction from the asking price or an additional cost to them. I still wouldn't buy without one even if it meant missing out on a house.

I was interested in buying a house a few years ago.  It had a finished lower level, it was an atrium ranch with the back of the house full of windows overlooking a view down a gentle hill to the woods behind the house.  A small creek flowed through the wooded area.   Beautiful!    

It turns out the house had foundational problems that were corrected and disclosed.   I could not see most of the corrections because the basement was finished and the walls and floors covered.   In the unfinished portion of the basement I saw a few wall cracks (looked like minor surface cracks) with what looked like measurement devices (strain gauges) mounted across the thin cracks.   

I made an offer pending inspections and all the normal stuff.   I hired an inspector that was a Civil Engineer and who had a PE license.  He found the details on the house prior to his inspection.  The foundation was corrected and the property was re-graded and documented in the town records.  The history was enough to scare me off.  Surprisingly concrete pillar's were installed across the yard and burried under the top level of soil.  The pillars were to stop soil movement.   The house foundation was pinned in front and on a roller in the back, very elaborate.  The gauges were used to monitor and measure movement of the basement walls, most were now under drywall.   The work was done over 10 years ago.  

Records showed the original owner sued the Builder.  The Builder made good and bought the house back, fixed it, and eventually transferred ownership to his son.  The son was in it for 10 years and was now the Seller.   He and his lovely wife made the place beautiful.  

My inspector was able to explain how the work was done and was impressed by it.  However, he found evidence that the basement side wall had moved again - he could see it from the way the siding was bowing in certain spots.  He use lasers to make measurements.  Most people would never notice it.  The forces from the front of the house that caused the soil movement might still be at play, or there is settling that is causing it.  Either way, he predicted in time more problems would occur.  

I walked away.  The Seller understood.  We looked at few weeks later and the house sold to someone else. 

Bottom Line.  Most inspections are routine and some inspectors are not very good.   But sometimes inspections are absolutely critical, especially if you are not a person that understands construction and how to build and fix things.  The cost to get this inspection was worth it.  

Edited February 2, 2023 by Pimlach

[Eleven]

I took $5K less to let inspection go when I sold my house in June.  The buyer offered that.  It was a no-brainer.  If you're buying, inspect.

Edited February 2, 2023 by Eleven

[shrader]

47 minutes ago, Eleven said:

I took $5K less to let inspection go when I sold my house in June.  The buyer offered that.  It was a no-brainer.  If you're buying, inspect.

My house is new construction.  It's amazing how much was caught on an inspection.  They mass produce these damn things and cut every corner imaginable.  It's been 7.5 years now and I'm still finding the random "I can't believe they did that" spots.

[Eleven]

13 minutes ago, shrader said:

My house is new construction.  It's amazing how much was caught on an inspection.  They mass produce these damn things and cut every corner imaginable.  It's been 7.5 years now and I'm still finding the random "I can't believe they did that" spots.

Exactly why it was easy to give up 5k rather than deal with a buyer pointing out every flaw in a home i had lived in for almost twelve years.

The other buyer would have paid 5k more but it would have taken years off of my life and probably 10K to fix every crack in the paint on the walls.

if you are selling, give the discount and gtfo.  If you are buying, never waive inspection.

sorry about capitalization and spelling.  Ipad.  Travelling.

Edited February 2, 2023 by Eleven

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, Eleven said:

Exactly why it was easy to give up 5k rather than deal with a buyer pointing out every flaw in a home i had lived in for almost twelve years.

The other buyer would have paid 5k more but it would have taken years off of my life and probably 10K to fix every crack in the paint on the walls.

if you are selling, give the discount and gtfo.  If you are buying, never waive inspection.

sorry about capitalization and spelling.  Ipad.  Travelling.

I sold a home in 2016 and spent about $300 on minor repairs that the Buyer requested be made by a licensed electrician, and maybe another $200 on repairs made by me.   That was it, I keep my stuff in good working order always. 

Some inspectors wont nit pick and kill the sale.   When we bought we asked for a few repairs and the Seller balked, my realtor told them they were reasonable requests.  For example they had several Anderson double hung windows and the chords were broken.   That is not a nitpick.  They made the repairs, some were made by a person I wish would have just left it alone.  

[LabattBlue]

Social Security and Pensions need bigger cost of living adjustments in light of what is going on. Rising costs of everything no matter what you are buying.  

[spndnchz]

All of my fingertips are dried out and peeling. WTF?

[Eleven]

42 minutes ago, spndnchz said:

All of my fingertips are dried out and peeling. WTF?

Leprosy.

[spndnchz]

40 minutes ago, Eleven said:

Leprosy.

Lol. 

[LabattBlue]

Probably complained about this before, but the automated phone systems that make it difficult to speak to an actual person no matter how hard you try, SUCK!