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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 87 responses total. |
jmsaul
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response 50 of 87:
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Jul 9 14:24 UTC 2000 |
(Or just bring a level instead of using a marble. Easier.)
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slynne
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response 51 of 87:
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Jul 9 15:34 UTC 2000 |
Yeah. I think I can get a level. Not a bad idea.
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goose
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response 52 of 87:
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Jul 9 16:09 UTC 2000 |
A marble is smaller though...
Those 'octopus' furnaces are a gravity furnace. They look strange, but they
are designed that way.
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slynne
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response 53 of 87:
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Jul 9 16:39 UTC 2000 |
Just a question. What does it mean if the floor is warped. Does it just
mean that the floor is warped a little (which I could live with) or is a
warped floor the sign of a more serious problem?
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jmsaul
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response 54 of 87:
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Jul 9 17:18 UTC 2000 |
Do you want that phone number? ;-)
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aaron
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response 55 of 87:
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Jul 9 17:19 UTC 2000 |
Since when were you bothered by things that were warped? ;)
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ric
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response 56 of 87:
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Jul 9 17:30 UTC 2000 |
re 53 - a good home inspector can tell you if it's a serious problem or not.
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slynne
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response 57 of 87:
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Jul 9 18:26 UTC 2000 |
resp:55 - I think the fact that I am still friends with *you* proves
that I have a high tolerance for warped things.
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jerryr
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response 58 of 87:
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Jul 9 19:11 UTC 2000 |
warped floors could be a sign that the floor boards have seperated from the
joists. not a good thing.
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scott
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response 59 of 87:
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Jul 9 20:50 UTC 2000 |
Warped floors are a problem because:
1. They look bad
2. It's very hard to tile them unless the warping is fixed
3. The warping is usually pretty difficult to fix, since you have to hear
into the floor and remove cabinets arnd such. It might also mean a lot of
water got into there at some point, which might mean rot.
In general you won't find a perfect house, even new. But what you do want
is one with a minimum of problems to fix. THings like water leakage tend to
point to maintenance problems on the part of a previous owner, which could
mean that there are other serious problems hidden.
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katie
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response 60 of 87:
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Jul 9 21:19 UTC 2000 |
I bought my house completely on impulse, and have been quite happy with
it.
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lowclass
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response 61 of 87:
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Jul 9 22:13 UTC 2000 |
I believe you said the house you were looking at was build in 1901.
Even back then. cindreblocks were used on occasion. which leads to a question.
Is the foundation cinderblocks, or cobble (Stones of medium size) and cement?
If It's cobble and cement check the outside foundation, and inside basement
walls for the quality of the cement. If it is loose or crumbling, run, do not
walk, away from that house. redigging And pouring a basement is NOT cheap,
and except in rare case, not worth it.
While you're looking at the foundation from the outside, be sure to
checl the outside walls to see if they lean or are out of true. That little
problem is almost impossible to fix easily, and extremely expensive to repair.
Matter of fact, in that case the best thing to do is tear the house down. In
which case, you're paying an Exorbitant price for nothing more than a lot in
Ypsilanti.
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slynne
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response 62 of 87:
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Jul 10 01:19 UTC 2000 |
Yeah, the foundation worries me because the house is so old.
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janc
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response 63 of 87:
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Jul 10 04:58 UTC 2000 |
When we were on the market for a house, we found that generally to have a
chance at getting a good house you had to be there the first day it went on
the market, and make a decision about whether you wanted to buy it in a matter
of hours. This is a hard way to make such a big purpose. We found that as
first-time house-buyers we felt the need of a professional in our corner, so
we hired a buyer's agent. We liked ours a lot (Doris Preston, Re-Max) but
you should talk to several. Get someone you are confortable with, who seems
on the same wavelength as you, who has been in the business a long time, etc.
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janc
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response 64 of 87:
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Jul 10 04:59 UTC 2000 |
Oh, much as I hate the whole concept of "Dummys" books, "Home buying for
dummies is pretty good."
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danr
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response 65 of 87:
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Jul 10 12:31 UTC 2000 |
Others may have mentioned this, and I just missed it, but another thing that's
important is the condition of the electrical system. Earlier vintages of
electrical systems were not all that safe to begin with, and have only gotten
worse as they deteriorated. They certainly wer not designed to handle the load
that we put on them today. Most houses that old don't even have outlets with
three-prong sockets, which means you'll be doing some rewiring just to plug in
your computer and operate it safely.
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johnnie
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response 66 of 87:
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Jul 10 13:48 UTC 2000 |
The way to do it, really, is to go house hunting prepared to make an
offer. Do all your homework (know the school system, what other
properties are going for, etc), get preapproved for a mortgage, and
(having met with your attorney) have a standard offer contract ready.
Said contract should have all the appropriate contigencies, the most
important being a house inspection satisfactory *solely to your
approval*, which means you can back out if there's dirt in the corner.
Doing all that enables you to make an offer ASAP while giving you a lot
of room to back out.
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johnnie
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response 67 of 87:
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Jul 10 13:51 UTC 2000 |
Oh, and by "standard contract" I *don't* mean the ones the real estate
agents have sitting around the office; those are generally skewed toward
the benefit of the sellers.
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scott
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response 68 of 87:
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Jul 10 17:25 UTC 2000 |
This item now linked to "Dwellings" as 34.
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drew
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response 69 of 87:
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Jul 10 20:42 UTC 2000 |
I like #66 - especially the part about NOT using the real estate agent's
forms. I've considered writing my own, if/when I decide to buy another house.
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danr
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response 70 of 87:
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Jul 11 00:46 UTC 2000 |
I don't know that writing your own would be a good idea. Perhaps getting a
lawyer to draft papers with terms that are beneficial to you would be in order,
but then would have to pay the lawyer.
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jmsaul
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response 71 of 87:
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Jul 11 00:54 UTC 2000 |
That would be much safer than doing it yourself.
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mdw
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response 72 of 87:
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Jul 11 01:41 UTC 2000 |
To be fair, most older houses were built much more substantially than
most mdern houses - so a crumbling basement is not quite the disaster it
would be under a modern house. It's still not a good thing. It also
used to be typical to put in a "michigan basement", which was basically
a basement with a dirt floor. If you want to put in a modern laundry
facility, this might not be to your liking. Most people have paved over
this by now - the cement may not necessarily be very thick, and the
ceiling might be quite low. Until the 60's, it was not common to put in
waterproof basements - this means it will be damp in the summer, & may
have small leaks in wet weather. This is fine for laundry & furnace,
but not at all good for storing clothing & paper, or finishing off as a
den.
If you are looking at a newer house, pay attention to the flood plain.
People have gotten used to sump pumps and waterproof basements, and a
lot of building is being done on flood plains today. The results are
*not* pretty when the pump breaks that pumps your sewage, and that of
your neighbors, uphill to the rest of the sewage system. It's only
marginally better if the storm drains back up, and you get 2 feet of
water in your driveway. The Huron river has a bunch of dams on it - do
you want to be downstream when one of those dams gets a crack and lets
lose?
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slynne
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response 73 of 87:
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Jul 11 01:49 UTC 2000 |
So how are you supposed to know if a house is in a flood plain? My Dad does
have something to say about old houses. When I told him I was looking at a
house that was almost 100 years old he said: "well that house got to be a 100
years old for a reason"
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johnnie
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response 74 of 87:
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Jul 11 02:24 UTC 2000 |
When you go to get a mortgage on the house, the bank will figure out if
the property is in a floodplain. If there is any danger of flooding,
you will be required to get flood insurance. This can be very expensive
(depending on the particular level of danger your prospective house is
in), so it's an excellent idea to put in a contingency that says you
have the option of backing out if you're required to get flood
insurance.
As for contracts, any lawyer who does much real estate work will already
have his own version of a contract (that is, he won't have to charge a
bundle to write one from scratch).
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