The Super Official Homeowners Thread

[ViPER1313]

What specifically is wrong with PEX plumbing? Pretty much every house built today uses pex.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JPolen01]

I believe the issue here is polybutylene.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Deceus]

What specifically is wrong with PEX plumbing? Pretty much every house built today uses pex.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

PEX is polyethylene. Polybutylene was like PEX version 0.1, used in the 80s and early 90s. There was no real scientific backing for why it failed but most people got 10 to 15 years out of the before they leaked. It failed at a high enough rate the company responsible for it got sued into oblivion. The theory is it couldn't hold up to most city water due to all the disinfectants/chlorine most plants add. It rots/flakes from the inside so there's no telling how close you are to doom.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

---

Yeah I have a plumber coming Monday morning. The sellers have already dug in and said they're not paying a cent since there's no current leaks other than the one drain that apparently wasn't reconnected properly. I honestly don't give a shit if they pay or not, it's getting fixed by me, we're splitting the cost or I'm walking. There's no scenario where this deal goes through without it getting fixed. Not sure why they're even debating if they "have to" or not. So stupid.

They seem to have misinterpreted my intentions since I'm trying to get ahead of the VA appraisal/minimum eligibility. The lender very likely is going to find out about the piping. Not sure why everyone seems to want to bank on them not finding out. They seem to think I'm using the inspection from Friday morning to justify preventative repairs. They are indeed correct the past inspection was purely for the current state of the house. The VA is a different beast all together. They can and will look at the life expectancy of things and offer conditional approvals based on them. Crazy I have to explain that to not one but both realtors.

Also crazy they're both committed to convincing me this is just some minor preference and not some defective material that resulted in a billion dollar law suit. Guess we'll see, it shouldn't be too expensive as it's just the first floor and the crawlspace is HUGE.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

You have more patience then me. I would have walked away from this place and went to a different realtor at this point.

If I walk, I'm out $3,500 and I'm either homeless on Nov 2nd or scrambling to find a rental. The house is also really fucking nice. Checks all the boxes, even the little ones. Backs up to 50 acres of undeveloped land and has a basement I didn't know about I can easily convert to extra shop space/storage. Even has a trailer pad already. The pool and just about everything else checks out so this honestly the only real issue.

I am fresh out of patience though. Fortunately my realtor stepped down and passed me off to another agent a lot closer. She's been good so far and at least she seems to understand the situation or at least realizes arguing with me on this is a bad idea.

Hoping for a cheapish quote here. I can swing $5k, would like to split it if it's $10k. It certainly should not be anymore for such a lay-up of a re-pipe job from what I can tell. They did the upstairs expansion in PEX, so all just crawlspace, fittings and adapters.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[Apoc]

Hey, not sure if anyone told you this yet but you should rent for awhile.

[.RJ]

If I walk, I'm out $3,500 and I'm either homeless on Nov 2nd or scrambling to find a rental. The house is also really fucking nice. Checks all the boxes, even the little ones. Backs up to 50 acres of undeveloped land and has a basement I didn't know about I can easily convert to extra shop space/storage. Even has a trailer pad already. The pool and just about everything else checks out so this honestly the only real issue.

Why would you be out $3500? The only costs up to this point should be a credit report, appraisal and inspection. Escrow should be returned, and even if its not $3500 is cheaper than the plumber bill.

It sounds like you're giving all the sellers the cards in the negotiation, you've already conceded everything. Who knows, they may be in the same boat, needing to close on this house to move into another?

At the end of the day both parties want the sale to close, but, the lender always gets a copy of the home inspection and appraisal - the sellers wont be able to make *any* sale once this is disclosed.

tl;dr dig in and insist they pay because they should know better

[Deceus]

If I walk, I'm out $3,500 and I'm either homeless on Nov 2nd or scrambling to find a rental. The house is also really fucking nice. Checks all the boxes, even the little ones. Backs up to 50 acres of undeveloped land and has a basement I didn't know about I can easily convert to extra shop space/storage. Even has a trailer pad already. The pool and just about everything else checks out so this honestly the only real issue.

Why would you be out $3500? The only costs up to this point should be a credit report, appraisal and inspection. Escrow should be returned, and even if its not $3500 is cheaper than the plumber bill.

It sounds like you're giving all the sellers the cards in the negotiation, you've already conceded everything. Who knows, they may be in the same boat, needing to close on this house to move into another?

At the end of the day both parties want the sale to close, but, the lender always gets a copy of the home inspection and appraisal - the sellers wont be able to make *any* sale once this is disclosed.

tl;dr dig in and insist they pay because they should know better

Due diligence is a thing in NC, earnest money is separate. $2,500 for that, $700 for an inspection, $200 for a pool inspection and $89 for the plumber to come out tomorrow.

I haven't given them anything other than a promise I'm not buying shit if the problem can't be addressed. Waiting on the plumber and appraisal/VA to really put any cards down. The previous realtor is the one that kinda gave the shit away. Not sure what she was thinking but 2 idiots telling me I'm being silly isn't any different than 1.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

---

Hey, not sure if anyone told you this yet but you should rent for awhile.

Getting raked across the coals over a pet and actually using a garage just isn't that appealing. I've looked into it, I'll be paying a good bit more for a lot less and very likely get out of a $2,000+ deposit.

I'd love to take the easy route and deal with a pretty large step backwards but I'm not good at doing either of those. I didn't put in months of work to finally make the leap from government contracting and break the NoVa cuffs just to rent. I just can't. I'll stay put before I do that.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[.RJ]

Renting isnt a substandard way of living, FWIW

[Deceus]

Renting isnt a substandard way of living, FWIW

Fair enough. Just haven't really had a pleasant renting experience ever and that's clearly affecting my judgement. Also walking away with $30k after 2.5 years as opposed to having someone repaint their rental on my dime, makes it really hard to want do anything else. You really only get burned owning by putting yourself in a situation where you have to sell fast.

It's working itself out. My new agent actually seems interested in working for me and not just the sell. Talked with Statefarm and they'd cover everything should the pipes leak at any point so that's good to know. Should be getting the quote back today or tomorrow. The sellers did offer a home warranty as well. My main concern was having to wait a month or 2 to get the job done and getting caught with my pants down. That's looking like a very unlikely scenario all around.

It's just been so frustrating that I have to talk to one person, to talk to another, to talk the sellers. Especially when both of the middlemen seem to be clueless and against me. Due diligence period is up on the 12th so it won't be long before the cards are on the table. I'm just ignoring both agents for now, getting professional opinions and will come at the sellers with a couple options. Anything else going on right now is just noise. They need to sell or they're homeless, I highly doubt they're walking over a couple thousand.

[JPolen01]

A home warranty isn't worth the weight of the paper its written on. Doesn't sound like you're banking on the which is good.

If it were me I'd still walk unless they repair the plumbing or offered major concessions. Just because statefarm will fix it doesn't mean it won't be a massive pain in the ass to deal with should the pipes burst.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Deceus]

A home warranty isn't worth the weight of the paper its written on. Doesn't sound like you're banking on the which is good.

If it were me I'd still walk unless they succeed the plumbing or offered major concessions. Just because statefarm will fix it doesn't mean it won't be a massive pain in the ass to deal with should the pipes burst.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah that's what I suspected but it can't hurt and I'm taking it as a sign they're ready to at least start playing ball. Just waiting on the appraisal now. Was hoping that would be done by the 12th but apparently the lender isn't allowed to check in until at least 10 days after it's ordered. Looks like we're moving at the speed of government for now lol.

[ScottyB]

A home warranty isn't worth the weight of the paper its written on. Doesn't sound like you're banking on the which is good.

we had one when we bought ours and it saved our asses when the entire AC system failed 3 days after move in when the compressor fragged the entire lineset and it tore up everything.  they paid something like 7-8 grand and we paid about 1.  of course they then dumped us immediately after that, but they served their purpose and we haven't had one since.

that said, i wouldn't sit on one thinking its a fool proof safeguard, as you said.  its a nice "peace offering gesture" but is nothing more than that on the seller's part.

[Apoc]

Renting isn't a step backwards. We rented for three years in our early 30s after relocating. {shrug}

[Evan]

Hey, not sure if anyone told you this yet but you should rent for awhile.

This.
Selling a house is hard enough.   Selling and buying at the same time is masochism.
Most apartment buildings offer short term or month to month leases.   Get your house sold, move to the area, and rent for a few months while you shop and find the right place that doesnt have an unintentional indoor swimming pool.

And why would you be out $3500?   Im assuming you had a home inspection contingency?   You should not lose your earnest money.
Edit: Due diligence is there to protect you, not cost you more. You will not lose your earnest money as long as your home inspection contingency is in the contract.
https://www.realtor.com/advice/buy/what-...diligence/

[Deceus]

This.
Selling a house is hard enough.   Selling and buying at the same time is masochism.
Most apartment buildings offer short term or month to month leases.   Get your house sold, move to the area, and rent for a few months while you shop and find the right place that doesnt have an unintentional indoor swimming pool.

And why would you be out $3500?   Im assuming you had a home inspection contingency?   You should not lose your earnest money.

Won't lose earnest money, will lose due diligence money. Put another point on the board for SC, NC due diligence is basically the buyer paying the seller to take the house off the market for 14-30 days for the buyer to do their due diligence. It's credited back like earnest money if you buy but it is given directly to the sellers to deposit right away. You only get it back if they decide to sell to someone else and breach the contract.

Definitely hitting the reset if this falls through. I had a hard time finding a rental that was 3-4 bedrooms, short term, allowed a cat and had a garage. I'm sure working with a decent realtor will make a big difference in that regard though. My agent basically told me she could "maybe find me an apartment".

https://hunterrowe.com/due-diligence-ear...-carolina/

[Apoc]

Your agent doesn't get paid if you don't buy a house, so she sandbagged.

Why not just rent a house for one year? It's not the end of the world and your options will be much bigger.

That due diligence money is BS. I get why they do it to protect the seller, but seems high at $3500.

[.RJ]

There's little incentive for a realtor to fight for you unless it puts closing the deal in danger - no deal, no one gets paid. Use it to your advantage.

Also, waiting for pipes to leak later which floods the house and destroys your stuff is a poor strategy, I'd reject that, doesnt matter whether state farm or home warranty covers it. You know about it, they are starting to fail, replumb the house or walk away.

[Evan]

Won't lose earnest money, will lose due diligence money. NC due diligence is basically the buyer paying the seller to take the house off the market for 14-30 days for the buyer to do their due diligence.

Wow thats awful, especially given the severity of the problem. It makes sense to protect the seller from buyers backing out for frivolous reasons but it creates a shitty situation where when its a severe problem, the seller can just refuse to fix it and you're in a position where you have to accept major repairs or flush a ton of money down the drain.

[Kaan]

Won't lose earnest money, will lose due diligence money.  NC due diligence is basically the buyer paying the seller to take the house off the market for 14-30 days for the buyer to do their due diligence.

Wow thats awful,  especially given the severity of the problem.   It makes sense to protect the seller from buyers backing out for frivolous reasons but it creates a shitty situation where when its a severe problem,  the seller can just refuse to fix it and you're in a position where you have to accept major repairs or flush a ton of money down the drain.

if the seller does this enough times and collects enough due diligence money... they can fix the water issue and stay in the house.

[Tyler.M]

You guys are all smarter than me, but it sounds like you're falling for the sunk-cost fallacy saying that because you've already spent 3.5k, you can justify spending another 10k plus. I'd walk, watch them sell it to someone else, get your deposit back because of breach of contract and go get a decent rental. Not trying to jump in on the bandwagon, but I'd never buy something like real estate that makes up so much of my portfolio, and not have leverage to buy what I want, in the condition I want it in.

I'd only consider what you're doing if it was foreclosure or something and you're buying for well under market price. Like 50k under market price. That would make sense. But since you're directly talking to the seller, I'm assuming you're paying near market value for a home with an unknown-severity plumbing issue and the seller won't budge on price or getting it fixed. If I was in your shoes, I'd be wondering what other things didn't pop up in the inspection and start to question the seller's integrity.

3.5k is a tough pill to swallow but gonna be a lot less than being upside down in a property.

[Deceus]

Well I was ready to put in an offer at $420k. They dropped the price to $400k the day before I put my offer in when option #1 took forever to fall through. The quote today came back at $7,500 all said and done. I can likely find someone to do it for $5k as the guy that came out is known for doing good work but also charging for it as well. There's also a list of 25+ minor issues like clogged gutters, destroyed crawlspace vents, insulation falling etc... Nothing you wouldn't expect from a 25 year old place.

What I wanted to do originally was go in on the re-pipe together 50/50 and offer to take care of the rest myself. Worse case scenario I'm still paying less than I was originally prepared to. Sounded like a solid plan until my agent ran to the sellers without any kind of plan and fucking threw me under the bus. Not sure what the point of that was but it still seems pretty salvageable at this point. My main concern is just wiping out my cash reserves getting this done. I just settled a ton of debt and don't want to create any more. This place is pretty attractive and things are going well with my buyers. It's in my best interest to make this work for now.