We found a nice house on a lake within our cash budget. Negotiations took place over the phone and we both felt like we were coming out on top. Win-win scenario.
It was built in ‘73 and was going to take about $25k of remodeling, but we were fine with that. There were two other issues that I didn’t know much about: it is on septic and could possibly have asbestos.
We noticed in the disclosure they left everything regarding asbestos completely blank (not “unknown” or “not present”). I straight asked the dude if he had it tested for asbestos, he said he bought it cash, with no inspection. Thought that was a bit odd… I brought up having an asbestos inspection done and informed the seller it could extend the deadline by a week if the inspector found anything they needed to actually test, they’d need to send it to a lab.
This is the text he sent me as I was typing up the purchase agreement:
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I had I a chance to speak with NAME, Since we’re already extending the timeline beyond our original inspection deadline to allow for the asbestos results, we would want the understanding to be that the testing is for informational purposes and that we would not be looking to negotiate remediation or credits related to the popcorn ceiling areas being tested.
Any non-asbestos inspection objections would still need to be submitted within the original inspection timeline we outlined.
Just want to keep everything clean and clearly defined for both sides as we move forward.
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It was actually kind of relieving, my wife was stressing me out over future renovations (beyond the $25k) and I was stressing her out talking about possible speed bumps I could come across renovating. This text came through and I just started laughing. Ended the deal, dead in the water.
The interaction was going so smoothly
byu/tommysticks87 inRealEstate
Posted by tommysticks87
5 Comments
Neither of you were unreasonable 🤷♂️.
How bad do you want the house ?
Not much asbestos use in 73
Maybe in the popcorn and maybe in the linoleum floor
But both of those are easy to deal with DIY
Might be some lead paint too .
Also not an issue unless you eat a lot of it .
I’d be more worrying about the condition of the tank and drain field and the cast iron drain lines
For me an older hoise is far superior to a new built
A home built in 73 is likely going to have a larger lot and mature trees and no HOA
And it was built before nailguns and cheap labor .
Were you planning on removing the popcorn ceiling? Asbestos is only dangerous if airborne. If its left alone or covered there is no issue.
Why does this end the deal? Maybe there’s no asbestos
Did you wait until like day 8 of a 10 day inspection period to even start inspecting? This really sounds like something that could of been figured out in that original timeline if you were proactive about getting it done. Personally I never extend an inspection deadline its very easy to get that stuff sorted in an orderly timeframe and the people who couldn’t be bothered to get it done on time are always the most unreasonable when it comes to repairs.