Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[saysfaa]

We found a house we like that doesn't have an HOA. It has quite a lot of zoning restrictions but nothing like those HOAs and, in this case at least, probably won't add very much more restrictions.

We had an offer ready, then waited until morning because our realtor noticed the listing had just been changed to "as is" after being on the market for a long time. The last offer that was accepted fell apart at inspection stage. At that point, the sellers disclosure was redone so that all items were marked "unknown" and it was changed to selling "as is". That is weird. More weird than starting "as is". And the sellers wouldn't allow further inspections after the initial inspection found something that worried the buyers; they contended the inspectors did a bad job.

We spent hours and hours thinking of what might have happened and looking for a way to make it work.

I really like the house but that is too much risk. The sad thing for the seller is that we probably would buy the house even with the problems long as we could know what the problems were before we committed.

 

[Folly's place]

The house has problems, and the sellers are not smart. We looked at several (many!) wrecks the last time we were house shopping, and bought a place on property we loved, and no serious poblems with the house. Style, kitchen, many ungood interior issues, but not unlivable. Since then many upgrades, as we could afford them, but the land and the basic house, good.
And zoned farm, not city, no HOA for sure!
Mary

 

[Sally PB]

upgrades, as we could afford them

Yup. We did the "had tos" right away. Then we did the "gee this is ugly, let's redo it." Now we're to the "this will be expensive, but it's what we want, and this is our forever home."

@saysfaa, I sure hope you find something!

 

[1muttsfan]

A house is a huge investment. I have never bought one without a complete inspection and staked survey. Too scary otherwise.

 

[Chickin Fairy]

We've been through 2 house buys. Both times, the inspectors were recommended by the realtor and when we moved in, we quickly realized they didn't find all the problems the houses had. Keep in mind if an inspector found something to big to make the deal fall through, there are other things that may be smaller than aren't up to snuff. Inspectors won't find the things that pop up 3 months down the road, like when your basement floods because your septic tank has a filter you have to purge every three months (ope, too specific? )

 

[Folly's place]

Home inspectors should be independent, and do their best. However, it's true that often things are missed, because, for example, the wiring in the finished walls isn't fine, but invisible to the inspectors.
Be careful, look at the house carefully yourself, and get it inspected anyway.
And beware of HOAs!
For us, rural is best!
Mary

 

[saysfaa]

We looked at our other options and like them even less. Our realtor got the name of the company who did the inspection for the other people. We will call them in the morning, if they will send the same people to do the inspection then we will make the offer. Presumably they will find the same problem. Then we will know. Probably.

While I waited for our realtor to get that, I looked up the laws and case laws about homes sold as is, inspections, and so on. That was quite educational. Among other things, the differences between states is - interesting. I will never understand why the programmers of search engines (or the advertisers who buy the top responses) think I am interesting in other states when I search for a specific state.

Inspectors can only be held responsible for things they can see on the surfaces. They can't open anything not meant to be opened regularly or probe into anything or any other kind of damage to the house. So even good inspectors doing a great job will miss things sometimes.

There is an infrared scanning option now, though. It seems it will indicate moisture issues and electrical issues that don't show on the surface. That and radon might be worth adding to the standard inspection. Well, the infrared anyway. Radon isn't scary, it is in every house but it fixable without terribly much trouble.

 

[Chickin Fairy]

worth adding to the standard inspection.

Always add septic and well, too, if applicable.