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Buyer's
Guide
The American
dream of home ownership can be your best investment or a nightmare. Buying
a home is complicated, exciting, time consuming and frightening. Realtors,
appraisers, surveryors, loan officers, etc. will all help you select and
buy the home of your dreams. However, do any of them inform you of the
actual condition of the property?
Below is
listed the items we commonly find in houses listed by the following age
groups:
New
House (Up to 5 years)
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- Errors
left by builder
- Plumbing
leaks
- Roof
leaks
- Trades
damage (cut framing members),
- Poorly
established grading and drainage.
- Items
ommited:
- Insulation
under floor (crawl space or attic)
- Unconnected
heating/air conditioning ducts
- Flashing
omitted at doors and decks leading to future wood rot.
- Incomplete
equipment installation
- Jetted
tub not connected
- Dishwasher
leaking
- Water
heater not wired or disable
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Existing
House (5 to 20 years)
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- Wood
rot
- Exterior
railings
- Post
and columns
- Window
sills and trim
- Door
frames & under doors
- Siding
- Amateur
Workmanship
- Plumbing,
wiring etc. done below professional standards
- Amateur
workmanship could be hazardous to both the occupant & the
house.
- Aging
Systems
- Heat
& air conditioning
- Water
heater
- Roof
- Siding
- Delayed
Maintenance
- Wet
Crawl space or basement
- Floor
joist rotting
- Main
beam rotting
- Sill
& band board rotting
- Wet
or under ventilated attic
- Roof
sheeting delaminating or rotting
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Older
House (20 years plus)
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All
of the above plus:
- Structural
problems
- Rot
damage
- Insect
damage
- Walls
removed
- Framing
damage
- Settling/soils
problems
- Mismatched
systems
- Mixed
plumbing (copper & iron)
- Ungrounded
receptacles
- Partially
replaced roofing
- Excessive
number of roof layers
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Historic
House (100 years plus)
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All
of the above plus:
- Antiquated
systems
- Knob
& tube wiring
- S-traps
in plumbing
- Failing
cast iron drain piping
- Mixed
types of roofing
- slate/tin/asphalt/rubber
membrane
- Failing
built-in gutters
Remember,
"HISTORIC HOUSES" equals "repairs cost four times as much"
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