I think people just have your best interests at heart, Jim. You're a first time home-buyer, asking for advice. Those of us with experience are trying to share ours with you. I'm certainly not one to say that you should wait to buy a house that's in pristine condition. My house, when I bought it, had severe cosmetic issues, had a cracked foundation, had 60 amp electrical based on fuses, had cracked plaster, had no shower, etc.
But, I got a screaming deal. Screaming! When I tell people what I paid, they're flabbergasted. And, the sellers escrowed and paid for a new basement wall and new driveway to replace the cracked foundation. And, it had a brand-new furnace. And, the roof was 3 years old. I bought for 75000, 8 years ago. The house is easily worth 180,000 now. (I've done other improvements along the way, but I _still_ haven't dealt with that cracked plaster.;) ) Roofing costs must be very very different in Scranton than they are here. I had a roofing estimate for my 1 car garage this summer. There's only currently one layer and the sheathing is fine and the whole thing is walkable (it's only 500 sq feet, and the estimate just for that was over $2000. Two of my neighbors have had their roofs done in the past year. Both are small houses. One has a very simple roof (no dormers, no odd angles) and he paid $6000. The other one has some dormers and needed new gutters and she paid $12000. These are both houses that are smaller than yours. Neither included a garage redo. (Houses in my neighborhood don't have attached garages.) But, what it comes right down to is this - if you're going to be happy with the house, then you're going to be happy. You have to feel like you got a good deal. Me - it would bother me. (Then again, I don't personally like the style of this house, either, so that may be contributing to my stance.) I did go look at the mold pics - and it looks pretty serious to me. My basement gets musty smelling in summer. I've had water leaks. (I live near a lake - everyone has water leaks or a sump pump.) I don't have any actual mold, because we clean it up quickly and run a dehumidifier all summer. That's some pretty thick mold growing there. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:191317 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
