Estimated cost of repairing these issues?

[Flyover]

To get it out of the way: I understand that perfect estimates cannot be given based on descriptions and photographs. I'm not looking for anything legally binding, ha!

But hopefully if anyone here is experienced...

I'm looking for "as best as you can reckon" estimates for the cost to professionally repair the following issues with a house, to help figure out how much to revise the initial offer I made prior to inspection. I might not necessarily ask that the full cost of all these repairs be covered. It depends what I ultimately determine is "reasonable".

And obviously, I will triangulate estimates given here with estimates I get from local contractors and handimen I've reached out to (but haven't heard back from yet).

1. Install handrail along staircase:

2. Secure a few strips of loose vinyl siding to the wall of the house:

3. Add grading around house foundation where there is currently negative grading:

4. Repair brick chimney:

5. Vent bathroom exhaust through exterior (currently terminates in attic)
6. Add weatherstripping to bottom of garage door:

7. Add a small concrete curb to interior of garage near door to help keep out water
8. Switch polarity of kitchen power outlet (currently reversed)
9. Repair trim/fascia/soffits:

 

[Snoonyb]

Why are you not negotiating with the owner, that those repairs, some of which are building cade violations, be accomplished by them prior to a subsequent listing.

Has the inspection CO. given a copy of their report to the owner/seller/agent?

And if not, why not?

 

[Flyover]

I'm not sure which issues are code violations in my area or not. I'm asking for the money instead because I'd rather pay to have the repairs done than count on the seller, who might cut corners, take too long, misunderstand the request, etc. or just feel inconvenienced and start to drag their feet.

I don't know if the inspector gave a copy to the seller/agent. I was going to pass along a copy myself, at the time I made the revised offer.

 

[Snoonyb]

Any ladder way with more than 2 risers requires a handrail.

Realtors know this, from experience.

I'd make sure, by registered mail, that the owner/agent and if it's listed, the listing agent was CC'd.

Were it I, and this goes to your ponderance regarding a thred about advice to prospective buyers and sellers, given the noted deficiencies in the inspection report, enclosed, I would offer you the option of having those deficiencies corrected by lic. bonded contractors, with permits where required, or I'll need to reduce my offer to $_________, which reflects my estimate of the reasonable value, of repairing those deficiencies.

 

[bud16415]

I don’t know the costs to fix the items on your punch list. Some are quite easy and some are a lot more complex and may even need digging into deeper before a cost could be given by a pro.



I have bought some really distressed property in my life and I view it a little different.



You are assuming the asking price right now is the price of the house in perfect condition as fair market value. But you really don’t know that it’s just a price someone ran up the flagpole to see if anyone salutes it.



These are for sure items that will reduce the price point and failed inspection but I’m sure there are loads of other things that are still ok but have signs of loss of some lifespan. Take the roof for example is it a 30 year roof that passes but only has 10 years left etc etc.



What I do is look at the neighborhood and have a feel for comps maybe what has sold lately. I try to figure a new house price and then start my deduction process away from that price like I was planning on flipping the house only flippers make a profit. If the house has a potential to be a 100k house and needs 50k to get it there a flipper would have to offer like 20k and that’s why homes sit on the market forever in areas where the resale market is slow. The homeowner isn’t willing to give their house they think is worth 100k away for 20k so some guy can spend 6 months and make only 30k. As the homeowner with no desire to flip I feel I have a little advantage as I can live in it as I work on it and my labor isn’t going out as cash it is more like I’m paying myself down the road as a part time job.



My Dad taught me as a kid buying a car don’t ever let the seller think you are in love and really want it, and have the mindset if you don’t get it there will be another come along tomorrow.



I plan it out as what I can do myself and what I will need to hire done. The hire done stuff is real money coming out of my pocket and the stuff I do myself is the price of material and what my labor is worth.



It looks like a pretty nice house from the little I can see in your pics. So say just for talking purposes a new house that size down the street was selling for 250k in brand new perfect shape. And this one they are asking 225k and I see a big project in the chimney the inside needs spruced up the roof is half way gone and a bunch of this and that like you show. I might offer them 175k and they will come back with 200k if they want to sell it. counter back at 190k and they might take it.



That’s around here. The rest of the country is crazy at least in some towns. They stick it on the market for 250k and housing is so desirable the agent says they are taking offers and then there is a bidding war and it sells for 275k even though it isn’t worth that at all.



Short answer is something is only worth what the market will bear and what it is worth to you.



The last house I bought where we live now if I would have came up with a list and costs for what needed to be done I would have had to tell the seller an amount to pay me to take the house. Instead I offered them what I felt the lot was worth.

Sorry I cant help you more but there are way too many variables .

 

[zannej]

Wish I could help. Securing the siding looks simple on the surface, but I wonder if there is possible damage underneath that caused the vinyl to pull away. Is it rotted? Might cost more.
Landscaping is pretty expensive. I believe the electrical polarity being reversed may be a code violation. Lack of hand rail for stairs would probably be as well. Fireplace needs to be repointed & masonry work can be expensive.
Looks like a lot to fix & I hope there aren't hidden issues.

 

[Flyover]

Thanks for your comments, everyone.

 

[zannej]

Reverse polarity on receptacles is not too difficult of a fix if you're comfortable with DIY to fix it, but an electrician would be expensive to diagnose it. Pretty sure the ones in my house have either the wrong polarity or no ground. Possibly both. You just reminded me I need to get that fixed.
That said, it would probably be worth it to add an electricians price in to cost of repairs as electrical is a serious issue & homeowner DIY with electrical is frowned upon. Pretty sure my house's electrical was DIY and not professional.

Hope you have good luck getting the price lowered & being able to fix stuff up!

 

[Steve123]

The grading might be more work than expected. You can't always just "add more dirt". Grade should be 6" below top of foundation. You should check that weep holes on the bricks are not being covered.

 

[Steve123]

There are several items there that are really do-it-yourself. If you are going to buy an older house, you better learn to do some of these repairs yourself or you will be broke in no time. The reversed receptacle, you turn off the power, remove the receptacle and ensure the white wire goes to the terminal on the side of the long slot, and the black wire goes to the terminal on the side with the short slot.

 

[EricK]

For what it's worth, here's my two cents. I run a handyman business and every once in a while a seller wants me to fix something for them so they can sell their house. I hate those jobs. They often want me to do it the cheapest way possible just so they can sell the house. I don't do cheap work but I know some people will. I would negotiate the cost of the house based on the repairs needed. A reputable contractor or handyman will come out and give you an estimate and then you can hire them once you move in. That way you could make sure the work is done properly. And to be honest, I'm not so crazy about those jobs either. Whenever a buyer asks me to give an estimate for repairs on a house they're thinking of buying, they use that estimate to negotiate a better price on the house and then end up not hiring me. So I end up losing money on taking the time to come out and give an estimate. Whenever I get those requests, I charge $100 for the estimate and then give them $100 credit toward the job if they hire me. I don't know if they're going to hire me because technically they don't own the property. I got tired of being burnt so this is my new policy.

 

[Jeff Handy]

I do that with some estimates also, such as evaluating an existing garden or landscape that is overrun with weeds.
Or needs to be reclaimed from growing wild for years.
I charge for an hour, and describe the problems I see and what needs to be done, in what order.
Sometimes people just want to pick your brain for free, so I offer the first hour free if they hire me, but charge an hour for the evaluation and site visit.
I do “free estimates” only over the phone or by email, and they are quick estimates, never a firm bid, and no detailed breakdown of time and materials.
I also do some free estimates for long time customers who have been good to me and vice versa.

 

[Jeff Handy]

There are several items there that are really do-it-yourself. If you are going to buy an older house, you better learn to do some of these repairs yourself or you will be broke in no time. The reversed receptacle, you turn off the power, remove the receptacle and ensure the white wire goes to the terminal on the side of the long slot, and the black wire goes to the terminal on the side with the short slot.

The white wire goes to either of the silver screws.
The hot wire goes to the brass colored screws.
In some outlets, the wiring can be different if one or both sockets are wall switched.
The white wire should be the neutral.
Assuming the person who ran the wires hooked them up properly in the breaker box.

 

[Flyover]

It's a perfect storm:

Once you're in contract you have only so many days to get the inspection done and then come back with a revised offer. This means the buyer is squeezed for time and is trying to comb through the inspection report, prioritize the things he wants fixed, and then collect estimates on how much those things will cost -- all while having to go through his realtor to access the house, and he can't always count on being able to access it, especially on short notice. In many cases the buyer doesn't currently live anywhere near the house, making it extremely difficult to coordinate on-site meetings with contractors, even if access wasn't an issue. And that's before factoring in that the buyer has a million other things going on in his life that demand his urgent attention. (Often true of people in the early stages of a move.)

The problems for the contractors have been pointed out here already: they are taking time, if nothing else, to provide quotes for work they might not even get. And they're being asked to provide those quotes on an extremely hurried schedule, often with limited info.

 

[Sparky617]

The one that would concern me the most would be the chimney repairs. Water has clearly been getting into the chimney and causing the bricks to fail. At a minimum the chimney needs a new cap and the bricks parged with mortar. Ideally, the chimney should be taken down below the damage, new bricks installed and a poured concrete cap installed to protect the top of the chimney. This is probably the most expensive item on your list of concerns. The handrail could be fixed for a hundred bucks and a trip to the home center. Trim rot repair is an ongoing task around here. I'd probably opt to replace it all with cellular PVC (Azek is one brand) next time you get the house painted. For the soffits I'd probably look at replacing those with Hardi-Soffit or vinyl. I doubt you could get the owner to do that for you, but it would be the best long term fix.

The current owner certainly didn't put a lot of effort into preparing this house for sale. Is your market pretty strong right now? How long was the house on the market and what are the comps like for recent sales of similar homes in the immediate area? What does your real estate agent say? My wife is an agent and the chimney would be the thing they'd press for in the negotiations. They will generally push on HVAC systems, roofs and safety issues. One of her recent sales was for one of our Pastors at church. His buyer wanted the roof replaced and they were able to get it through the home owners insurance due to hail damage. This has been quite a racket around here, I've had numerous neighbors get new roofs that were pushing 20 years old due to hail damage. A three tab roof has a life expectancy of 20 years.

 

[Flyover]

Yeah we flagged the chimney as the biggest repair. Not sure if it's the most urgent, but it might not matter since all masonry/chimney repair people in the area seem to be booked up until 2021.

 

[billshack]

A lot of times you never know how much work is required to fix something. Take the chimney for example , you have to get up there and hit the chimney from top to bottom to see what is good and what needs to be replaced. It could be the top foot or the whole way down.

 

[zannej]

The white wire goes to either of the silver screws.
The hot wire goes to the brass colored screws.
In some outlets, the wiring can be different if one or both sockets are wall switched.
The white wire should be the neutral.
Assuming the person who ran the wires hooked them up properly in the breaker box.

This was my thought as well-- it also assumes that the polarity didn't get switched at a junction box or other outlet/switch leading up to it. It could be right at the breaker but got messed up at a junction somewhere. Maybe someone used different colored wires or just didn't know what they were doing & switched them. I think there is some sort of tool/device you can use to connect to one end at the breaker & the other end at the outlet to see if it's the same.
We had tenants that monkeyed with our electrical & switched polarity in some outlets & fixtures.

Flyover, it sounds like a tough situation. I hope it all works out though.

 

[Jeff Handy]

Yes, you can buy a signal tracer, a very common testing device.

You can clip the sender onto a wire (powered off) and then a small receiver similar to a pen can beep or flash when it comes close to that same wire down the line.

It is also common for amateurs to put a wall switch onto the white neutral wire leading to a fixture, appliance, or outlet.

So the hot wire is always hot, and the device at the end of the circuit is hot even with the switch turned off

 

[zannej]

Signal tracer! That's what it's called. Thanks!
My best friend nearly died from that situation you described above. Light switch was off & his grandfather asked him to change a light fixture for him. He got zapped so badly he lost feeling in his hand and both feet. He was unable to drive for years because he couldn't feel how much pressure he was exerting on the pedals. Eventually he got enough feeling back in his feet to drive but it took several years. My takeaway is that electrical is not something to mess with unless you are absolutely certain the power is off. Which is why I'm going to flip breakers off when I replace something on my ceiling fan. Might need to replace the whole fan-- or at least the motor- bc it stopped running. Not sure if power is not working to it or if 30+ years of constant use finally caught up with it.