Termites.
Yes, termites!
Situation: Home had established upstairs area and one big open downstairs area that, closed in but basically one big room. Decided to close in downstairs. Used pine. Idiots. Termites ate pine. Termites ate some other soft wood, including skirting around floorboards upstairs, which may mean ripping the walls apart and redoing them too if they have termite damage. Doesn't appear to be structural damage.
Owner is asking 60% more than the land value. We will offer about 30-40% more than land value.
Side issues: both sets of external stairs and landings have weather damage and one is unuseable. Some floorboards will need replacing in the near future BUT this isn't due to termites but just normal aging (we'd probably just rip up the carpet as it hasn't been professionally laid, just placed one the floor, do the floorboards all straight out, which means replacing the skirting boards anyway, and having polished floorboards over carpet). Wall around the bottom level of the home will need repairing from storm damage. Plumbing will probably need to be looked at eventually, some evidence of leakage. Needs fence on two sides.
And long long term - add internal staircase, make a downstairs living area, have to add double garage as this one has been closed off.
Now.
I'm not interested in buying a home that has structural damage.
So lets assume there's no structural damage.
I'm no entirely sure about how I feel about it all. Part of me wants to run screaming. Part of me thinks renovating/partial rebuilding from the foundations is the next best thing to buying land and building, and the space is amazing, so much potential, which makes me feel excited about what we can do to it. And the land and position makes the whole package somewhat of a bargin - without the damage the house and land would be worth double what they're asking.
Anyway, back to termites.
To people who have bought/sold/renovated/dealt with termites. What would be your first thought? (Remembering that we are excited to renovate, and have been hoping for a home with room to personalise.) The one thing that worries me is getting in over our head RE: the cost of repairing and renovating. The bankwants to give us a lot less than we can afford, and even when they factor in insurance/rates etc, we still come out with $500 in our pocket after bills, mortgage, food, fuel and putting away for larger bills etc). But I'm worried about spending it all on renovations. We are willing to put in hard work and all that, but theres some things we CAN'T do that we'd have to pay for.
I dunno... BIL is going to go through it with a fine tooth comb on Thursday. He isn't a builder by trade, but did renovate his whole house, rebuilt walls, flooring etc, sourced his own materials, so will give us an idea of how much everything will cost to repair/replace, and how much will need to be done by a professional.
Anyway... give me some thoughts, some ideas, something... positive or negative... What to really really look for, what to do, what to say, what to think (:lol:).
Would it be reasonable to request a building and pest report BEFORE making an offer? Obviously one has been done, can we request this? I don't want to put an offer on a house, put down a deposit, have a contract drawn up pending pest and building report, and find that the hosue is about to fall down around our ears. Do we have a right to ask for their report? Or am I out of line on that one?
