Normally, people do nor go around wondering and worrying about water in a house, unless of course, you are planning on trying to buy that house. Just hearing the word water damage is enough to scare buyers away because they automatically think they would be doomed to invest thousands of dollars in the right away to have it repaired. That is not always the case and if you are looking at a home, you should learn which types and to what extent water damage should be a concern.
Any time you are thinking about buying a house, it needs to be and usually does have an inspection done. Sometimes it will be paid for by the current homeowner, but if you are afraid of getting a biased opinion and report, you might could hire someone yourself. Home inspectors are normally impartial as they should be and will deliver a report that is accurate and honest to the best of their ability.
When you first receive the results of the report keep an open mind. Almost any home that is not brand new is bound to have an issue or two. With very old homes there is likely to be several. Sometimes you can renegotiate the price with the current owner or you could ask them to make some repairs as part of their asking price. This is what real estate agents are for. They can negotiate back and forth with the owner for you until the two parties can come to an agreement.
If you learn that there is some water damage in the home, consider how bad it is reported to be. If is something minor like a toilet area that needs replacing. This might not be so bad. It could only involve taking up the toilet and floor covering and replacing some sub flooring. A handy homeowner might be able to do this job themselves. The cost will be minimal for supplies, but you could negotiate a lower buying price for your trouble.
However, if you discover that the roof, attic, basement, or a large portion of floor or wall structure has water damage, this you might want to consider more carefully. Something this significant could very well cost you thousands of dollars. Then you would want to know whether there is any mold associated with this water damage because there often is. Mold can be very expensive to have removed if it is also extensive. If you find severe problems like these are involved, you might reconsider buying the home at all or at least make sure you get a great enough price to pay for the repair.
Aydan Corkern is a writer, water damage restoration professional, and promoter of water damage texas and water damage kentucky.
[tags]water damage,real estate,roof leaks,flood,plumbing,mold,basement[/tags]
|
|