Closing on property tomorrow and discovered a leak

[Joe Garvin]

Hello BP Community, Happy New Year to all! We are set to close on a condo tomorrow and already wired all the money to Title Company. We went to the unit yesterday to measure a few things and found a leak which appears to be coming from above unit. I notified the realtor who contacted the association who then tried to contact the absent owner with no success. So today they are having a locksmith open the unit. My question is what can we do to protect ourselves before the closing. I asked the realtor to consider some options for us but have not heard from here today. What would you guys do?? Thanks in advance Joe

[Michael Ablan]

@Joe Garvin -  Sorry to hear it, but at least you found it now.

This has happened to be a lot recently.  For us, the list goes

1.) Damage control. We immediately take the required steps to prevent any future damage. If you can't reach the owner then try to strong arm the HOA/maintenance man/realtor to do something. We try not to personally touch anything in the event they try and say that we caused it or made it worse. However, water issues can cause real nightmares if not handled quickly, so use your best judgement.

2.) Renegotiate. Once something like this is discovered, we immediately open the negotiation back up.  Our first request is that they use a licensed/certified professional to repair it to the condition it was in when we made our offer.  If this doesn't go anywhere, then we negotiate on the price to purchase it as it, at a very favorable discount to us.  

3.) If neither of these work, be prepared to walk (unless the deal is an absolute home run).  Water issues can cause extreme damage (mold, rot, material damage, wood buckling, ect).  Your $25k rehab can turn into a $45k+ job quickly if water gets out of control....

Good luck!