New Real Estate Investor Question Concerning Home Inspection
3 Replies
Richard Wong
New to Real Estate from Pennsylvania
posted about 1 year ago
Hello everybody!
I am glad to be part of the bigger pockets community! I am new to the world of real estate investing and learned a lot during the first two months fo getting my hands dirty with the CoC calculator and looking for deals with the 1 percent rule. I luckily had help from a good investor agent and walked me through a few deals over the phone since I am an out-of-town investor. My main concern is an inspection report of termite activity. I informed the investor agent to have a termite specialist take a look at the property to assess the cost to repair and possibly find any other hidden costs that may be involved. Let me know of anything else I should be concerned about.
I'll copy and paste the report below:
FLOOR-STRUCTURE The visible floor structure consisted of a tongue and groove subfloor, supported by two-inch by ten -inch wood joists spaced sixteen inches on center. There was an 8x8 -inch wood center beam and four-inch steel posts or piers for load-bearing support. There were no material defects observed in the visible portions of the floor structure. NOTE: EVIDENCE OF TERMITE ACTIVITY: Evidence of termite activity was noted on the main support beam. The visible damage noted was insignificant but did not appear to have any structural significance. Additional repairs did not appear to be necessary. Please note too that any assessment as to the extent of damage caused by termites is limited to the visible and readily accessible areas of the home. We are not able to determine the presence or extent of concealed damage.
Much thanks,
Rich
Barry Cohen
Inspector from Freeport, NY
replied about 1 year ago
Hi Rich. Being that the damage was noted on the main support beam, I would certainly try to have a contractor or two further evaluate. It is not noted if it past or present activity. If present, then you need a termite company to treat and further assess the damage. A main support beam is serious and needs to be further addressed. Hope this helps.
Kyle Jensen
Rental Property Investor from Jacksonville, FL
replied about 1 year ago
The way that reads, and what I have seen on reports previously, it sounds like that it’s prior damage and he didn’t note any active termites. Did he make note of any evidence of prior treatment?
Richard Wong
New to Real Estate from Pennsylvania
replied about 1 year ago
Thanks for the reply guys. I appreciate the bp community. I am definitely getting the damage assessed and to make necessary repairs. I don't believe the seller knows about prior treatment because he only owned the property for a year or two. I'll definitely ask though.
Thanks,
Rich