Did I make a mistake to not purchase a house because of termites

Did I make a mistake to not purchase a house because of termites

Member since 2018 · 20 posts · 2 votes

Hi all, I am looking around to buy my first house for living. I just found a good town house with reasonable price (850k) at a very good location in Bay area. The seller even dropped the price by 20k recently after it had been in the market for a while. However its inspect report shows that it has drywood termites and fungus in in the wall of garage and some places in the house. The wall was made of wood btw. In the disclosure report, a pest controller estimated the cost to fix the termite issue is > 10k.

Although my agent tried to convince me that it is not a big issue as in California termite is just normal for any house older than 30 years, I was still scared and decided to not pursuing this house.

Could you please tell me if what my agent said is true? I read inspection reports of some much older single family houses but none of them had termite issues. Also I read everywhere saying that termite is a serious red flag to purchase a house. What I am worried the most is even after paying 10k as the pest controller estimated, termites may come back soon, probably from its neighbors.

However as a novice buyer, I am now not sure if I made a right decision. Maybe I was over worried and lost a good deal. 

What would you do if the house you really liked had a termite report as in my case? 

Thanks a lot

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  • Rental Property Investor · Oakland, CA · Member since 2014 · 730 posts · 1k+ votes
    6y

    Most houses have termites, at least some form of it. It’s all about treating it. And then checking every few years to ensure they don’t come back.

    It’s like saying you passed on a great deal because you didn’t like the exterior paint. You can always re-paint it. 

  • Jonathan GreeneBusiness Member
    Real Estate Consultant · Madison, NJ · Member since 2016 · 6k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    6y

    Every house will have some termite issues. It's not a big deal at all and it always treatable because the companies can always trace the sources and identify what needs to be repaired and then they just treat or tent and it's done. All inspections do a termite visual inspection. You should run back and see if it's still available.

  • Real Estate Broker · Northeast PA · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    6y

    Too bad you didn't ask the seller to have a termite treatment by a licensed pest control with a warranty.  Oh well, keep shopping.

    (Reasonable price of $850 for a townhouse?  You'd think the termites would have died from sticker shock!  LOL)

  • Member since 2018 · 20 posts · 2 votes
    6y

    Thanks guys for the advice. They are useful. I went back but the seller had already accepted an offer. It is a good experience for me for next chances though. 

    Best,

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