All Forum Posts by: Jeff Cliff

Hello,

What all should I consider at the time of contingency removal for a house requiring major rehab and the owner has passed away, where an attorney who is a trustee is dealing with the sale.

I certainly do not want to pay any back taxes, utility bills or penalties that maybe owed by the current seller and I also want to protect myself from any such future claims for the events that occurred before title transfer.

Thanks in advance for your response.

@Theresa Harris,

Thank you for your response. I think the trustee doesn't want to do anything so even if I put additional contingencies its not going to make any difference. Hence the question, besides walking away what else can I do? Also, considering I am going to have to take the hose back to studs do I even bother at this point that the water is shut off?

Thank you.

Hello,

I am wondering for two story house with about 1700 sq. ft structure how much should you expect to pay for fumigation in Northern California?

Thanks in advance for your reference.

Hi,

I am wondering if there was a way to get ballpark estimate on replumbing entire house with 3 BA and a kitchen in about 1750 sq.ft home in Northern California?

Thanks in advance for your response

Hi,

I am getting inspection done on a house, for which the water district has shut off the water perhaps due to non-payment by trustee (attorney) after owner’s demise.

The house requires a lot of work done in order to rehab it. May need to taken it down to the stud, remediate electrical hazard, get all the additions and alterations brought back to code or demolished, possible asbestos abatement, lead paint remediation, water fixture upgrade to the new code.

Estimates from a couple of contractors run anywhere from 150-200K to rehab this property. Given this circumstances, what other risks I may have if the water is shut off and plumbing can’t be inspected?

Thanks in advance for your response.

Hello,

The house I am in contract for is 2BR & 2BA with a little under 1700 sq. ft. on paper. However, the house has 3 BR, 1 Master BR, 1 I describe as office area, and two weirdly designed tiny BR.

The whole back side of the house has ocean view. The kitchen and dining areas are over the garage. The dining area also has ocean view.

Important thing to note is the house is very old and requires major rehab work as it has unpermitted additions alterations all through out. All the appliances are probably way past expiry.

I am contemplating on changing the layout so the main house has 3 BR and 2BA with kitchen on the back side of the house with ocean views (vs facing the street side).

Converting the current kitchen and dining over garage to another bedroom with attached bathroom (one moved from downstairs to upstairs). Also provide external and internal access to upstair room, which I could stay time to time whenever I want a weekend getaway.

Does anyone have better ideas or see any potential issues in this plan?

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Hello,

I am in an escrow for a property in CA in a coastal town that has amazing views but requires major rehab work.

Estimates I have gotten from a few different contractors vary from $150K to $200K.

With my current day time job I have flexibility where once I fix this place, I could rent out my current primary home and move into this new house. However, should anything change with my job situation living in the coastal area may become impractical especially if my new work doesn’t allow me to work remotely. In that situation I would have to rent out house on the coast and move back into my current primary home.

I don’t have any intentions of selling either of them as both are in desirable locations. The coastal one is where I see myself retiring in next 20-25 years and current primary would hopefully continue appreciating and/or give me positive cashflow.

Now, my dilemma is how do I go about rehabing

this new house? If I were to live in it for good for sure, I wouldn’t mind doing it up but there is a good chance I may have to rent it out until I am ready to retire in which case no point in dropping a lot of money now, I may do it right before I move in at the time of retirement.

On the other hand, with those views and location I feel I could potentially fetch decent rent if I do it up nicely.

what other objective criteria I should consider to make a rational decision?

Thank you in advance.

Hello,

The house I am in escrow for has unpermitted decks all around the property, the decks are really old, not maintained so they will have to be demolished.

Besides doing demo by myself, are there any other cost savings options to get the demo done? Perhaps someone who maybe able to use some of the reclaimed wood?

Thanks in advance for your response.

Initial estimates I have from a few general contractors vary from 100K to 200K.

Any guesstimate how many percentage of that amount could be in fees?

@Parker Eberhard

Thank you, good info. I checked on city’s site but very little information available on this, any idea where else I can find out if the entire structure needs to be brought to code beyond certain dollar amount?

Thanks