L
Lady Rev
Guest
I live in a small (10,000) town in W. TN. A couple of months ago, I purchased a house next to mine and my husbands home. The seller had made the comment several times that he was not going to put any money into fixing it up...even though he is in construction...owns a roofing business. Since I'm a disabled veteran, I decided to go VA and agreeded to incur the cost of repairs for inspection. My husband and I knew it was going to cost around $10,000, one reason being we had to put in CHA. I had paid for an appraisal/inspection 2 years prior, the real estate agent had made an appraisal, the pest control company did an inspection and since I went VA financing, they inspected. VA gave a list of things that had to come up to code with an approximate $ figure of $2500.00. I wound up paying close to $20,000.00 (double what I had budgeted). I had to sign a statement from the bank to VA that I had planned to occupy the house (reasonable time for them was 60 days after closing). The home was appraised at around $90,000, less 10% for repairs, it was listed for $74,000 and I purchased it for $54,000, "as is." Insurance replacement value is $82,900. My "as is" was cleaning up the exterior of the home, new windows/shutters, putting in new floor coverings, paint, wallpaper, new kitchen cabinets, new bathroom fixtures and knocking out a couple of walls. As soon as I closed, I had the contractor come in to start pulling up carpet. First it was water damage to the floors, not just in one room but throughout the entire house. The contractor actually fell through a section. Then there was water damage to the walls, around the windows and around the doors (there was no sealants used), then we discovered extensive termite damage, then we discovered it was infested with rats. The water pipes for the washing machine, dishwasher and 3 showers were never hooked up to any sewer pipes...the water just dumped under the house. And, last but not least, we have discovered that every beam and every joist under the house is either broken, dry rotted, destroyed by termites to the extent that it cannot be fixed. The seller signed a disclosure statement to the effect he had no knowledge of any structure problems. I am not a professional and feel as though I was taken advantage of. This is a town where if you were born here, OK and if not...Oh well. I'm one of the "Oh wells." I have a packet, complete with photos to take to VA. I have just made my first payment. There is no way the house can be occupied and the contractor has said that it was going to be cheaper to build a new house than try to salvage this one. I talked to the insurance company but since it apparently was pre-existing the insurance won't cover it. Somebody, one of these "so-called" professional people or all of them should be responsible, aren't they? What do I do? It isn't fair nor is it right that I should have to pay this mortgage for the next 15 years and not be able to live in the house...is it? Thank you.