What is the name of your state? Iowa
I am 10 days from my close date. I am purchasing a house that qualifies for a $10000 grant (forgiveable loan) which can be used to remodel/update the property once any items noted in the (program's) inspection have been addressed. For example, before I can spend any of the money on a discretionary item, I must replace the furnace (and of course the cost of the furnace comes out of the grant money). I also have to replace the water heater and demolish the garage (or repair - cheaper to demolish and rebuild at a later date). My discretionary item is remodel the kitchen. It needs it... BAD.
Today, I had both an electrician and a plumber to give me bids on required work for the remodel of the kitchen. First the electrician calls to tell me the electrical circuit box is full and I will need to add a new panel b/c there is no more space to add a circuit. Then he pops off the front and sees at least one circuit that someone had run two wires two - illegal, won't pass inspection. I asked what it would cost to fix and he said a minimum of $1000. Then, not even 5 minutes later the plumber calls - doing the bid on installing the kitchen sink. First words out of his mouth were "I opened the cabinet undet the sink and none of that plumbing is up to code". He said there's some piece of pipe that was used that is plastic and not PVC. When I asked how much it was gonna cost to fix, he said initial guess would be between $600 - $800.
Since this is grant money, I have to have everything done to code so no getting around this. And the electrician said there was no way the city would pass what he was seeing - it would have to be replaced.
So - there were two inspections done on the house - the first by the administrator of the grant program, the other by a licensed inspector I hired (through his company). Neither of the inspectors noted any issue with the electrical or the plumbing. As a matter of fact, the electrician said "You had this inspected right? Cuz they should have found this".
What is my recourse - I would not have bought the house had I known about either of these two major problems.
The money I wanted to use on discretionary remodeling is now going to have to go to the plumber and the electrician just to get the two systems up to code. I know the Inspection company I went through uses insured inspectors (errors and ommissions insurance). These are two major systems and he definitely omitted inspecting unless all they are required to do is turn on a lamp and write down the electric is functional and then turn on the water and say the plumbing works. Sheesh - I can do that!
Bottom line is I can't live in a house with a non-functional kitchen. My plans were to use the grant to remodel - the only corner I can cut would be new flooring and that would lower the remodel cost by just under $1000.
Am I screwed? How can these people get by with this?
I am 10 days from my close date. I am purchasing a house that qualifies for a $10000 grant (forgiveable loan) which can be used to remodel/update the property once any items noted in the (program's) inspection have been addressed. For example, before I can spend any of the money on a discretionary item, I must replace the furnace (and of course the cost of the furnace comes out of the grant money). I also have to replace the water heater and demolish the garage (or repair - cheaper to demolish and rebuild at a later date). My discretionary item is remodel the kitchen. It needs it... BAD.
Today, I had both an electrician and a plumber to give me bids on required work for the remodel of the kitchen. First the electrician calls to tell me the electrical circuit box is full and I will need to add a new panel b/c there is no more space to add a circuit. Then he pops off the front and sees at least one circuit that someone had run two wires two - illegal, won't pass inspection. I asked what it would cost to fix and he said a minimum of $1000. Then, not even 5 minutes later the plumber calls - doing the bid on installing the kitchen sink. First words out of his mouth were "I opened the cabinet undet the sink and none of that plumbing is up to code". He said there's some piece of pipe that was used that is plastic and not PVC. When I asked how much it was gonna cost to fix, he said initial guess would be between $600 - $800.
Since this is grant money, I have to have everything done to code so no getting around this. And the electrician said there was no way the city would pass what he was seeing - it would have to be replaced.
So - there were two inspections done on the house - the first by the administrator of the grant program, the other by a licensed inspector I hired (through his company). Neither of the inspectors noted any issue with the electrical or the plumbing. As a matter of fact, the electrician said "You had this inspected right? Cuz they should have found this".
What is my recourse - I would not have bought the house had I known about either of these two major problems.
The money I wanted to use on discretionary remodeling is now going to have to go to the plumber and the electrician just to get the two systems up to code. I know the Inspection company I went through uses insured inspectors (errors and ommissions insurance). These are two major systems and he definitely omitted inspecting unless all they are required to do is turn on a lamp and write down the electric is functional and then turn on the water and say the plumbing works. Sheesh - I can do that!
Bottom line is I can't live in a house with a non-functional kitchen. My plans were to use the grant to remodel - the only corner I can cut would be new flooring and that would lower the remodel cost by just under $1000.
Am I screwed? How can these people get by with this?
