You really have to watch yourself and double-check really good sounding deals.

This was a double wide (older home) that would be paid off within 3 years offered at a $18,000 price. At first blush you would think it a great deal. After getting to inspect it further since I just don’t like to take a person’s word that it needs “just a little work”. I found some things that are causing me to hesitate a lot. It is country living in a small nice Park just within reach of Internet/Cable.

I don’t mind working on something especially if it will be paid off in 3 years, but there is a limit to what I can do due to my health.

It was a 4 bedroom 3 bath. After a walk through I listened and observed and concluded that only one bathroom (guest) was being used due to problems in the other two. The masterbath had a leaky commode tank and the floor would need replacing around it and the Garden Tub. The other bath off a bedroom needed flooring also in the same areas. The only bathroom being used had softness near the tub where he said the faucets were leaking in the wall and needed to be repaired. Also the sink would need to be totally replaced after accessing the wall to the bathtub and the sink had rotted out apparently due to a leaky “PTrap” at some time.

Upon looking in another bedroom where I thought of putting my office, there was a bookcase standing in the corner leaning slightly. Closer inspection revealed it was leaning as one side of the bottom of it was sinking in the floor from floor damage from a leaking window nearly.. Had the carpet not been there (which needed replacing) it would have tipped over as it went into the floor.

All the carpet will need to be removed due to age. The man also mentioned there needed to be some duct work done as animals had damaged it and he had patched it ever few months. There were two ceiling areas where the roof had leaked and he said he had gotten someone to patch the leaks and stopped them. Looking at the roof, it will need replacing in another 2 years.

Not real sure this would be a good investment.

UPDATE:

Having it inspected by the Son paid off. Sometimes people can really try to pull something over.

We were told the AC was fairly new and worked fine. What we were not told was that when the fairly new one was put in and the duct work run, to save money they only rand duct to “half” or one end of the home. The other parts need to be covered by window units.

The bath rooms are repairable, but with the added cost of replacing all the carpets throughout the home would add up to a lot. All three sink cabinets in the baths have to be replaced.

The roof that I had hoped would last a couple years was patched together haphazardly with roofing tar and plastic hidden where you can’t see it from the ground 🙁

Austin said that when he knelt in a couple spots that his knee almost punched a hole in the rotted roof decking. He said if we put new carpet in it and repaired the two ceiling areas that were already damaged, the roof was in danger of the rotten wood suddenly springing a good leak and ruining the new carpets and repaired ceilings. We had been told the roof was properly repaired by someone. The damaged floor in the room with the bookcase may be another roof leak that is still active near the eave of the room in the area of the bad roofing deck, we could see trails from snails on the carpet if you shined a bright flashlight that we had with us this time.

There was evidence of a large pest (roach) problem under the cabinets and rats had been in the insulation in the walls eating out in a closet in one room.

He hated to tell us, but unless we had a lot of money to dump in there right away it would be unwise to try it. The cost of getting a roof on it alone would be a lot.

Disappointing that it isn’t doable, but the search continues now for another place. 😀