I'm house hunting, I have found several buildings of interest being sold "as is" most of these are foreclosures or reposessions. The utilities (water and electric) have been turned off.

Any suggestions on how to get a good inspection (and get an estimate on what the building will cost to repair) done without utilities?

One property has a well and septic, I have been advised that I want the septic operating at capacity to see if it has problems, problem is the well is run by a pump, no electricity, no pump.

I'm wondering if I could rent a generator.

I'm sure you could find an inspector with a generator who can inspect this for you. I gave my opinion on inspectors and old homes or in your case "as is". You can find that opinion under Insulation. The subject is What to expect in 1925 home. Or something like that.

Good luck,
Devildog

You may be able to get a septic inspector out there with a water truck or hire a farmer with a tank on the back to bring water in for you. If the house is vacant I would think it's going to be tough to get a good inspection on the septic. The field will be nice and dried out right now from no use. But live in the house for a month and I would think it would be a lot different.

I should leave that to the septic inspector. I wouldn't trust a general inspector for the septic. My septic cost $3500 and that was checked by a general inpector.

Use caution,
Devildog

I found the guy locally that has taken care of this propertys septic for the past 25 years, turns out I'd probably have to have a mound system installed. From what I've read cost about 10,000. Guess I got to keep looking.

Hi Julie,

3 words about looking for real estate: LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION! By now it's an old cliche--but looking for properties in the nicest areas you can afford is generally really good advice in Real Estate. You 'buy' your neighbors.

Good luck on your search--and welcome to the boards,


-k2 in CO (Moderator, Miscellaneous Forum)

Count your blessings. You just dodged a big bullet. Can you imagine moving in to find out the septic was probably the reason they moved out in the first place.

Unless you are handy with a lot of different things I would stay away from the "as is" deals.

Good luck,
Devildog

Devildog,

My plan is pretty simple; buy the worst house in the best neighborhood. I have 203K rehab funds available to me. My means and my desires are modest, I've been preapproved for 120,000 mtg. I'm looking for a house I can gut and make my own. I prefer a ranch with no basement, on a small lot.

My area is loaded with foreclosures (bank VA HUD)due to the fact that one of the largest local employers went bankrupt, Bethlehem Steel, so there are alot of "as is" property to chose from. I really have my heart set on having a home the way I want it. Of course I'm looking at "ready to move in" property but the all I seem to see is bad windows, no (or poor)insulation, and bad floor plans.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

If you know what you're getting into ahead of time that's fine, but I think too many times people get stuck with a bill that they didn't expect and can't afford.

My first house had so many things go wrong with it in the first 3 years. Improper ventilation in the crawl space which caused sill plate to rot. Septic field went bad. Roof started leaking. Low pitched roof which I couldn't get into to insulate. The list goes on and on.

Windows would be the least of my concern. You can always replace those. I would be worried about the things I can't see or find. Get a good inspector. Check www.ashi.com for recomendations or better yet get recomendations from people you trust.

I was wondering if you know you are moving into something that has bad windows or bad septic field can you roll that into your mortgage???

Good luck,
Devildog

I'm starting to rethink this idea, maybe I should buy an existing property that has more "move in" qualities.

The list of what can be rolled into the 203K mortgage is pretty extensive. And yes it could include septic and windows. But now that influcences how much I could offer for the property. It is a VA reposession that appears to have been on the market for at least 18 months. The more I ask about the area it is in, the more I hear it is pretty bad, it has a high water table.






http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/203k/203kabou.cfm