House buying

[BMWST?]

Think it's just dirt/wear. It's been rented for at least six months and there's apparently a bit of scary deferred maintenance of some sort that's put prospective buyers off.

And yeah, there's more blurb on other sites.

PS: they're adamant it's never had a leak. I'm not aware if there's an inspection/report supporting that but the existence or otherwise of such would be a good indication...

PPS: what would you replace the foam with? Anything else that thick, (to suite the window/door reveal depth) is going to be heavier than the framing can handle innit? Or do you use 30mm battens and marine ply?

i would replace the foam with lightweight panels ,of which hebel is one.You can get non intrusuve moisture meters.They would show up any variations in moisture levels in the framing.We have had a bit of rain lately,probably a good time to do some moisture checks

[neels]

What's the received wisdom re this, then?

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/List...?id=1259833989

Blurb describes cladding as "several systems". One of which is confirmed as polystyrene. Presumably all the white stuff to start with.

Hasn't sold after a fair while on the market, which is a pretty good indication that it's overpriced. Apparently doesn't leak, but I'm pickin' it's value is more or less RV minus the cost of replacing all the foam?

My relatively worthless opinion, from looking at the pictures....

Looks like a house that grew, and judging by the joinery and fittings sits squarely in the worst era of the 90's, with lots of funky rooflines and balconies added in to create potential for leakage.

The poly could be replaced with hebel if the overhangs could be made to work from the upstairs cladding, windows are set into the walls so less issues than the hardies/plaster exteriors with windows plugged in from the outside that leaked like a sieve.

Best option would be a very thorough building inspection from someone who is familiar with the style of building, if it checks out you'll get a bargain because of the people who won't go past the pictures and assume it's a leaky house, much like the house I live in now that I picked up stupid cheap.

Short answer is that you need to spend some money to find out, and be willing to walk away if it's a nightmare, a lot of people aren't in a position to do that.

[Ocean1]

Thanks guys. It was all built to the original plans, I don't dislike it, it's fucking huge but with some minor tweaks it might work OK for my purposes.

I don't like the styrene, even if it's perfect and remains so that's most of the reason it hasn't sold, nobody will go near it, I don't want that problem if I ever came to sell it.

Will have a look later in the week, if it can be re-clad effectively and the price reflects the need to do so it may be a starter. Although I don't like the deck over the lower story, hate that shit.

[neels]

Thanks guys. It was all built to the original plans, I don't dislike it, it's fucking huge but with some minor tweaks it might work OK for my purposes.

I don't like the styrene, even if it's perfect and remains so that's most of the reason it hasn't sold, nobody will go near it, I don't want that problem if I ever came to sell it.

If there are no leakage issues that just means you are the guy who spends $10k to reclad to get rid of it when you need to sell, to keep the buyers happy. How many years would you get living in a house that everyone else was too scared to buy, and if you sell you assume anyone remembers by then, people are already forgetting earthquake issues and liquefaction in Christchurch and building/buying houses on TC3 land where there was 2 feet of silt to clear after 4 different earthquakes.

Although I don't like the deck over the lower story, hate that shit.

Have one of those myself, always a question mark and needs looking at, having said that if there was an issue I think it would have shown itself in the living room ceiling by now. There are many flat roof systems in the world, some are good and some are shit, once again a competent building inspector will know the difference.

How big is the garage? If the wellington people in my company weren't such knobs I'd look at moving and that would be right in my price range, and a glass or two looking over the sea of an evening would suit me perfectly. Where does transmission gully fit into the picture?

[Ocean1]

If there are no leakage issues that just means you are the guy who spends $10k to reclad to get rid of it when you need to sell, to keep the buyers happy.

Exactly. But $10k? I had a much higher cost in mind. Any other semi-qualified rough guesses?

Have one of those myself, always a question mark and needs looking at, having said that if there was an issue I think it would have shown itself in the living room ceiling by now. There are many flat roof systems in the world, some are good and some are shit, once again a competent building inspector will know the difference.

Aye, I've fibreglassed one such new deck in the past for a mate, large fillets, lots of csm and vinylester resin, but at least I managed to talk him into making the gutters external. But there's plenty of decks like that I didn't do, and can't know how carefully made they were.

How big is the garage? If the wellington people in my company weren't such knobs I'd look at moving and that would be right in my price range, and a glass or two looking over the sea of an evening would suit me perfectly. Where does transmission gully fit into the picture?

Dunno, the garage door is only a single car width, but the blurb claims there's 4 car spaces.

Transmission gully passes a couple of K to the east, off to the right in that pic looking over the inlet. Would be a slight + for me because heading north up the coast has become ridiculous.

[jasonu]

What would you guys do if you were me?

1. Who cares it's compliant. Just buy it.
2. Nego price down.
3. Ask the vendor to fix it.
4. Walk away.

Is the fire wall construction above mentioned like minor issues on bikes which you can live by? e.g. Awkwardly positioned handlebar mirror which shows your elbow a lot more than behind.

I know there are worse houses in NZ.

Am I thinking too much? Or is it something I should definitely be cautious of?

If you really want it, jew them on the price or tell them to have it fixed by a proper tradesman and supply you the receipts.

[Big Dog]

Soooo if it is a multi unit dwelling then each unit is a fire cell. Fire cells must by definition contain a fire within them for a stipulated time. If the fire wall is faulty (by not extending up to (or indeed through) the roofline, then you have a real issue. In the context of your sale and purchase that is or may be a deal breaker. How many units joined up are there ? what are the OTHER unit firewalls like? Who was the fire engineer that signed it off? (council property file) How did it get code compliance? Assuming that really is an inter tenancy fire wall.

Potentially this is really imfuckingportant.

Especially true when selling the property on at some point in the future.

[Ocean1]

Will have a look later in the week, if it can be re-clad effectively and the price reflects the need to do so it may be a starter.

Well there was no sign of it leaking atm, but it smells, and it's sure as fuck leaked before now. There's water staining all over the exposed Douglas fir framing under the clearlight in the garage, munted paneling under the internal gutter beyond that, the flooring in the mid-level had been replaced with ply at some stage, (except where the original weetbix was difficult to access) and there was evidence the flashing around the main living area skylights has been "repaired" in several areas. Also, the flashing to the styrene wasn't kosher, visible gaps and bits of some associated sheetmetal work had been removed and was lurking nearby. The soffit is some sort of T&G, originally polyurethaned, () with the more easily reached bits since painted dull white over what was obviously zero preperation.

I took the son, who's job entails housing corp rentals repairs. Like me he wasn't worried about the big ticket issues if the price was right, even re-cladding some of it, but as he said there's just too many small problems that you'd be continually worried that you hadn't quite sorted.

Is it just me or is there a deal less maintenance being done for the average house across the board? I mean the only places you used to see in actual dire need of paint was semi abandoned villages out in the sticks, now almost every suburban street you walk down has examples Kiwis I grew up with would be ashamed of.

[ellipsis]

Is it just me or is there a deal less maintenance being done for the average house across the board? I mean the only places you used to see in actual dire need of paint was semi abandoned villages out in the sticks, now almost every suburban street you walk down has examples Kiwis I grew up with would be ashamed of.

...I think it's just dumb cunts who believe the spiel on the glossy pamphlets...the bits that say things like, 'new technology, 25 years guarantee, low maintenance'...and just pure lazy cunts who don't think past the point of where their next latte or holiday comes from...I refuse to even consider getting off the ladder onto a roof these days if I see the gutters full of organic matter that used to be leaves or full of moss...fuck 'em for being dumb and lazy...

[HenryDorsetCase]

...I think it's just dumb cunts who believe the spiel on the glossy pamphlets...the bits that say things like, 'new technology, 25 years guarantee, low maintenance'...and just pure lazy cunts who don't think past the point of where their next latte or holiday comes from...I refuse to even consider getting off the ladder onto a roof these days if I see the gutters full of organic matter that used to be leaves or full of moss...fuck 'em for being dumb and lazy...

really interesting point - a lot of the people I work with would not have the first clue about anything remotely approaching DIY. I'm the Erv Kanemoto of DIY - standing on a big heap of broken shit.

[EJK]

So uh yeah, as of today I've gone unconditional. Yeah it's not a fancy million dollar house on good land with architectural designed chateau but it ticks so many of my boxes and most importantly I can realistically afford it. I could borrow more but then I'd be having cuppa noodles for next 20 years. Plus it's brand new. I'll be the first one to print my ass on the toilet seat. Bank and my lawyer are going crazy with paperwork now and I settle in 10 working days.

Thanks everybody for info and help. Catch me out on an event or a bike ride and I'll buy you a drink (no joke)

Thanks to Housing NZ so that a single broke-ass bloke like me can set foot into house ownership.

[HEsch]

Congrats! It's mind boggling (debt, commitment, yadayada) but equally exciting.

[EJK]

Congrats! It's mind boggling (debt, commitment, yadayada) but equally exciting.

Thanks! I know right... It's just the beginning

[ellipsis]

...my son ,23, just bought a house...an old piece of broken shit that everyone else wanting a house badly, left off their list, for many reasons I would say...a bit of rot, couldn't check the piles, socio area, amongst other things I'd say also...it should be up to scratch in a year with a bit of his and my input...

...it seems that if it's old and fucked it's too much work/hassle/money... but I reckon that new and fucked is much more work/hassle/money...fuck fletchers, concrete products, bits of bent metal worth 20 cents being bagged up, given some bullshit certificate from a bunch of techno wanks owned by the arseholes making and selling the crap at $12.50 per bag and rorting the councils to make sure 100 bags are screwed onto every new house...

...I went into a builders merchant some while back and told the young chap behind the trade desk I needed some 25mm galv flat head 'clouts'...he looked at me with a strange look and asked me what they were...'a small galvanised nail with a flat head 25mm long', I explained...'Oh, you mean a product nail', he replied...'yeah, ok', I may have said or something a little more negative...

[jim.cox]

and I settle in 10 working days.

Thanks everybody for info and help. Catch me out on an event or a bike ride and I'll buy you a drink (no joke)

So when's the house warming party?