About John Hall Expertise Can answer any questuions dealing with purchases or listing your home for sell - such as pricing, what to expect during the process - how to pick a Realtor that you can trust - is the commission fair - what areas should I look at.
Experience Been in residential and investment sales for over 12 years - presently manage a large CENTURY 21 office with over 40 agents - also conduct a real estate licensing school.
Education/Credentials PhD in Business Management - MBA in Business - LLB in Law
Awards and Honors Past Realtor Association President and Association Realtor of the Year
Expert: John Hall Date: 10/15/2005 Subject: Disclosure statement and home inspection
Question My fiance purchased a home with the assistance of a large Real Estate company here in Iowa. He had the home inspected by an Inspector recommended by the real estate company. The report stated that there was a window that needed to be replaced and that the window sills were "dirty" and he recommended a thorough cleaning. The home owner revealed in the disclosure statement that they had replaced one window upstairs because it had "blown off in a storm". Other than that, the home was OK. After moving in, I was cleaning the windows and a window just fell off as I opened it. The wood was totally rotten under the aluminum outside. This window was not one that was on the list to be replaced! We had the Window people come out to inspect the rest of the windows and found that 15 windows were rotted and needed to be replaced. Do we have any recourse against the previous owner or the inspector? When we called the inspector to let him know of this, he said there was nothing he could do and he did not have insurance to cover this.
Also....just to add fuel to an already hot fire..in the purchase agreement the seller had a hot tub in a sun room and asked to leave it there until they closed on their home or until Sept 30, whichever came first. On Oct 1st we called the seller and asked him to remove it. It has been 3 weeks now and the hot tub remains. Any ideas?
Much thanks for your service.
Cathy"
Answer Cathy:
Did you have a termite inspection done? Here in California, all of the lenders require termite inspections, and a termite inspection should show any rotten wood or damage.
If you did not have a termite inspection done, then finding the damage may have been a little harder.
I cannot give you legal advice as far as who may be reponsible, you would need to talk with an attorney on that.
However, contracually, the sellers are responsible for removing the hot tub, and you should be able to pursue them for that.
Again, I would contact an attorney, or remove the hot tub and bill the sellers for the cost of removal.
