David and Lisa Webber posted earlier about insurance and polybutylene pipe - and the comments related to the insurance aspect. I started to comment on the pipe aspect but after it went on for several lines I decided I should blog about it instead:
Recently one of my clients had a contract, subject to inspections, on a house that had gone into foreclosure - and was $369,900 "as is" in a neighborhood of homes priced from $500,000 - $1,500,000. It needed a new roof and there were areas where water had come through the ceiling, and in one case was actively leaking. What the inspector pointed out, though, was that the whole house had polybutylene pipe, which was failing, and which was the cause of the leaks through the ceiling. All of the piping would need to be replaced.
The ironic and unfortunate circumstance, though, was that the same inspector had inspected the same house about 6 years (and 2 owners) ago and had made the same comment to the then owner. IN ADDITION, he had told the owner who to contact to replace the pipe at no cost to him, since at that time the manufacturer was voluntarily offering to replace the piping in homes where it was installed. The owner had chosen not to do that.
Sharon, that is frustrating. As inspectors all we can do is bring the the stuff to someone's attention----I have to say that too often things don't get done or get done in a less than satisfactory manor. I could look at it as job security, but that is a little like your doctor hoping you won't stop smoking! Unfortunately, there isn't much to do about it. Sometimes the money from a settlement can have more "pressing" needs---like the big screen TV:) The Poly-b pipe can be a nightmare if all levels of the home are finished off, but if the basement isn't finished and it is a one story home----I wouldn't expect replacement to be a "deal breaker."
Sharon,
funny you bring this up...a few years ago a Realtor(R) was previewing a home I had listed for some out of town buyers. One of the questions she asked me was did that home have polybutene pipes. I actually didn't know the answer. But from what I know if the homes was built after a certain period they stopped using it. Not sure it was true but that was the only time I was ever asked about that.
I do not get FREE and they do not do it. I have commented on other sites about the polybutylene Pipes before and have not gotten an answer as to why Free and you do not do it.
I hate going back and asking for more off the price, so I would ask the bank that it is in foreclosure if they will foot the bill and have it done before closing. Did you get a quote?
I know if your clients buy it then try to repair it, it may not get done and then they will have problems selling it.
Good Luck.
Sunsan,
I think the answer to your question is because it isn't usually "totally" free. While it might cover the cost of the pipe, all installation costs might not be covered, and if it is then all of the removal of drywall and patching of drywall most likely would not covered. Not much of anything is really FREE.
Lisa - and the owner who made that decision is not the current owner of the property. Too bad.
Charles - of course you can only do so much! Pointing something out, discussing what will happen if nothing is done, and making suggestions, is about all you can do. You made another good point - it hadn't occurred to me that the previous owner might have taken a cash settlement and used it for something else. Most of our homes here in Pinellas County, Florida are built on concrete slabs with no basements.
Patricia - no, it wasn't. Owner A sold to Owner B who didn't make payments and lost the property in foreclosure to his lender who is now Owner C. It might even have been the owner who sold to Owner A. I didn't research the exact dates.
Frank - perhaps they just didn't want to disrupt the house for a "potential" rather than real problem. Or Charles may have been right - maybe they spent the money on something else.
Neal - that's a good question to ask. Some of the condos here also had polybutylene pipe which had to be replaced.
Susan - the lender/owner is not willing (at this time) to do the work prior to closing and was not willing to drop the price as much as the buyer wanted. So, the buyer exercised his option to cancel. Since the buyer did not want to pursue it, I didn't get quotes. It would behoove the listing agent to get that quote, though.
Charles - thanks for answering that question.
For those of you dealing with polybutylene issues it may be worth noting that the class action claims deadlines are fast approaching! As many of you may know a home must have a qualified leak before being considered for relief. The leak deadline is 1/31/2009 and the claim filing deadline is 5/1/2009. For more info you can visit www.pbpipe.com and www.polybutylene.com. I've been in the polybutylene replacement industry for nearly 15 years now and will be glad to help you and your clients in any way I can. You can email me directly at polyresearch@yahoo.com and I'll do my best to answer all of your questions and assist you in getting your polybutylene replaced for free!