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sanj
Citizen
Username: Sanj
Post Number: 6
Registered: 8-2001
| | Posted on Friday, June 2, 2006 - 11:24 am: | 
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We are considering buying a house that had a Termite incident 3yrs ago and it has been treated and on maintenance contract since then. The sellers have not disclosed the extent of the damage.
I wanted to get it inspected by Termite Inspection company to know what we are getting into.
Any recommendation for Termite/Home Inspection and Real-Estate Attorney who has dealt with this matter. Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences. |
mjh
Supporter
Username: Mjh
Post Number: 575
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, June 2, 2006 - 12:11 pm: |
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We just used Apex Pest Control and were favorably impressed with how hard they worked. In their favor, they were willing to crawl under our low-to-the-ground deck to drill and treat. It was difficult work that another company said they would not do for us. Their willingness to do it the hard way saved us from having to rip up part of the 1 year old deck , so we were grateful. Their estimate was also less than the competing bid, and they were reliable in terms of keeping appointments. Also in their favor, they did not use any scare or hard sell tactics, which is reportedly pretty common.
Your inspector should be able to tell you if there is any evidence of active termite infestation.
FYI: We pain about $700 to treat the whole house and get a written guarantee.I was under the impression that if we were to sell the house, we would need this guarantee because evidence of termites would be noted by the inspector. I haven't done it myself, but these guarantees are commonly offered if you get and keep up with treatment, so it seems to me you should be able to ask the seller to provide a guarantee. To keep the guarantee, we must pay an annual fee (I think it was under $100/yr).
There was a helpful article a couple of weeks ago in the Sunday NYT real estate section giving an overview of termites and treatment if you want to search it out.
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CJH
Citizen
Username: Christel
Post Number: 14
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Friday, June 2, 2006 - 2:43 pm: |
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You definitely do need the guarantee. I just bought a two family with evidence of damage in one basement and in the garage, and before I could close on the house the sellers had to prove that the other basement had already been treated and then get the other areas treated and provide the guarantee.
My inspector was Dean Arrington, who came highly recommended by my real estate attorney (she had him inspect her own house when she bought), 908-236-9697. He was very thorough, very professional, and very good about clarifying what was a real issue versus what I might just want to keep an eye on (he also points out things that are good about the house, which was a nice break from the damage reports). The termite company he worked with was Total Termite Surveys in Bridgewater, 908-722-9330. |
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