Frozen Plumbing -foreclosure deal breaker??

[happylogan]

 
Apparently this foreclosure has shot plumbing- it froze, not sure when?.  I heard "replace all the plumbing".  I am not handy that way.  What are we potentially looking at here: best case/worst case?

WhenI get out there, what should I look for regarding the plumbing..  

2002 construction , well and septic, 10K plus feet elevation Colorado

thanks

[happylogan]

there must be a separate plumbing forum I dont know about

[MountainDon]

Look for a re-piping contractor. There should be many to choose from as there are still plenty of homes around that were built with that defective polybutylene piping. When we had our home done we found a wide range in pricing with the best deals from small guys who specialized in re-piping rather than a general plumbing contractor. We found our from word of mouth via the neighborhood grapevine.

[happylogan]

re-piping...  is that a certified trade?  do you know if that falls under plumbing?   I'll do a search

[Squirl]

This is highly dependent on the house.  How big is it?  Does it have a full basement?  How many bathrooms, kitchen accessories, etc.?  The list goes on and on of how much could be involved.

[MountainDon]

Re piping would come under general plumbers. There is so much of this type of work in many places there is a niche market. It sounds like a really big deal but an excellent job can be done with PEX. They cut 14 holes in the drywall and replaced all the water supply lines. There is no trace of any work being done unless you look under the sinks and see the cut off PB stubs coming up from the slab. This was a house on a slab, no basement. We paid just under $5K for the job. No fixtures had to be replaced, only the piping from the meter and throughout the interior. All new shutoffs were included though. We also had a pressure reducer installed at the same time.

[happylogan]

One bd/bth, kit, only 600 sqf.. No basement.  I orginally had posted a realtor pic. but removed it because I was not sure if I was violating forum protocols. I will repost if permissible.

I want to take a look at the place.  Would a layman such as myself be able to deduce plubing issues?  I do not want to do a re-pipe unless necessary.  Would it be prudent to bring along a re- pipe professional with me for an evaluation- or a plumber?  Or, is like saying go ahead and re-pipe the who place?  In other words, I dont want to give away a job/$ unless warranted.

This due diligence is needed so that if this property does not sell at auction I will have an idea of an offer price.

[MountainDon]

If it was me looking at it and I knew the building had sat unheated and likely not properly prepared for the deep freeze I would assume all supply piping would need to be replaced. Possibly a drain trap and maybe toilets....  But that's just me and my worst possible thing that could happen approach.

[considerations]

"This due diligence is needed so that if this property does not sell at auction I will have an idea of an offer price."

Offer includes full plumbing inspection by the inspector of your choice.....with a contingency to back out if you don't like what is found?

Just an idea.

[happylogan]

Yes, that is a contingency to for sure be included. 

[happylogan]

FWIW- apparently several potential buyers were turned away over the pumbing issue.  I don't undestand how someone can invest lots of $$$ and then neglect the  investment- wait, that's not fair.  Maybe it was a case of using recalled pumbing materials.

[poppy]

If this property has already gone to a sheriff's sale, then find out what the minimum bid requirement was.  Compare that to what the realtor listing is.

Then wait because the bank will continue to lower the price until someone bites or just make a really, really lowball offer.  A contingency bid for any reason will likely be rejected.

Know going in what all new plumbing will cost and offer accordingly.

The pipes had frozen in my 1957 ranch house plus had several other problems, so my offer was based on the worth of the land, septic, and outbuildings.  I am choosing to rehab the house, but if I had the money to build new, I could have bulldozed the house and started over.

Your potential cabin is much newer so the building itself, I assume is sound, plus you have the land and septic.  Good luck.

[happylogan]

The property went to REDC aution house.  This auction item was cash only.  The auction was 8-10.  I do not know the outcome.

[waggin]

My understanding of these auctions is that you are buying as-is/where-is at the time of the auction, and that you can't put a bunch of contingencies on the purchase to give yourself more time to look into things, ie: inspection of plumbing, feasibility for intended use, etc.  Sometimes, you can get access to properties before the auction and can do your inspection to your satisfaction at that point.  If the proprty is occupied still, then you won't be able to do that.  Although, I did talk to an investor once that used to break in to check out the properties he was considering buying.  IMHO, that's one way to risk having a much shorter life than you would otherwise. 

In some states, you are potentially on the hook for certain types of liens against the property as well.  If you're seriously considering buying at one of these auctions, have a title company run a title search to reduce that risk.  Different states handle liens and other title issues differently, so I'd recommend making sure you are protected for whatever the situation is in your jurisdiction.

You want to do all of your due diligence IN ADVANCE of the auction and make the appropriate assumptions on property condition and estimated costs to repair.  I tend to assume worst case in factoring what I would be willing to pay for something that needs work, and then hope to get surprised on the low end of required repair costs.  Hopefully that will allow wiggle room for the issues that you don't find in advance, and that will almost always happen.