I Am Buying A House But There Is Evidence Of Termites And Carpenter Ants?
I аm іn thе process οf buying a house bυt thе home inspector found ѕοmе mud tubes. Thе sellers аrе willing tο hаνе thе termites аnԁ carpenter ants treated. Cаn thе termites come back? whаt ѕhουƖԁ I ԁο walk away frοm thіѕ deal?
Thanks!
I have purchased two homes with an “issue” like this that I chose to let the seller “fix”. They were not fixed satisfactorily and were just the tip of the iceberg once we moved in & discovered all of the other problems that had been fixed/masked. My neighbor bought a home that was free & clear on the termite inspection, went to replace (just after closing) a window that he didn’t want to haggle over during negotiation & found out his entire exterior wall at that window was infested & required replacement- not a fun or cheap task. NO evidence of termites was found under the house. My point is, you should walk away. There is too much smoke for there not to be a fire. If you HAVE to have this house, you need serious stipulations on how it is corrected- ie-you get to pick the contractor, etc. or you get a serious sum knocked off of the price. Best of luck to you.
Hi Juan,
You can get termites treated and prevent them from coming back with extermination companies. They will typically plant wooden stakes in the ground to determine if termites return after six months; if they do, they can exterminate again. Make sure to write this into your contract if you choose to buy the property, and remember that termites are not the end of the world. You can recover wood or have it replaced. You can also ask for cash from the seller to cover the future costs of replacing the wood.
Most parts of the US have three types of homes…those that had termites, those that have termites and those that will get them in the future. I would insist that the whole structure be treated and not just a spot treatment where the termites are located at now and they need to use Termidor rather than any of the inferior products on the market. If you have a say in what is done try to not use a company that will treat the structure then place out the bait stations for monitoring, it sort of like doing an unnecessary double treatment on the home.. they will transfer the warranty to you but the cost is not worth the lack of protection they will be giving and if they treated the home with termidor to begin with the baits will be useless, just free money for the company to collect in the future. It takes a long time for termites to do significant damage (Formosan termites can be an exception) , your home inspector should be able to tell the chances of any real damage on the structure.
I would not walk away form the deal. Just have the house treated for termites. Termites are very common where I live. You just have to learn what to look for and keep an eye out for them. Many people have an extermination company do a yearly inspection.
have an inspector access the damage, you can get rid of the termites and ants with an exterminator, no problem. However, they might have been there long enough to cause MAJOR structural damage. Find out before you buy!
the real question is how much damage have they done? some damage can’t be seen but lies under the structure.which can lead to bigger problem down the line for you(especially if you plan on doing any renovations. personally i would walk away-why buy a problem?(and yes they can come back)