Buying a house - water/electric turned off in November, no winterization

[babernathyb]

I purchased a house thru a bankruptcy auction in November. They are now finally ready to close - I showed up to the house to do a walk thru and found out the water, gas and electric were all shut off in November (I am in Chicago). They did not enter the house to do any winterization at all. I found 2 copper pipes in the crawl space that got disconnected from freezing. They didn't burst, it looks like the solder failed, they are just disconnected. They are hiring a plumber to fix those today, and then we will attempt to turn the water on to see what damage there is.

I am hoping to get advice as to how to proceed, what to look out for, etc. There are 2 water heaters - an electric water heater in the garage/coach house and a gas water heater in the main house. If I decide to go thru with the purchase, which I would like to because I got a very good deal, I will be asking for closing credits based on the damage. I am interested in any advice based on past experience with something like this. Thanks

 

[hj]

Good luck with "credits". Most of these sales are on an "as is" basis and buyer beware. No way to tell what damage was done until you turn the water on and see what happens.

 

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[DaveHo]

I would want new water heaters & a complete re-pipe for piece of mind. No telling what was damaged but will still hold pressure for the short term. You could possibly have damaged traps as well.

 

[hj]

quote; I would want new water heaters & a complete re-pipe for piece of mind

Yeah, and I would like a lot of things. Why do you think it is in bankruptcy and going cheap? Most of the time, you do not even get to inspect the premises except what you can see through the windows. If you do not want it "as is" one of the other bidders WILL, because they have seen how "flippers" make a fortune reselling it.

 

[DaveHo]

Yeah, I realize that. But he should figure the expense of a re-pipe & new water heaters into his offer. In fact, if I was dead set on buying, I wouldn't even turn on the water and risk further damage. Just do the re-pipe & be done with it. OP, what type of heating system? There may be additional expenses there as well.

 

[babernathyb]

quote; I would want new water heaters & a complete re-pipe for piece of mind

Yeah, and I would like a lot of things. Why do you think it is in bankruptcy and going cheap? Most of the time, you do not even get to inspect the premises except what you can see through the windows. If you do not want it "as is" one of the other bidders WILL, because they have seen how "flippers" make a fortune reselling it.

I purchased the home in a bankruptcy auction in November. At the time of purchase, the home was perfectly fine, I inspected it before purchase. There was someone living in the house until a week before the auction. The house was neglected by the trustee. They turned off electric and water, but did not winterize. They know and agree that this is new damage since I agreed to the sales price at the auction. At this point it sounds like I will have to give them a # that I am requesting for a credit, which I am probably going to account for all new toilets, repipe everything, water heaters, etc - it is a 6 bd, 3bath house with a 1bd 2ba coach house, so it is pretty damn big.

 

[babernathyb]

Yeah, I realize that. But he should figure the expense of a re-pipe & new water heaters into his offer. In fact, if I was dead set on buying, I wouldn't even turn on the water and risk further damage. Just do the re-pipe & be done with it. OP, what type of heating system? There may be additional expenses there as well.

Heating system is a natural gas furnace.

 

[hj]

would be interested to hear how you make out.