I have been hearing a phrase used more often recently during property inspections. The term “useful life” or “usable life” is used to make judgment on a certain home “system” (e.g. roof, HVAC, stove), and let a potential buyer know about how long an item or system has before one should expect it to be replaced or repaired.
What troubles me is I am seeing more buyers take these estimates as gospel truth, and needlessly (and painfully) try to negotiate extra compensation from sellers to replace items which are not yet defective. I even ran across an attorney who demanded a “useful life statement” from a developer, simply so that the buyer would have better leverage to file suit with should something go awry.
Again, forgive me if some of my ideas sound a bit old-fashioned, but I tend to be of the mindset of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Sure, a roof could be 22 years old, but look at the bigger picture: If it’s not leaking, and it’s not particularly eroded, then there is probably no reason to get worked up over it. It’s a roof, and it’s doing its job. Just keep an eye on it.
I also tend to apply this thinking to items that are sometimes marked “potential hazards”. If one of these “potential hazards” currently exists in a non-hazardous state, who is to say that it will ever become a hazard? Now, I’m not talking about a pool full of toxic waste in the neighbor’s back yard that has a pinhole leak. More so, I am referring to the back yard that doesn’t have the best grading (slope) in the world, but is accompanied by a basement with no signs of water damage, and a solid, crack-free foundation. Some people insist on throwing up the red flags and demanding repairs and/or repair credits, leaving sellers to wonder why, if it has never been a problem, this particular buyer can guarantee that it will be a problem.
Getting back to “useful lives” for a second, I have seen pristinely maintained fuse boxes last way beyond what should have been their lifespan. The same goes for refrigerators, tuckpointing, and porches. I have also seen newer homes with extensive wiring and venting problems, leaky roofs, and drafty windows. Where is the happy medium? Honestly, I don’t belive there is one.
Use your common sense! Without stripping everything out of a home and putting it back together piece by piece, there is no way to tell exactly when some element is going to fail. Accept that things will fail when they do, and that part of the responsibility of owning a home is being vigilant with maintenance. Don’t be hasty to insist that something be replaced simply because it looks like it might have to be sometime in the near future. Analyze the price you’re paying: Does it dictate brand new plumbing? Or does it suggest that you’re buying a home that may need some plumbing maintenance down the road?
On the other hand, if you’re selling your home, and you know something needs to be fixed, don’t paint over it and try to hide it(!?!?)… but that’s a topic for another time.
Tags: electrical, home maintenance, liability, plumbing, real estate buying, Real Estate Inspections, real estate liability, real estate purchasing, real estate selling, roof, tuckpointing, useful life
This entry was posted on July 31, 2008 at 9:40 pm and is filed under Real Estate Advice, Real Estate Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
How Useful is a Useful Life?
By mrrealestateguyI have been hearing a phrase used more often recently during property inspections. The term “useful life” or “usable life” is used to make judgment on a certain home “system” (e.g. roof, HVAC, stove), and let a potential buyer know about how long an item or system has before one should expect it to be replaced or repaired.
What troubles me is I am seeing more buyers take these estimates as gospel truth, and needlessly (and painfully) try to negotiate extra compensation from sellers to replace items which are not yet defective. I even ran across an attorney who demanded a “useful life statement” from a developer, simply so that the buyer would have better leverage to file suit with should something go awry.
Again, forgive me if some of my ideas sound a bit old-fashioned, but I tend to be of the mindset of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Sure, a roof could be 22 years old, but look at the bigger picture: If it’s not leaking, and it’s not particularly eroded, then there is probably no reason to get worked up over it. It’s a roof, and it’s doing its job. Just keep an eye on it.
I also tend to apply this thinking to items that are sometimes marked “potential hazards”. If one of these “potential hazards” currently exists in a non-hazardous state, who is to say that it will ever become a hazard? Now, I’m not talking about a pool full of toxic waste in the neighbor’s back yard that has a pinhole leak. More so, I am referring to the back yard that doesn’t have the best grading (slope) in the world, but is accompanied by a basement with no signs of water damage, and a solid, crack-free foundation. Some people insist on throwing up the red flags and demanding repairs and/or repair credits, leaving sellers to wonder why, if it has never been a problem, this particular buyer can guarantee that it will be a problem.
Getting back to “useful lives” for a second, I have seen pristinely maintained fuse boxes last way beyond what should have been their lifespan. The same goes for refrigerators, tuckpointing, and porches. I have also seen newer homes with extensive wiring and venting problems, leaky roofs, and drafty windows. Where is the happy medium? Honestly, I don’t belive there is one.
Use your common sense! Without stripping everything out of a home and putting it back together piece by piece, there is no way to tell exactly when some element is going to fail. Accept that things will fail when they do, and that part of the responsibility of owning a home is being vigilant with maintenance. Don’t be hasty to insist that something be replaced simply because it looks like it might have to be sometime in the near future. Analyze the price you’re paying: Does it dictate brand new plumbing? Or does it suggest that you’re buying a home that may need some plumbing maintenance down the road?
On the other hand, if you’re selling your home, and you know something needs to be fixed, don’t paint over it and try to hide it(!?!?)… but that’s a topic for another time.
Tags: electrical, home maintenance, liability, plumbing, real estate buying, Real Estate Inspections, real estate liability, real estate purchasing, real estate selling, roof, tuckpointing, useful life
This entry was posted on July 31, 2008 at 9:40 pm and is filed under Real Estate Advice, Real Estate Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.