appraisal

[Anonymous]

I received the appraisal for "hopefully" my soon to be house. Under the foundation it has the box for infestation checked! Is this referring to bugs? It also states that the offer to purchase appears to be an "Arms length transaction". What does this mean? Any help would be great, thanks.

[Lel]

Presumably infestation does refer to some sort of insect, or worse, rodent.  I've never actually seen that on any of my appraisals, just on the inspection report.  Did you get a pest inspection and a general inspection of the property?  If not, these are strongly, strongly recommended.

Arms-length transaction means that you and the seller don't have any relationship with each other, whether it be personal or financial.  That is, you're not buying the home from your sister or your business partner, for example. 

[Anonymous]

thanks. no, i haven't had an inspection yet, they wanted the appraisal first. I was afraid that it was pests. I have the inspection next week and i believe it includes termite and pest. I just hope it's not too severe

[DallasLoanGuy]

depending on where you live... termites are not an 'if' you get them but a 'when' you get them proposition.....

 good luck

arms length transactions are subject to additional loan guidelines.

[Lel]

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DallasLoanGuy wrote:

depending on where you live... termites are not an 'if' you get them but a 'when' you get them proposition.....

 good luck

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+1

Here in California, just about every home that is not new construction has some evidence of termite activity.  It's a fact of life.  We've got a colony of subterranean termites about 10 feet away from our home; we know it's there because we see swarms a few times every year.

Assuming that you live in an area where termites are endemic, the big thing you want to find out from the inspection is whether there is any serious structural damage.  It's possible to have prior termite activity without significant damage.

If there is evidence of current termite activity, you should also get an estimate of what it will cost to eliminate them - for now.  It's not a one-and-done sort of deal; you may require regular treatment to protect your home.

[Anonymous]

I've never really heard of anyone complaining about termites in my area, but the house is wood/log home. We have more like mice, roaches, beetle bugs, things like that, that cause problems. The sellers came down on the price quite a bit so I'm afraid they won't agree to any repairs. We shall see, thanks for the response