Buying a lake community home in the winter

Descant · 02-21-2025, 04:40 PM

Due diligence is never 100%. I bought a "closed" house where the home inspector turned on the furnace, and it started right up. He shut it off and said "That looks OK". After closing we turned on the heat and after a few minutes it automatically shut down because the exchanger was shot and it was pumping carbon monoxide into the air ducts. Next house was a cash deal so no inspector and I brought in my contractor and HVAC guy. We all watched the caretaker who had shut the house down dry fire the boiler. On the spot, the seller's agent dropped the sale price by the cost of a new boiler as quoted by my HVAC guy. A new boiler is a nice perk on a "used" house. Town Hall will have permit records for others in the community that have replaced septic systems. Be aware that there is pending legislation about septics and property close to waterfront. 250' feet in the bill now could change to 500' when the bill goes to the Senate. Well water: be sure to test for PFAS. It's more expensive that just a potable test. It cost me $5500 for a PFAS filtration system, reimbursed by the state of NH.
Bottom line, anything that is suspect, have your contractor give you a price and set up an escrow account to settle 60-90 days after closing.

02-21-2025, 04:40 PM	#4
Descant Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Merrimack and Welch Island Posts: 4,597 Thanks: 1,418 Thanked 1,705 Times in 1,109 Posts	Due diligence is never 100%. I bought a "closed" house where the home inspector turned on the furnace, and it started right up. He shut it off and said "That looks OK". After closing we turned on the heat and after a few minutes it automatically shut down because the exchanger was shot and it was pumping carbon monoxide into the air ducts. Next house was a cash deal so no inspector and I brought in my contractor and HVAC guy. We all watched the caretaker who had shut the house down dry fire the boiler. On the spot, the seller's agent dropped the sale price by the cost of a new boiler as quoted by my HVAC guy. A new boiler is a nice perk on a "used" house. Town Hall will have permit records for others in the community that have replaced septic systems. Be aware that there is pending legislation about septics and property close to waterfront. 250' feet in the bill now could change to 500' when the bill goes to the Senate. Well water: be sure to test for PFAS. It's more expensive that just a potable test. It cost me $5500 for a PFAS filtration system, reimbursed by the state of NH. Bottom line, anything that is suspect, have your contractor give you a price and set up an escrow account to settle 60-90 days after closing.

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