Advice on Buying a House with Termite History in Lot et Garonne

Property & Home
1

Hello everyone,

I’m considering purchasing a house in the Lot et Garonne area, and I’d love to hear your opinions. The property interests me greatly, but there’s a concern with the hangar.

According to a diagnostic report from about a year ago, termites were found in one of the beams in the hangar. The report noted that the beam posed a structural risk and recommended repairs as soon as possible. The house itself and the guest studio are free from termites.

The owner mentioned they plan to repair (possibly replace the beam) at an estimated cost of $10,000 and already have a quote from a contractor. However, I’m unsure if regular termite treatments have been done recently, as the termite trap system was installed back in 2000.

If we move forward and sign a preliminary sales agreement, I assume a new diagnostic test will be required. My main concern is: what happens if we don’t obtain a certificat de non-infestation by closing? Any other advice (the fact that he has the diagnostic report a year ago- does it mean that he was in contract to sell the house around that time?)?

Any advice or insights would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

2

Hi, we had a similar situation when we bought 19 years ago. What we didn’t/couldn’t know was that it is definitely the seller’s responsibility to get the infestation treated and repairs done. Without the intervention of the notaire, we would have been conned into bearing the costs ourselves. See if you can get a clause suspensive put into the compromis making the sale dependent on a positive (all-clear) diagnostic. Depending on how badly you want the property, that at least gives you the option to walk away… I’m not sure what the interval is nowadays between Compromis de vente and Acte de vente but it was around 6 months back then, so plenty of time to get issues sorted. Good luck!

3

Thank you for your input!

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Lots of properties about. You don’t need trouble you can see in advance to add to the trouble you may find crops up later anyway in any property.

Walk away and find another property. You may have a few false starts before you find the right one.

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