Condo infestation
With the ‘hot’ housing market in Vancouver, a suprising number of people have bought property subject to no inspection. With that in mind this could be the perfect time to unload that condo that just happens to be infested with bats.
July 31st, 2007 at 8:10 am
Not sure anyone is even still reading or commenting on this but I just saw it and had to ask – serious question here (for a bizarre situation).
I live in Washington, DC – we had your market 2 years ago – that September the “bubble” burst though it’s still not cheap and priced didn’t fall that much (5% after 7 years of 10 – 15% gains hurts the last ones in a bit but hardly sours the buyers for the previous 6.
I tend to think Vancouver would have a similar affect – it’s not like people are going to run for the hills – it’s a great city.
But, anyway, here is my legitimate question. Even in DC when buyers were striking virtually every clause in the contracts in their bidding war, there were two things:
1) One, a 3-day condo review period for reviewing th condo docs – required by LAW so it couldn’t be struck from the contract. I knew plenty of people who cancelled under that clause when the discovered other issues not disclosed or discovered until after under contract. It was like a “get out of jail free” card if you woke up a couple of days later realizing you had really screwed up in your initial exuberence.
2) Secondly, even if the “disclosure” didn’t say anything, there are basic laws on the books in DC that say sellers are responsible for disclosing any range of issue if there is a reasonable expectation that they would have known about it – pest infestation is specifically included – not just rats but any infestation so bats would be in there too.
It just seems to me that the buyer could sue the owner for remediation of the issue no matter the expense. Strking contingency for home inspection does not totally absolve the previous owner – at least here.
Are the laws protectin buyers really that weak there in Vancouver?
July 17th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
I heard on the radio (CBC IIRC) that they won a bidding war. Yeah, WON
July 17th, 2007 at 8:59 pm
They could get an Owl, that would scatter the bats. The Van. Zoo has a cute one, Hagrid, who wouldn’t have a clue what to do with a bat, but it may make the bats leave. Maybe a stuffed Owl would work.
July 17th, 2007 at 8:23 pm
Don’t bats eat their weight in bugs every night? Sounds awesome to me!
July 17th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
spent 20 minutes and spent half a million.
July 17th, 2007 at 11:55 am
Geez – and I thought that mold was bad. BATS?!? I wonder if its hard to sell a unit after you’ve told the local press that its infested with bats?
July 16th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
“I think the lag time between reality and realization may make this bubble burst a little longer than I’d like.”
It’s already done that, in my view, but reality has a funny way of asserting itself from time to time.
But what do I know? I’m just an anonymous blogger with bats in my belfry.
July 16th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
I used think that once we have our foreclosure epidemic, at least condos are less of a worry when abandoned. Something tells me the bat population will be growing rapidly in a few years.
On another note, I had a discussion with a condo-owning friend who thinks I need to make the “sacrifice” of buying a place…like him and his gf who share just over 500 sq ft. He still thinks Vancouver real estate is appreciating over 20% a year and didn’t seem to be listening when I pointed out its about half that. I think the lag time between reality and realization may make this bubble burst a little longer than I’d like.
July 16th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
I wonder if a “bat infestation” will show up on the property disclosure statement when they sell the place?
Maybe they’ll sell to a greater fool who won’t notice the bats either…
That’s how bubbles work, isn’t it?