Our sellers did not want the sale closed… they got cold feet because they thought they agreed too soon, and they made everything possible on their end to force us into breach, like scheduling the movers for the last possible minute so we would not do escrow signing on time. Maybe the sellers of that house are playing a similar game of chicken? 
Re: digging up stumps. We once tried to excavate a stump… That was the second project Mr. B decided to “outsource” to a contractor after digging around the stump for a day and not making a dent! The first outsourced project was - you guessed it! - taking down the 100+ yr old, 3 treehugger Douglas fir.
Luckily, on the Knotty Pine house… tree company should be able to get to it easily from the back alley, although there are power lines in the way to make it a really easy removal. But we could tear out the back fence and get a bulldozer in to try and dig up the stump
But, it’s not going to happen because, obviously, after 60 days on the market the listing agent thinks it’s worth more than the Asking Price
The Listing Agent is, obviously, sorely mistaken. A house is only worth what it will sell for. And it’s not selling for even the asking price.
He is waiting for the market to catch up with the price… 
I can just hear the conversation between the agent and his client.
Client: how can we get more money?
Agent: well…we will reduce the price to start a bidding war.
That’s exactly what he did… reduce price for bidding war. The bidding war didn’t happen. But this is even stranger than normal because he started at this same price and never had one offer 2 months ago.
So…at some point…one would think they would figire out that their strategy isn’t exactly working!
While we are waiting for @coralbrook to buy a house…
We had the inspection today. Overall it went well, we found some minor stuff as you would expect in house this old that has been closed up for so long - a little mold some drips in the plumbing, some minor evidence of termites.
We found one structural issue. See this picture:
The wall on the ground level, starting from to the left of the slider all the way to the right, is rotted out. You could pull the siding off the wall by hand. Clearly when the deck was re-done, they just skinned over the existing wall and hoped no one would notice. The slider and window are also shot, the window seals have failed and the frames are rotted.
So this whole section of wall will need to be replaced. It’s about 18-20 feet or so long.
Anyone have an idea of how much it will cost to replace this chunk of wall? Cb, I would especially be interested in your opinion.
Nre, sounds like exactly the stuff we are dealing with. There was a wall like that in our “new” digs. We decided to reside the entire house instead of just going through one section that was obviously shot. We are really glad we went that route, because some minor rot was also found in another place. We were not surprised - the siding was original to the house - almost 40 years old. The siders are doing the extra rot remediation on a labor+materials basis at a flat rate per hour in addition to the residing contract. It did not take them longer than a few hours to do this. I recommend getting several bids from siding cos to get a feel for what it costs in your area. The windows and door we replaced were not cheap, but we went upscale with Pella - I am impressed with their local team. I would say get ready for a low 5-digit bill!
It’s not just the siding, that whole section of wall will need to be torn out, re-framed, insulated, re-sided, new door and window, etc. We are trying to figure out how much to ask the seller for, although they may not be willing to do anything.
For y’all’s entertainment. Sorry for the vertical video, what was I thinking :-? :
Most siding cos do this stuff, nre and will be able to give you a rough estimate for what you listed. Because logically, people only change siding when it is shot… So siders know that it is not all roses and unicorns underneath that rotted cedar and are equipped to deal with it.
Yes, we had to have them reframe a window and a part of the wall. I would post a few photos but they are so scary.
@notrichenough if the whole wall needs to be torn out…does this include foundation work? Electrical? Framing? The works?
@thumper1 - usually, it is just the wood. Pipes and electrical stuff does not rot thank goodness. In our case, the in-wall speaker and all electrical were just fine. Just lumber, plywood, and insulation needed to be replaced, plus one sad window that was supported by the mess. Oh, and some drywall on the inside can be damaged in the process.
We had to have a side of our house replaced after we discovered a crack, which was caused by some rot, which lead to some mold, which was cuased by rotting wood, which was caused by a leaky gutter, yadda yadda yadda. (If you give a mouse a cookie . . .) It was in the neighborhood of $25,000 which, thankfully, turned out to be reimbursed by our insurance company.
^^That sounds about the right amount… We were given a quote of $9k just to replace that much cedar siding on the wall that had the potential rot issues.
Foundation is 10" poured concrete and is fine. There’s not much electrical on that wall. But yes all the framing will have to be redone, according to my inspector. Inside drywall, trim, etc.
You are probably looking at $20-30k… All things inclusive. I can see why you like the place so much! Gorgeous location.
Wow!! I cannot believe these high dollar amounts
The first issue to focus on is how did water get behind the siding??? My guess is bolts, screws and what not were drilled into the siding on top for the deck. You need to do a solid waterproofing job up there. Is the ledger board (bolted into the house ) that is holding the deck joists in good condition? If bolts are drilled through it, there may be wood rot in the ledger board also.
I can see from the photo the the siding on bottom floor is different than horizontal siding on top floor. That is a dead giveaway right there…two different products butted up to each other? No overlap? Don’t know how that is waterproof.
From the photo, it looks like inexpensive T1 11 boards are on the bottom. The actual cost of the siding is cheap.
You will need to brace Ceiling inside house. Expect to replace ceiling drywall and exterior wall drywall, studs, top plates, bottom plates, insulation, waterproofing and siding. Then new windows and doors. Ohhh, and then prime and paint everything.
Four trades are needed. Framers (who should be able to handle moving electrical for job) to rebuild and install windows and doors. Drywall crew who can do insulation batts also and then carpenter for interior and exterior trim and then painting.
Don’t be surprised if this doesn’t domino into new flooring, new baseboards, etc. and good luck matching the paint on exterior!! That might morph into “we might as well paint the whole house”
For negotiating, go ahead and try to get a credit of $25k
In reality…materials about $2000 if you stay with T 1 11 (termite food) plus the window and doors you select.
Labor is relative to your area costs.
It would take my 2 man crew 5 days to rebuild, but I do all the running for materials in my truck on top of that.
2 man days drywall install and mud plus possibly another day for final mud coat and sanding
2 man days for window and slider install because something always goes wrong. If you buy windows with installation service they will somehow get it done in one day.
1 man day trimming interior
Painting is dependent on how far you take it. Cannot remember if you have popcorn ceilings
"Don’t be surprised if this doesn’t domino into new flooring, new baseboards, etc. and good luck matching the paint on exterior!! That might morph into “we might as well paint the whole house”
Lol, that’s why I said $20K+.