My husband and I have been searching for a home in a good neighborhood in North DFW since March. The market is CRAZY right now! We have lost 6 houses in a bidding war. We finally have a house that we love, but it is owned by a company and they refuse to do any repairs before closing. After inspection yesterday, we found that the houses in this area are still using Cast Iron plumbing, the roof is old (no damage, but old) and the HVAC works well but is older and will have to be replaced in the next several years. Everything else is great and it even has a pool. The house and neighborhood are well maintained and beautiful.

We are told that cast iron plumbing is a big no-no.. but all of the houses in Richardson have it for the most part, so we'll probably run into this problem again. If the plumbing camera inspection goes well today, we have plans in place to get the pipes "lined" with epoxy to extend their life. (Is this a good idea?)

We are first time home buyers and don't mind a challenge, but are worried about what we're getting ourselves into. Anyone have any advice? On the roof/plumbing/whether to go forward, etc.? Should we ask the seller (who is a company, not a person) to lower the cost of the house?

Thank you in advance for any input!

*edited to show new knowledge, thanks to advisors!*

Do your research on home warranties before committing to one. Personally I've never done one.

Regarding the plumbing, never owned a home with cast iron, so can't help you there.

Don't count on a home warranty company to replace anything. They will find an excuse not to.

I did a lot of research on piping several years ago. If the homes were built in the 80's they likely have crappy galvanized pipe from China. Lining these pipes is a waste. I would only go with PEX plumbing and replace everything.

ETA: home warranties are crap

malenurse said:

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I did a lot of research on piping several years ago. If the homes were built in the 80's they likely have crappy galvanized pipe from China. Lining these pipes is a waste. I would only go with PEX plumbing and replace everything.

ETA: home warranties are crap

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Might be ok.. house was built in 79! lol!

I would thoroughly research your Home Warranty company and make 100% sure that they cover the things you would expect them to. Especially on an HVAC system.

As far as the plumbing goes, here is my second-hand experience with it: My mom owns a house in Fort Worth (Wedgewood). Last summer, she started having some pretty major plumbing issues and discovered the entire house (outside and most of the inside) had cast iron plumbing that had rusted through. All of it had to be replaced except for the kitchen, which had been totally renovated recently due to a separate leak issue.

It cost her about $53,000 to have the work done. I don't know anything about the epoxy or if it's actually effective long-term, but I do know that if you sell at some point, most buyers are going to expect it to be replaced.

Definitely don't want to deter you from buying a home that you love, just giving you additional information to consider for the future.

Understand your potential cost but its very easy to get overwhelmed with all these things that "just have to be done" that don't actually have to be done until they actually fail. That AC and roof may still be working just fine 10 years from now. Ive seen it happen that way more times than not. Don't feel like you will have to fork over a ton of money the day you move in but make sure you understand the potential cost and that those potentials COULD come down on you all at once. More likely than not though, you move in and things turn out not to be as big a deal as what you are currently worried about.

And save your money and the headache on the home warranty.

It's hard to negotiate "old". Sometimes that's just part of the deal and expected cost. I tell clients, and accepted it myself (closing on a house in the same area this morning), that when it is an area /age thing like the plumbing you almost have to disregard it except to budget for it. By nature nolder houses are higher risk financially, you need to be willing to accept and handle that. There are no warranties that will completely relieve that risk.

I have found companies to be much harder to deal with on repairs. But this is where a good realtor will earn their money.

I don't think I would line the pipes proactively personally. Scoping is a good idea. If they find something concrete that is wrong then negotiate that. Otherwise, you have to accept the risk and potential repair cost. The house we are buy has had all the under slab plumbing replaced, a 30k repair and one of the positives I liked. But that was just a luck thing, most have not. There is a company/thing called service line warranty that will provide some coverage toward the replacemebt of the main line from the house to the street. Low annual cost and probably worth it.

As an inspector, I would say that if the rest of the inspection was good and the roof is insurable, you probably have to live with the age things, but hopefully your realtor can get you something in negotiation.

Keep in mind you are competing with buyers who may be willing and financially able to fix everything to get in the area. Kind of a fact of life. There was a house I liked in the fall that I thought was over priced and was just outside our price range. But it was really clean and well kept and reasonably well updated. Someone not only bought it for full price, they have spent the last 4 months completely remodeling it. Those are pockets I could not have competed with.

Good luck!

CS78 said:

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Understand your potential cost but its very easy to get overwhelmed with all these things that "just have to be done" that don't actually have to be done until they actually fail. That AC and roof may still be working just fine 10 years from now. Ive seen it happen that way more times than not. Don't feel like you will have to fork over a ton of money the day you move in but make sure you understand the potential cost and that those potentials COULD come down on you all at once. More likely than not though, you move in and things turn out not to be as big a deal as what you are currently worried about.

And save your money and the headache on the home warranty.

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This is usually very true. Remember Inspections compare things not only to new modern code, but perfect world. Few older houses meet this criteria.

We sold a renovated 1910 farm house (our first home!) in 2006. The inspector said it needed a new roof - we did not know when the previous owner had it done, it was older for sure but there were no leaks, no shingles popping up, etc. We declined to replace it. The sale went thru anyway and they have still not replaced it.

Like others have said, a big long inspection report can be scary, but if you love the house & neighborhood it can be worth the risk as long as you have the funds to fix if anything does need repair - and it may never.

Good luck to you & congratulations on getting to the point of having your own first home!

Since you're first time homebuyers, if you have a good inspector the report should be at least 5 pages of stuff that is wrong. That's normal, don't freak out about it. We built a new 3,400 sq ft home in 2013 and the report found quite a few things.

In 2015 we bought a house with 3 original ACs from 1993. We still have 2 of them, and they are surprisingly efficient.

We had American Home Shield and to their credit they were not difficult to deal with after I got advice on this board. Get a company that knows how to work with them. After a couple repairs they contributed $1k to a new system, but we knew that going in to it. We used them for 3 years and were glad we did, we're also glad we didn't pay for them the last 2.

We're going to have a 3,400 sq ft house coming up for sale in Carrollton (LISD schools) soon - let me know if you're interested.

Kay903 said:

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My husband and I have been searching for a home in a good neighborhood in North DFW since March. The market is CRAZY right now! We have lost 6 houses in a bidding war. We finally have a house that we love, but it is owned by a company and they refuse to do any repairs before closing. After inspection yesterday, we found that the houses in this area are still using Cast Iron plumbing, the roof is old (no damage, but old) and the HVAC works well but is older and will have to be replaced in the next several years. Everything else is great and it even has a pool. The house and neighborhood are well maintained and beautiful.

We are told that cast iron plumbing is a big no-no.. but all of the houses in Richardson have it for the most part, so we'll probably run into this problem again. If the plumbing camera inspection goes well today, we have plans in place to get the pipes "lined" with epoxy to extend their life. (Is this a good idea?)

We are first time home buyers and don't mind a challenge, but are worried about what we're getting ourselves into. Anyone have any advice? On the roof/plumbing/whether to go forward, etc.? Should we ask the seller (who is a company, not a person) to lower the cost of the house?

Thank you in advance for any input!

*edited to show new knowledge, thanks to advisors!*

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We're in south plano (custer and bush turnpike area) and are listing next weekend. Not Richardson but just a stone's throw from it.

2100 sqft, 4/2.5 - fully updated, corner lot, meticulously maintained yard and landscaping

new ac, new roof, new appliances, new floors, new cabinets, windows.. etc.

I'd go with the "if it aint broke dont fix it" approach. The plumbing would concern me, but see what the actual plumber says. My house had two "older than dirt" AC units when bought it 9 years ago. 9 years later, one is still going strong while the other was just now replaced.

Look close at the plumbing where you can see it. Typically, the cast iron was the drain and waste system and you should never have a problem with that rusting through. The drain and waste system does not really ever hold water unless it is in a p-trap. The supply system is either copper or galvanized. The galvanized supply lines are usually the issue. And usually the biggest issues is the horizontal pipes and not the vertical pipes. Most of the time when the galvanized leaks, it starts with a small pin hole on the bottom, on near the bottom of the pipe. Just talk to a number of plumbers. In this case, try to find some old guy.

You are all wonderful. Thank you so much for all of the advice! My husband and I have decided to move forward with the house and take our chances. We have researched a lot, asked for advice, and found necessary information. We know the risks and are excited to call this our first home. Thanks everyone!

Kay903 said:

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You are all wonderful. Thank you so much for all of the advice! My husband and I have decided to move forward with the house and take our chances. We have researched a lot, asked for advice, and found necessary information. We know the risks and are excited to call this our first home. Thanks everyone!

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Great to hear! Good luck!

Final old man advice. Don't t let things get ahead of you. If something seems wrong figure out why and fix it. Texags and google/YouTube are good resources. Find a good honest handyman (if Mr kay903 is not handy) and use them as the first call. So many things can be fixed when they are little issues, but people ignore them or just don't notice.

Enjoy the home!

A house in Richardson has a roof that actually made it to the end of its expected life without needing an early replacement due to hail?

Consider getting a second opinion on the inspection too...don't be afraid to tell your inspector to focus on certain things or even hire a plumber to give you estimates for what it would be to fix it now.

We ran into this problem with knob and tube wiring in PA. It wasn't caught at purchase but then after some remodeling we discovered it. Cost us $10K to rewire it.

The old lady in the house behind mine had an A/C from 1982 that finally crapped out a year or two ago. I was amazed that it worked that long, it's definitely way out on the bell curve in terms of lifespan though.

I still have multiple 1980s AC units in rentals. I know I have a water heater from when a duplex was built in the 80s. Age alone should never be reason to replace. The new one might die before the old one would have. They don't make them like they used to.

I'm an Insurance Broker in Dallas. Many carriers are offering a new coverage called Service Line/Utility line Coverage. This is new over the last couple of years and is very low priced ($20-$50 annual). It can actually cover wear and tear to repair the pipes (only outside and coverage stops at your premise) When you get insurance, I'd be sure to ask about this coverage. My username is my real name, feel free to reach out to me if I can help with anything.