"There Is No Point In Getting An Estimate. There Is No Problem."

"There is no point in getting an estimate," said the sellers.  "There is no problem."

One area that frequently has problems on an older home is the large window over a front door.  The double window, with one square and another rounded palladium window on top is the worst.

This is the window over our front door.

There is no problem with this installation, and it has been there for 15 years.

The problem I find most frequently is that the installation leaks. 

It leaks between the two different windows.
It leaks around the sides.
It leaks at the bottom.

IT LEAKS!

Here is a window that is leaking now, and has been for some time.

The house is vacant with the sellers already in their next state.

One problem I noticed right away was the trim outside rotting and moving out of place.

Getting inside the window was leaking on both sides, onto and around the front door trim, and was even wetting and swelling the hardwood flooring at the front door.

This is one of many photos of the window.

It had not rained for many days prior to this inspection.

And yet the flooring was still registering 18% moisture!

Circumstances like this require an evaluation of current moisture levels.  If there is residual moisture, especially when it has not rained lately, this is an ongoing problem!

Given the amount of damage it looked to me like it had been happening a for long time.  There were no curtain rod holes, so it probably wasn't covered up by curtains.  I think the sellers should have known it was happening.

The selling agent called the listing agent.  After this and another problem was explained she said she would call back.

My clients only wanted to get an estimate of what it would take to repair each situation.  That's when they were told:

"There is no point in getting an estimate," said the sellers.  "There is no problem."

They were denied the opportunity even to get an estimate! 

There was the other problem of a severely wobbly toilet, which had stained and cracked the ceramic floor tiles around it, leaked onto the floor during a flush and around the toilet the sub floor was spongy.

Again, the sellers gave the same answer and my clients were denied the opportunity even to get an estimate!

EVEN AFTER RECEIVING THE PHOTOS AND GOING TO THE HOUSE THE LISTING AGENT SAID THERE WERE NO PROBLEMS!

I'm not sure I understand that, but the deal evaporated at that point.

My recommendation:  if sellers, or a listing agent, have their heads in sand and are unreasonable about a common sense approach to a problem, it may be wise to move on!  The best business is open and transparent.