Major problems during Home Inspection

[nextbond]

Hi,
We have made an offer to buy a ranch style home.
Howevever today, during the home inspection, it was found:

a) 2 car garage is listed on MLS, however, the lnegth of garage is so small that even a VW beetle will not fit and be able to close the garage door.

b) Major electrical wiring problems
c) Structural damage. Roof trusses have been chopped off.

Can we get out of the contract?
Appreciate your insights.
Thanks.
--
Eric


HI,
Thanks for responding.

I verified that our standard 11-page Illinois contract has the Home Insp. clause in it.

Its been 4 days since we got acceptance of offer. We are using a realtor, however he is (we discovered) very inexperienced.

The contract has the Home Inspection clause in it.

So if want to cancel, is it easy to do that with written notice and get our money back?

Do we have to disclose to them what we discovered in the Home Insp or just say too many major issues and we want to cancel ?

Thanks

[Mike Taylor]

Without seeing your contract I cannot say for certain, but you should absolutely be able to get out of this contract. Almost all contracts are going to have some sort of inspection clause that allows you a certain amount of time to inspect and accept or reject the property in its current condition.

Take a look at your contract, find this clause, and read it carefully. You must usually respond to the inspection in writing within your inspection period. If you do this, you should be able to cancel your contract and get your earnest money back. Are you using an agent?

[creativeagent]

Mike is correct. Without seeing your contract, it's hard to answer this post.

One thing we have in Pennsylvania is a "Seller's Disclosure". Basically the seller fills out a form that has a ton of questions about the condition of the house. The seller must disclose everything they know about the property including improvements, and more importantly, defects.

If your state uses Seller Disclosures, make sure that the two big items (faulty electric and roof trusses have been chopped off) are not on there. If they are, then the listing agent could come back and say that the seller already disclosed these defects and you knew about them before putting in the offer. BTW, a small garage is not a defect and wouldn't be used to get out of an agreement of sale.

I have a question for you, though. Did you buy the home without seeing it? I would think you have noticed that the 2 car garage was small when you viewed it.