What’s the rule of thumb when looking at purchasing a home that was found to have termites? Can the home be rebonded or come with some type of a warranty that would protect your investment from future termite damage?
Unless the house is made out of concrete it will have termites in Socal at some point. In general, termites are very slow acting and not half the problem of water damage/dry rot. The only reason that they are such a big deal in the RE sales process is because someone decided to amke it an important part of the contract. A 50 year old termite infested beach bungalow is a problem. A 10 year old tract home with with evidence of termites found, no big deal. Treat the problem and move on.
Does anyone have experience with the “termite insurance” programs offered by Terminex et al? They charge a yearly fee and do inspections/fixes on a regular basis as part of that service. I was wondering if this annual, ongoing fee was worth it.
I have been stung badly by termite repair bills during escrow and wouldn’t want to go through that again! My case was a 80 year old “hacienda” aka shack.
There are two common types of termites, drywood and subterranean (please excuse my potential spelling error)…
As sdr said, 99% of all homes have drywood termites in one form or another. However if the home has subt termites I would be more concerned. The treatment for these is much more expensive and much more prone not to work. Personally I may pass on a home with these types of termites.
For the drywood termites, simply set up an annual contract with a reputable company.
In all serious though, from what I have heard it is fairly effective if you get to them but with termites hidden so many places I dont see how that can happen. I’d say it was more convenient but substandard to tenting.
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