When I was looking at this house evidence on condition was slim. The owners lived in Jordan (yes, the one in the Middle East) and filled out the form saying they hadn't lived in it so couldn't report condition. They had rented for 15 years, the last 10 to the same family, and they had moved out nearly 2 years earlier. But I found a stray piece of mail in the box and looked up the name and they lived nearby. I asked if I could interview her about the house, and learned about what did and didn't work.

The AC was on death's door - the repair man had told her it wouldn't last another season. The bids I got on a system included looking at what was there - they said about 3 SEER. The bills had been horrendous summer and winter. Since the owners had rejected 2 low-ball bids in the last 20 months, I figured third time might be the charm, and I included a list of the repair's needed and a quote on the AC (heat pump). I actually got the house lowered by $12,000 from their original listing price and at the time of sale they gave me $8000 to put in a new AC system.

It hinged on both an inspection and having a contractor friend go through and make his list for me. And a lot of waiting to see if they'd accept it. I put in 2 heat pumps, a new 2 ton one in the remodeled portion of the house, it works well this way (and we'd have had to tear up a bathroom to make a 5 ton unit fit in a 3 ton closet).

SRS