One of the biggest benefits of buying a house with a lot of plumbing issues is that you’ll be able to negotiate the final sale price with the seller. The typical home has plumbing problems once every 3 years. There are even half a million homes in the US that don’t currently have indoor plumbing. As long as you know about the issues before you buy, you can put a plan of action into place to get your plumbing fixed as soon as the property is legally yours.

Find a plumber

The seller may make you aware of the plumbing problems with your new home. Or, it may be revealed in the home inspection. As soon as you find out there are plumbing issues, get in contact with a local plumber. A reasonable seller should allow them into the property to assess the full extent of the problem so they can give you a quote to fix it.

Plumbing costs vary, but you could pay in the region of $6,000 for a sewer repair, $7,000 for replacement pipes, and $1,500 for a water heater repair. If you’ve bought the property as part of an escalation clause, you may have paid more for your property than you originally planned. An escalation clause means you agreed for your initial offer to increase up to a set amount to beat other bidders. It’s a common process in Florida, New York, and California. You can use the quote you receive to ask the seller to lower the sale price of your home, meaning you could end up paying nearer to the first offer you made.

Get saving

Now that you’ve got a quote from a plumber for the repair work, you’ll have a good idea of how much it will cost to get your home’s plumbing system in good working order. You do, however, need to be aware that some unexpected plumbing problems may crop up when your plumber starts work. This is more likely to happen if the plumbing system in your new property is old (between 20 and 50 years old depending on the material used) or if the seller didn’t give access to all parts of the property during the quote. When you know there’s a plumbing problem, save as much money as you can so that all the issues can be fixed in one go.

Hold off on moving in

It’s natural to want to move into your new property as soon as you can. But, it’s best to wait for your plumber to sort out your new home’s plumbing issues first. It typically takes 47 days to close on a home. Where possible, have your plumber on standby on your expected closure date, so they can get to work straight away. After all, the sooner they start, the sooner they’ll finish and your property will be all yours.

Buying a home with plumbing issues isn’t a major setback as they can be rectified. But you need to ensure you negotiate a good saving on the sale price and make plans to get your plumbing sorted as soon as possible.