Renew Seller's pest policy?
 

So we just bought a place last week. The seller had an insect policy put in place when he bought in 06. The pest policy is rodent traps inside, termite and carpenter ant traps outside, and some mouse traps in the garage. The house is 3,200 SF, built 1915 with a detached garage. Wood and stucco. The policy is a whopping $1,000/yr. At first, I thought there could be a problem, but turns out the Seller was just really loose about homecare spending. Anyway, I called the pest company, and asked to only have a termite policy, which is still $450/yr. Still kinda pricey. Others companies in the area are roughly the same. They stated there has been no evidence of active termites since the policy was placed in 06, however, they have routinely checked / swapped out the traps every other month.

I bought 20 termite traps from Home Depot for $70 that are good for a year. Still way better than $450/yr.

My question is - I only have till the end of the month to renew just the termite portion of the policy ($450/yr). They come at that point and remove all the traps. If i wait beyond that time, it will cost me $500+ for them to come back out to the house and lay new traps. I am thinking of putting down my home depot traps through the end of the month, if they detect anything, then I will renew the termite policy. Do these type of traps work well (link below)? And if there are active termites, would it be triggered in just a few weeks in the month of August? Keep in mind, the pest company traps are still in the ground. The policy expired last month, which means they checked them two months ago.

Spectracide Terminate Termite Detection and Killing Stakes (15-Count)-HG-96115-1 - The Home Depot

you only pay them for the piece of mind and the upkeep to ensure there isn't an infestation becomes their problem... it's going to be the same with anything in your new home... if you are willing to do the upkeep and maintenance yourself, then you can save by not hiring a professional...

this is a great website with info and products:

Do It Yourself Pest Control Products & Supplies | Do My Own Pest Control

you can always cancel them for a year and try DIY... if after 1 yr, everything is ok, keep going, save the money and put it aside if you ever do need to call them out, you have the funds to call them...

when i bought my first house, i renewed the 1st year... it was with Western but only $120 for the year... after the first year when i got settled in and was able to do the upkeep myself, i canceled the policy.

thanks, kam. Maybe i'll give it a shot DIY for the first year and see if it becomes a problem. that website is great. This seller has some astronomical services set up across the board, and I am trying to take a more reasonable approach to things.

sounds a little excessive...

the price or the approach?

so does a $500 spring clean up, $400 october clean up, $700 november, $500 december, plus regular mowing, 2x aerating, 5x chemical treatment, seeding, etc. etc. For 0.20 acres. Exterior lights timer was set to 4pm to 4am, central A/C set to 70 degrees. Everything is pretty excessive. So i am "cleaning house", pun-intended, for all of these services, and cutting his bills left and right.

if you have a lot of trees, after this autumn, you might be calling the guy back for a $400 October clean up... LOL!!!

btw how did closing go?

I have two pest contracts. One is termite ($250/yr) and one is general insect ($80/qtr). The termite plan has an additional option to protect the attic, which I did not choose. The one point stressed to me when I first set up the termite contract was that the real value of the plan was the insurance coverage for any termite damage while under contract. I doubt you would get that if you called them up out of the blue and they found activity on the first visit. So, I think keeping current has value.

My reason for getting the termite policy were because my neighbor had a termite swarm appear inside their house. This was probably 6-7 years ago. Sometimes my reports say the perimeter baits had activity, so I guess they're working as designed. Never had any bug problems inside since, either, and I'm a fucking slob.

At one point, I considered going DIY, based on a lot of good info from Do It Yourself Pest Control Products Online | Fast & Free Shipping and decided I was just too lazy. Seriously, the non-termite work is nothing more than sweeping down cobwebs and nests outside. I just recently had a interior refresh and that's the second time I've ever had someone do work inside. I thought he would do everything (spray dust in the walls through the outlets, put gel bait on all drawer rails, and spray all baseboards), but he just did a quick baseboard spray and left. The dust and gel baits and maybe the spray can be bought from that website.

So, I'd check with your homeowners insurance and see what they have for insect damage coverage. If you are more dedicated, get the stuff yourself and keep up every month, quarter, year, or if you can afford it, get the pest plan and relax.

the price :tomato:

closing was a bit torturous. Wells couldn't guarantee a closing date until 2 days before and were sloppy and not coordinated. However, I held out for a monthly jobs report to lock in rate when the treasuries tightened up for the afternoon. Ended up getting 3.375 on a jumbo 30 fixed. Best on the street, but Wells process, as anticipated, was a struggle. I also threatened to take my appraisal to a different bank. They wanted to escrow almost 14k of taxes, not to be released until refi or sale. We eventually knocked them down from 7 mos to 5. Happy in the end given the outcome. But we kind of predicted a couple of hoops to jump through to get the better rate.

Congrats and like everyone else said, if you feel comfortable doing the pest control, it isn't bad. When we moved in we found a dead rat in the wall and immediately called Terminex to come out. They quoted us $1,600 just to get rid of the rats but I got him down to $800 and when he got really angry and started telling me my wife would leave me due tor rats, I told him to leave. Orkin came and said that was crazy and for $149 they got rid of the problem and I sealed up the electrical run on the roof, they through they were getting in through. I've learned living by water in South Florida, roof rats climb up trees and into your house, not cool.

Knock on wood, no rats (minus one dead one I found on the roof after cutting the tree down and sealing the roof up), no ants, no palmetto bugs, etc. I spray once a month for ants and that's it so I would shop around. From what I found, pest control is way over priced and super easy to do but the termite contract might be worth it. The other thing about the pest control contract is you don't have to remember anything, a real plus.

as far as bugs and pests, I use OrthoMax BugBGone ($10 for 20lb bag) on the lawn and around the exterior of the house every 3-6 months. Inside I use the Home Defense Max Bottle and spray along baseboards, doors and windows every 2-3 months at night when the dog is passed out.