Should you get a home inspection? The short answer is YES! The only time I think it’s ok to not get one is if you’re going to tear down the home and start from scratch.
Why some people don’t get an inspection
Some people forego an inspection in a competitive situation because they just want the house. They may get the house and beat out the other 5 offers…but at what cost?
They may find thousands, even tens of thousand of dollars of ‘stuff’ going on.
I’ve always thought that spending a few hundred dollars to save a few thousand is a good deal!
Some people may think it’s ok to not get a home inspection because the seller will disclose everything they know about the house. There are two flaws to this:
1. The seller probably doesn’t know everything about the house.
2. Although the seller should be honest, they may not be.
What do I do when I find something wrong with the home?
This is ok! Don’t worry, there’s always stuff that comes up, even on homes that are newly built.
This is all part of carrying out our due diligence as buyers. There’s actually a time period within the contract that allows the buyer to carry out all investigations, and if you don’t like what’s discovered or simply don’t want to deal with the issues you can decide to back out.
Your Realtor should always make sure you’re protected in this sense – that you have the ability to walk away (at no cost), or investigate the issues further and negotiate a credit for the work that needs to be done.
Note: the buyer will have a better shot at getting a credit if the issue was ‘unforeseen’, meaning it wasn’t known while walking the property. Think of it as something that was under the surface.
What happens with specific problems with a roof, plumbing etc?
Call a specialist! The best way to try and get a credit is to have professional estimates done, rather than a Realtor or client ball-parking it.
You should have enough time within your inspection period to do this.
What happens if there’s already an inspection report available?
If the seller provides you with this report, great. Take a look through it, but I also recommend hiring your own inspector. The way I look at it is this: chances are you didn’t know the previous inspector. Are they reputable? Did they carry out a thorough job?
One of the best parts about a home inspection is the buyer having the ability to walk around the property with the inspector to learn everything about the home.
Who do I use for my inspection?
Give me a call! I’d be happy to refer you to a couple well known, trusted inspectors.