Home inspections

[Falcon67]

Agreed. The ones on the realtor's list are there to sign a piece of paper and move the transaction along; they're not there to look out for you.

Not ours. If he's repping the seller, he wants to know what issues could affect any transactions. If he's repping the buyer, same thing from the "we're not paying for problems" side. He is also a former contractor, renovator and has ties to lots of people that know what they are doing. So there's your white crow.

 

[Weekend_warrior]

I'd recommend one buying or selling. Even thought the first home I bought he failed to miss a leaky shower pan in one of the bathrooms (realtor recommended). Had he poked around a bit he'd have found it. It was pretty obvious to me after using the shower for a couple weeks. The home owner knew it and stopped using it letting it completely dry out. He didn't put it on the sellers the disclosure. I beat him pretty good on price though and did score a deal on a fixer upper. Made a good bit of equity when I sold it. Not a room in the house I didn't touch. Including the backyard and the roof! Ended up with an insurance claim on the bathroom that didn't pay me a whole lot. It was enough for the majority of the materials and a few new tools. Did the work myself to fix it. Turned out great and I learned a ton after ripping the whole bathroom to the studs, replacing the drain and pan along everything else up to the final brush stroke of paint. When selling this same home I did a "self" inspection, but new exactly what I was dealing with. Even offered an AC allowance up front which caused some more questions and made folks think more things were wrong. In hind site I should have just raised to price and allowed them to beat down for the AC. It was like 35 years old with a replacement mismatched condenser. Horrible... Didn't have the cash to replace it and new I was going to get beat for it. It was on the market for around a month in a sellers market and I few offers on it. A lowball and a couple good ones after a mall price reduction to make the beginning number look a little lower.

Currently purchasing a home. About to close of Friday (as in 3 days from now). Newer home built in 08. I couldn't make it there for the inspection, but did hire one. My wife was there. She noticed a few things I didn't. He also noticed a few things I didn't after my short visit. Complete report with pictures and findings. I ending up getting 5K off the seller for allowances. They are eating it in closing costs which saves me up front.

In this market with multiple offers above asking within 2 days of listing I needed all the help I could get. A good set of eyes. He defiantly picked up on things I wouldn't have seen. His report has plenty of photos of the roof and attic where he could access as well as other small issues in the house. I actually had a long conversation with him with questions about the report. 350 well spent IMO. I made my options period shorter to make me look more favorable. Its crappy time to by, but it is what it is.

 

[APEowner]

Like a lot of things, a home inspection is only as good as the inspector. When I bought my first home the inspector was a complete waste of money. He missed several obvious things including some fairly major structural issues. Fortunately I was there when he did his inspection and I got him to include them in his report. When I bought my most recent home the inspector was excellent. He actually had a team. Two guys plus himself and while they didn't find anything I hadn't seen they found everything I had and their report made it easy to negotiate with the seller.

 

[bdamico]

I didn't think you could get a loan without one, at least where I am.

 

[GarageLogic]

I had an inspection done on a house I lived in that I was turning into a rental. I went around and pointed out a few things that I knew were issues, but it was clear he wanted to do his own thing without me looking over his shoulder. Fair enough, so I let him be.

When he was done, he went to his car to print out the inspection and the invoice. Darned if his portable printer didn't **** out after only being able to print the invoice. Like I dope I bought the story and paid him. He sent the inspection later that week via email, but I was too dumb to realize he didn't want to go over it with me in person. Nothing major found, but now I know has the game is played, as least with this guy.

I will be more selective next in choosing an inspector. I want them to take an honest look, and to give me the honest truth in person. I can take it, just find what is wrong so I can either fix it or just disclose it and let the buyer decide.

 

[justanengineer]

I didn't think you could get a loan without one, at least where I am.

People do every day all across the US, its like title insurance and the lil "fees" banks push as "requirements" - entirely situational and up to the buyer whether/not they want to pay them bc in most cases money talks and you need to be willing to walk. JMO but you should NEVER feel like YOU are the one asking/begging for the bank's permission to get a loan of any kind, especially a mortgage. It should be the exact opposite - the bank is making a crapload of money on your loan, so they should be catering to you and making the process easy. Something to recognize - the big corporate banks typically dont employ decision makers at the local branches, they employ low-paid robots who punch numbers into the computer to generate a list of corporate requirements and payments for the situation. Local banks and credit unions are the opposite, they usually have an on-site loan officer who can choose to use his/her good judgement to make a loan happen, which gets you flexibility when you have no/bad credit, dont want to pay unnecessary inspections, or extra fees.

Regarding home inspections - heck no, I'm confident in my abilities after several remodels and buildings built myself, always include experienced family members for a second set of eyes, and I take dozens of pics of everything possible to review at home BEFORE making an offer. I'm not one to knock them for some folks, but I dont see any advantage if youre a semi-serious DIY'er and a few serious drawbacks. Some folks believe it gives you additional negotiating leverage, personally I do my negotiating with the buying offer and if a house needs work I send a letter and pics of the issues to the seller along with my offer. While a "professional" opinion might carry a small amount of weight with the ignorant, the issues cant be argued if you supply proof, and inspections/negotiating done post-offer are an easy way for the seller to get out of a contract while keeping your earnest money. They also add time and cost to an already slow, expensive process.

 

[Whitworth]

In most areas, it's a sellers' market right now, so I don't think a home inspection gives much price leverage, regardless of all but the most dire of defects found.

For the home inspectors; my experience is an absolute mixed bag for competence, some guys are thorough, realistic with price estimates and put things in their proper perspective. Others just poke around with a screwdriver, looking for the usual suspects, but miss many things they shouldn't have or list defects that are out-and-out demonstratively incorrect.

As a buyer I feel I have the expertise to diagnose most issues, but still, they're places I don't want to go (crawl space, roof) and areas of speciality I'm not expert in.

I think in the end the problem is there's alot of money in home inspection services, everyone knows this and wants a piece of the action (where else can a dude with a flashlight make $400 - $600 in a couple hours?) Home buyers are encourage (pushed, often) into paying for one, and either rightly or wrongly it's presented as a cost that will pay for itself in lowered bids.

 

[legenddc]

I ending up getting 5K off the seller for allowances. They are eating it in closing costs which saves me up front.

In this market with multiple offers above asking within 2 days of listing I needed all the help I could get. A good set of eyes. He defiantly picked up on things I wouldn't have seen. His report has plenty of photos of the roof and attic where he could access as well as other small issues in the house. I actually had a long conversation with him with questions about the report. 350 well spent IMO. I made my options period shorter to make me look more favorable. Its crappy time to by, but it is what it is.

Spending $500 to save $5,000 is exactly why you should do this. Had you just complained to the seller without a 3rd party they would have passed and gone on to the next bid. I think you'd be crazy to not spend $500 on a $400,000+ home like the all are around here.

I kept my inspection and we reference it 4 years later if things go wrong or we think something might need some work done to it.

 

[pmiranda]

Yeah, if you're in a crazy market, you might have to put in an offer before you can get a good look at the house yourself. Getting an inspection is a clean way out if there are issues.
I still think there is inherent value in a 3rd party inspection, but some people are convinced they know everything about everything.

 

[bjcouche]

I certainly wouldn't pay for an inspection if I were selling the house. I would simply inspect it myself and disclose all of the things that I was aware of. I would expect the buyer to either pay for their own inspection, or do it themselves.
When I bought my home, I had an inspection done. The inspector spent several hours going through the house and property, climbed through the roof, attic, etc. I'm a serious DIYer and had found many of the issues that he had. He didn't give me a report that day, but a few days later. If he spent 4 hours onsite, I'd estimate he spent another 1-2 hours writing up the report and importing all the pictures. The only thing I requested that the sellers do is purchase and provide me with 1 bundle of shingles of the same brand, style, color. There were a couple shingles missing and I wanted to be sure I could do the repair and find the matching type / color. There were several other minor issues, even some code violations that I indicated to the seller that I wasn't interested in having repaired. My realtor indicated to me that had I had a different type of loan, code violations (stair railing issue) would have to be fixed in order for the bank to provide the loan.
Brian

 

[TLCObsession]

For all of the folks that say - inspect it yourself, I wouldn't pay someone...

I know how to inspect a home. But if you want the sellers agent to take it seriously and recommend that the sellers cut the price or have the work done, pay the $495 and get an inspector. I have always negotiated far more than the cost of the inspection, and on my GF's house it was a $30K reduction. I did the work required for about $2000.

Interview inspectors and find one who knows what they are doing. Do your pre-inspection yourself and tell them about the areas you are concerned about.

 

[Ironhorse74]

A property inspection is done to beat up the seller on price. I have never had one done that didn't at least pay for itself.

 

[reader2580]

When I sold my house the buyer's inspector found two issues: range didn't work, and a slight drip in sump pump discharge line. Range was a simple matter that child lock was on, and I fixed the sump pump line easily enough. Inspectors aren't always going to find things that need repair.

 

[Hybridss]

I work night shift as an airplane mechanic and for the last 20 years I have worked with a guy who did home inspection during the day prior to his shift. He worked in construction and AC in a prior life and was up on his training and even gave seminars on home inspection. He had a ton of experience and was very savvy regarding the games sellers, realtors and others would play.
The stories he would tell me used to blow me away. 99 times out of a 100 it would be the standard inspection with various appliances or plugs or small roof leak. But that 1 time out of 100 it would go very very bad.

One time he was inspecting a McMansion on the beach (in Fl) that was multistory. One of the sliding glass doors was sticking and difficult to open. He wrote it up and moved on...but something didnt seem right. After doing more of the house he came back to the sliding door and looked it over more closely. He recommended getting a specialist in which was done. The entire back portion of the house was sagging and required an engineering fix and many many months to repair. The potential buyer walked.

On another McMansion he noticed an odd bulge in the roof. It almost appears as if it was supposed to be there. Again he wrote it up to be inspected by a roofing specialist. Ultimately it was found that 4 or 5 of the trusses were not in alignment with the others on either end. That was 10s of thousands in repairs and again the buyer walked.

On another occasion he was greeted by an enthusiastic realtor who seemed over eager to move things along. He inspected the entire house except the area the realtor and seller had staked out...right in front of a large fake plant. He walked up to them and said "alright...I am almost done...as soon as I inspect that area behind you."
Sure enough...water damage and mold.

He has told me the damnedest stories I have ever heard. Unless it was a small condo or very simple house....I would always get an inspector...but you must get an experienced and savvy inspector that understands he is representing your interests. Not only does he need to know what he is looking at..he needs to be aware or who he may be dealing with.

 

[gregtwojeeps]

If a qualified HI is hired, best $350 - 400 ever spent for what is most likely the largest single outlay of money one will have...

Anyone wanting to do their own inspection needs to remember...that 4 car garage with the 12 ft. ceilings, will bias your inspection and you will "graze" over a lot of possible issues as, " Aw, I can just fix that later". JMO

 

[Reit38]

The new owners had our house inspected yesterday. So far I've found a few things that he has definitely messed with...

1. Shower handle on second bath was in working condition prior, and now is not

2. The filter lid on the cold air on the furnace was on put back on correctly

3. On the drain line coming out the side of the furnace off of the condensate pan, there was plumbers putty which he removed. He also must have unscrewed the fitting causing water to run inside the furnace when we ran our AC last night

Still waiting to hear the report

Sent from my SM-G900R4 using Tapatalk

 

[Social_Joe]

If a qualified HI is hired, best $350 - 400 ever spent for what is most likely the largest single outlay of money one will have...

Anyone wanting to do their own inspection needs to remember...that 4 car garage with the 12 ft. ceilings, will bias your inspection and you will "graze" over a lot of possible issues as, " Aw, I can just fix that later". JMO

This is EXACTLY why I thanked God when my buyer chose not to pay for an inspection. He was blinded by the shop in the backyard. The house is nice, but it's a 1920 frame home that has been added onto several times. Have it inspected 5-10 times and you'd get a slightly different list from each guy.

When I bought it, the $250 inspection netted my $6500 for repairs which I was able to complete for under $2000.00.

It's money well spent.

 

[jpcjguy]

When I sold my house 2 years ago, they buyers had an inspection done. I knew this house inside and out, doing most of the renovations myself. Inspector came back some small issues. Was a 1950 house with slate roof - needed a couple slates replaced, chimney repointed, the deck was not up to code for handrails and baluster spacing. All considering - not bad at all. I refused to do any of it - stating they were buying a 1950 home and it might need a little work. It was two young doctors - and I knew they were not going to spend the money to have any of it fixed, if I gave them a credit.
I was in a hot area of town and knew I could sell. I was doing FSBO and their realtor freaked out on me about not doing the repairs and actually stated that I should probably consult a realtor to "help me" with my decisions. That was it - they were not getting anything from me. The price was fair and they could walk away if they wanted. They waited the entire 10 day period and finally relented and bought the house. What a shame, as I had the entire history of the house and knew all the little nuances and details. I did not share anything with them and they never asked.
Wouldn't you think it is in your best interest when buying a house to be friendly to the sellers? Think of the information you could learn after the fact on an older house.
We did this with our current house and the previous owners have been great about telling us things they did and why. We even had them send back some custom blinds with lifetime warranty to repair under their name!

 

[justanengineer]

When I bought it, the $250 inspection netted my $6500 for repairs which I was able to complete for under $2000.00.

Not quite, the needed repairs netted you the $6500, your inspection cost you $250 and was a serious gamble if its even remotely correct. Some folks believe the inspection gives them leverage, if you really wanted leverage you should've offered $10k less originally under the condition of not having an inspection and supported your position like the inspector does - with a couple quick pics.

When the buyer's inspection came back on my pervious home the buyers tried to get renegotiate their offer, we simply pointed to the contract and laughed bc the buyer had the choice between breaking the contract and losing their $1k earnest money or paying the offered amount. They paid bc we made sure the contract was written correctly. Admittedly, had we been ignorant sellers and had a ****** realtor (very common from this perspective btw), we wouldnt have been in that position, but we also probably wouldnt have dam near doubled our money on the house nor sold it in 6 days in a **** market.

 

[brianw74]

That is the main problem with the Home Inspection in our current market conditions (at least in the Northwest). They have become a bargaining tool to use as leverage to get a cheaper price on a house. It is mandatory for the agent to advise the purchaser to get an inspection, if the buyer does not then they need to sign documents saying they are refusing to obtain an inspection but that the agent told them to. In the end there is very little accountability from any of the "professionals" involved. My theory is, unless you are buying something you plan on fixing up soon then get an inspection for only one reason,you have a detailed report from a "professional" to use as a tool. The $400-$500 seems like a lot until you save $20,000.00 by lowering a price or not buying the house at all. Like it or not that is reality.

 

[bdbecker]

There is a huge difference between a great inspector and an average one, which is why I think there is the mixed feedback on this thread. Some just check boxes off on a sheet, take a few pictures, and head off to the next job. Others actually know code and what to look for. I see you are from Iowa... if you are in the Des Moines area, here is the best home inspector you will ever run across.

http://www.prositehomeinspections.com/

He did a house for me and was absolutely thorough and incredibly knowledgeable. He was also happy to let me follow him around during the inspection and explained everything as we went. I actually learned a lot... money well spent.

 

[Oggy]

Most of the things they find you could most likely find yourself depending on your knowledge level. For instance if you felt good about looking at everything but electrical, you could just hire an electrican to check the electrical for you. Also most inspectors check for radon, which may be more difficult for you to do in a short time period.

Like others have said they will mostly just give you a laundry list of little issues such as missing gfci, railing on deck to low for code, ect. For the $300 I paid including a radon test I, was happy to have a second person look at the house to find something I may have missed. In my state (not sure about others) there is no licensing or certification requirements for home inspectors, so you need to do good research on whoever you choose.

As for OP, I wouldn't worry. If the buyers are interested enough to hire an inspector, then they probably won't be driven away by any minor issues he finds or they may ask you to fix a couple of concerns before closing.

Mine did do a 30min walkthrough with me.

The inspector I used not only took me around and pointed out everything, but I have a PDF complete with pictures and recommendations for future reference.

I just pulled mine up 10 minutes before opening this thread... we haven't moved in yet, but I'm still looking at some of the things and prioritizing the small things that we want done prior to move in.

You're spending the kind of money it takes to buy a home, don't let the inspector be the be all / end all, but $250-$600 for a third party's objective review of the property is worth the investment on the chance they catch only one issue you missed. This is coming from a guy who is an architect and works with engineers daily.

What a good inspector really brings to the table is a working knowledge of local and National building codes.

I would recommend it for the little things that all may add up to one big thing that may be a deal breaker, but they do miss stuff, they're human... We had our home inspected twice, once by a friend who used to do it in the past, and did it as a favor (bought him a nice selection of beer for the favor), the other we paid for, received the report. The family friend found just about everything the inspector did, as well as a few others, he only missed the dishwasher not working (but did say it was just about at the end of it's life). Additionally we did find out that the floor tiles in the basement "May or may not contain Asbestos," this doesn't scare me, as the floor is in good condition, but I might have decided to pull up the tiles and mastic, or drill a hole for whatever reason, and not know about the possible danger. knowing this, I'll do neither, and it'll get covered with another flooring option.

I didn't think you could get a loan without one, at least where I am.

In NY it was my option, however my VA mortgage requires a home appraisal.

 

[bobemmerich]

It's cheap insurance. Our house is 280 years old. While it was on the market, we went through the "Open House" showing. My wife and I were there for about 3 hours. I'm a pretty experienced DIY'er and have taken a Home Inspection Course (Licensing for that here in Ct is crazy so I didn't persue it) While we were there, I'd say about 15 people came and went (we assumed most were just curious with the age of the house). I had my flashlight and screwdriver with me. I saw some things that didn't appear right, and we eventually hired a pro. I'm glad we did. He found things I would not have thought about (radon, well water quality, well tank issues)and some things I had already found (asbestos pipe insulation, sump pump issue, receptacle issues) best 550 and 4 hours we spent. I was more biased because my wife loved the property, barn and I loved the age of the house, 2 car garage and barn, so there were SOME things I overlooked that he didn't.
I would say to get it done, because if anything else, at least you get a written report with pictures that may or may not be a bargaining tool. We got a good price on the house as it was, so I only asked for a few things to be done prior to our purchase (against our agents advice).