ERA JUSTIN REVIEWS INSPECTING THE HOME INSPECTOR, A CRITICAL LOOK

“Home sellers increasingly are ordering pre-sale home inspections to make reports available for buyers to review before they make an offer. By doing so, they hope to avoid renegotiations that can occur if the buyer’s inspections reveal defects that weren’t disclosed to them before they made an offer,” according to Inman News report writer Dian Hymer, stated ERA Justin Realtor Cathy Vick.
Vick continued, “Knowledge is essential and depends on the reliability of the inspectors and the completeness of the reports.

 Ask your ERA Justin Realtor agent for a candid opinion of an inspector’s reliability. If some of your agent’s past clients used an inspector, call the inspector and ask for references.  Check with friends who bought recently to see if they know the inspector and if they would use him again.

Home inspections often recommend further inspections by other professionals, such as roofers, plumbers, electricians, drainage contractors or engineers. It’s hard to tell from a written report whether a further inspector recommendation is in response to something questionable that the inspector discovered or whether it’s simply an attempt by the inspector to limit his liability.

Before you rely on a report, have a conversation with the inspector to find out if there are issues of serious concern that need further investigation or are just cosmetic. Unfortunately there are times that an inspection will make a potential buyer shy away from a transaction only to be sorry a short time later, wanting to reinstate the contract and to find that the house had been sold to another buyer.

In competitive markets, where overbidding is the norm, many buyers choose to rely on the sellers disclosures and forego an inspection contingency.  This may not be risky if the sellers have provided current reports from reputable inspectors and the buyers have home owning experience.

Experienced homeowners have an advantage because they can often assess how much it will cost to repair defects even if the sellers don’t provide estimates. Buyers who don’t fall into this category typically include an inspection contingency in their offer. There’s a strategy that could improve your chances even if you end up competing with buyers who choose to waive their right to an inspection contingency. You can include an inspection contingency in your purchase offer, but also include a provision that you will pay up to a certain amount to correct defects that are uncovered that were previously unknown. This way the seller knows that you are a sincere buyer who won’t back out due to minor defects that might be uncovered during your inspections.”