M is for Money

Savvy home shoppers know to always get a home inspection done before closing on a new house. A home inspector will look over the home you intend to purchase and inform you of important facts the average person may overlook. Unfortunately this might not be enough to protect homebuyers from unexpected, costly repairs. Listen to the following tale of woe:

We met the new next door neighbors this weekend. They have closed on the house, but they can’t move in yet. The house was in obvious need of repairs - some expected, some unexpected. They got a home inspection done, to know what they were getting themselves in to. Somehow the inspector overlooked a very important detail – all the copper plumbing had been stripped from the house! In addition to the cosmetic work that the house needed, they have to pay a plumber to replace all the piping in the house. This was an added cost they hadn’t bargained for. So what about the home inspector’s professional responsibility?

Home inspectors write their contract with you, the client, to limit their liability. Generally their liability is limited to the amount of their fee. For our neighbors that $225 wouldn’t make much of a difference in the cost of re-piping a house. A home inspection is a valuable tool, but you still have to protect yourself.

Protect Yourself from a Bad Inspection

Not all home inspectors are created equal. Some are very good at what they do, others not so much. Look for one with a good reputation, there are services such as Angie’s list that let you check a company’s reputation. Also, you must always question the inspector’s loyalty. You want to get an independent inspector, not one who has an interest in seeing you buy the house. Many inspectors have a relationship with an agent that they want to protect, giving you information that may cause a deal to fall apart is not good for business.

You want to be present while the inspector is doing their work. One to ask questions and two to notice if there is something they are overlooking. An inspector should be checking the plumbing, whether the electrical outlets and lights work, the heat and air conditioning as well as the roof and crawlspace areas. Is the inspector taking their time to look over the house, or just rushing through to get on to the next job? Make a list of your own concerns to bring to the inspection, a good inspector will be happy to go over those items with you. Any decent inspector would have noticed that the plumbing had been removed from the neighbor’s house and alerted them in the report.

Last, you should also do your own cursory inspection. Try flipping on all the lights, turn on the faucets and peer behind that closed door. You are about to shell out big money to buy this house, you have the right to know everything about it beforehand. It’s OK to kick the tires first and as most consumers know, it is always buyer beware when it comes to big purchases.

A home inspection is a valuable tool when buying a home, but only if you get what you pay for. A few key points when it comes to inspecting a new house:

1. Find an independent inspector
2. Observe the inspector while they are checking the home
3. Do your own inspection as well


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