Home Inspections

The question of whether to get a home inspection or not pops up regularly in my conversations about real estate. Rewind the RE memory a few short years ago, when the market was hot; buyers dared not ask for a home inspection. When they were in competition with 5 other offers, they had better offer more than the amount asked, and rethink as many contingencies as possible, even the home inspection contingency.

Fast forward to today, when we're deep into a buyer's market, some might call it "buyer's revenge". When the home has been on the market an average of 120 days, it's probably had a few price reductions, and showings have slowed to a crawl with one every 2 weeks, this is the time for a buyer not to be shy. A home inspection is your right, and is almost always a good idea, even in new construction. Let me relay a couple of stories to illustrate:

A. The buyers had ratified an offer on a newly constructed townhouse, with the help of a buyer's agent. Fortunately the buyers listened to the agent's advice and had a home inspection contingency written into the offer. The afternoon of the inspection, the buyers were sitting in the living room with the inspector as he was finishing up with the last details of the report. They were jolted out of their metal folding chairs with the sound of a series of loud crashes and bangs from the garage. They all rushed out the kitchen door into the garage to see the jacuzzi tub from the master bath sitting amongst the wet drywall rubble. In unison, with mouths gaping open, they raised their wondering gaze to the huge hole in the ceiling.

As it turned out, the plumber had neglected to attach the drainage pipe from the tub to the main in the wall. When the inspector filled the tub, then unplugged it, all that water drained into the floor and drywall. One hour later, the floor gave way. Who would have suspected it in a brand new house?

B. I spent a lovely 2 hours with a first-time buyer and my favorite home inspector. We were at an older home, 75 years old, with over $30,000 in renovations, all beautifully done. We discovered, because a series of fixes had been done by different electricians over the years, that the electrical wiring wasn't even grounded. All the recent electrical work was done by a licensed contractor. He had just missed the fix of a previous fix which altered what had originally been a grounding line. Who would have suspected a licensed electrician would have missed it?

The cost of a home inspection can be anywhere between $300 and $500 on the average house. It is so worth it when you find something major. If you discover something that you just can't live with, like a cracked foundation, egads, the home inspection is the contingency that gets you out of having to buy the home...off the hook, and gets your deposit back. If it's an item that the contract requires to be in working order, and you still want the house, the inspection is the contingency that is your leverage to get the seller to fix it.

I would also argue that it's worth it even when you don't find something major. It's worth the peace of mind. It's worth having a licensed professional going over your future home with a fine-toothed comb, teaching you all about the inward workings of your number 1 investment.

The home inspection is your safety net, buyer. If at all possible, write that contingency in the contract. At worst, you'll give yourself an out. At best, you'll give yourself peace of mind.