Health & Fitness
A Home Inspection Should Be A Must!
When you purchase a home you have a right to have the home inspected for any material, safety, health or structural defects. I recommend you get it done or you could end up like this couple....
A few months ago I sold a pretty nice home. It was built after 2000 and it has all the fixings. You know, granite counters, stainless steel appliances, large finished basement… all the bells and whistles. As we are filling out the purchase agreement we get to the spot where we decide on what inspections we want and to my surprise here is what I heard, ”Rich, it’s a young house, we don’t really need any inspections.”
While it’s true that the house is pretty young and from the outside it doesn’t look like there is anything wrong it doesn’t mean that is always the case. My clients insisted that they didn’t need a home inspection refused to order one.
45 days later they received the keys to their new home.
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90 days later their basement flooded and their roof started leaking.
It turns out that if they would have gotten a home inspection the inspector would have told them that the roof was shot and that the chimney needed some work. They also would have found out that there was moisture in the walls and that it might have been caused by a leak behind the finished basement.
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If they would have known about these defects prior to close they might have been able to have changes made so they didn’t get hit with the cost of basement waterproofing, a new roof and chimney work.
I recommend that every single buyers gets a home inspection. An inspection is for your benefit. Look at it like an owners manual to one of the largest investments you’ve ever made. An inspection though, isn’t an opportunity to renegotiate the purchase price and/or nickel and dime the sellers. It’s simply an opportunity for you to have a professional come out and give you a manual on the home. The inspection is also to find out of there are any material defects, structural, health or safety issues with the home that might cause you to not purchase the home… THAT’S IT! It’s not an opportunity to renegotiate the purchase price.
Rich Ganim is Cleveland’s Real Estate Guy with Keller Williams Greater Cleveland West. You can search for homes, read his blog or call him at 440-794-1450.