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John Willis
 
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On Mon, 07 Feb 2005 22:03:35 -0500, Stephen Huckaby
scribbled this interesting note:


First I'd like to say I'm a {farily} upright, honest sort of guy.
I'm buying my first home from someone, the seller/home owner.
When I went to the morgage broker he suggested having a home
inspection before making the contract final - and I would be the
one to pay for the inspection. No problem.


You've had some good advise, as well as another kind of advise...

There is no substitute for first hand knowledge and experience. Home
inspectors are usually quite good at reading the "moron meters" that
you poke into all the outlets to test for polarity, and if they got a
good meter it will even properly test those fancy outlets found in wet
areas of your home. Assuming the inspector knows how to understand and
interpret the results the "moron meter" gives him or her...

Inspectors. I'm sure there are some good ones out there simply because
the law of averages demands that not all of them are incompetent. Some
of them have to be worth their fee. Unfortunately, if that inspector
was really any good at plumbing, hvac, electrical, roofing, structural
engineering, framing, drywall, etc., etc., etc., then wouldn't that
individual be better off making more money in that particular trade
than in performing inspections?

In our neck of the woods all you have to do to be a home inspector is
pass a state mandated test and show some minimum number of hours of
coursework. You don't have to have any first-hand knowledge or
experience about what goes into building and/or maintaining a home.

That being said, if you can find a good inspector, one who works well
for his fee, one who knows what to look for and what constitutes real
concerns, then you would do quite well to hire him to look over your
potential purchase and give you his considered, expert opinion. If, on
the other hand all you can find are home inspecting hacks, then forget
the home inspector and see if you can get real professionals out to
look things over-something you ought to do if a good home inspection
report uncovers any major problems just so you can, at the same time,
get estimates for how much those problems would cost to fix. This
increases your negotiating position.

Under no circumstances should you have the current owner perform any
of the repairs. The current owner has an incentive to cut costs at
that point, which runs counter to your interests. Negotiate a lower
price and pay for the repairs yourself or have the seller place the
repair funds in escrow, to be paid out to the contractor(s) when the
repairs are performed and payment is due.

Home inspectors. A few are good. A very few. Considering that even a
good home inspection can't look at the framing, can't look at all the
wiring, can't check out all the plumbing, etc. simply because all
those systems are covered up except at their access points (meters,
electrical boxes, switches and plugs, toilets, sinks, tubs, etc.) and
they don't have the specialized knowledge of the professionals in
those fields...well, lets just say the report is an opinion of a
moderately educated individual, which you can and should become
yourself if you want to make wise purchasing decisions.


--
John Willis
(Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)