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#1
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
I may be selling my home in the next year or so. I am therefore thinking
of getting a home inspection report to see what needs to be fixed before putting the house on the market. Any pro cons to hiring someone to do this? When I Google, I find a number of companies advertising to do this in my area but have no idea how to judge their level of competence. |
#2
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
On 6/19/2013 12:24 PM, njoracle wrote:
I may be selling my home in the next year or so. I am therefore thinking of getting a home inspection report to see what needs to be fixed before putting the house on the market. Any pro cons to hiring someone to do this? When I Google, I find a number of companies advertising to do this in my area but have no idea how to judge their level of competence. 'Bout only thing you can do is ask for references and see if folks have been happy w/ services rendered unless you're competent-enough in various aspects of Codes, construction, etc., that you don't have any need for them, anyway. $0.02, imo, ymmv, etc., etc., etc., ... -- |
#3
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
On Jun 19, 1:24*pm, njoracle wrote:
I may be selling my home in the next year or so. I am therefore thinking of getting a home inspection report to see what needs to be fixed before putting the house on the market. Any pro cons to hiring someone to do this? When I Google, I find a number of companies advertising to do this in my area but have no idea how to judge their level of competence. Call 3 or 4 or more of the companies and ask for references. Call a couple of real estate agents in your area and ask them who they trust for inspections. They'll be glad to give you some names especially if you mention nicely that you'll contact them (the agent) and give them a shot to compete for the listing when you are ready. "Please don't contact me, I'll call when I'm ready" Any decent agent will honor your wish. The one con I can think of is that you might have to pay for the inspection twice. There's the one you'll pay for now and the one you might pay for when you actually list the house. You may not pay for the buyer's inspection directly, but it's possible (only possible) that somewhere in the negotiations, the cost will be absorbed somehow. Obviously that will all depend on the housing market in your area at the time you list the house. Good luck! |
#4
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
On Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:24:33 -0400, njoracle
wrote: I may be selling my home in the next year or so. I am therefore thinking of getting a home inspection report to see what needs to be fixed before putting the house on the market. Any pro cons to hiring someone to do this? When I Google, I find a number of companies advertising to do this in my area but have no idea how to judge their level of competence. You can ask the inspectors what their trade background is and how many years they were in the trade. Some may be retired general contractors. If a guy takes a course online, skip him. |
#5
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
On Wednesday, June 19, 2013 1:24:33 PM UTC-4, njoracle wrote:
I may be selling my home in the next year or so. I am therefore thinking of getting a home inspection report to see what needs to be fixed before putting the house on the market. Any pro cons to hiring someone to do this? When I Google, I find a number of companies advertising to do this in my area but have no idea how to judge their level of competence. There is one big downside. If you hire an inspector and he finds something material that isn't right, now under NJ law you would know about it and have to disclose it to future buyers or fix it. And many buyers will hire their own home inspector anyway. I wouldn't trust one hired by the home seller. So now you have the opportunity for two inspections to find stuff that you need to fix. I would fix the obvious things, things that you know are broken and that you legally are required to disclose. I wouldn't hire an inspector. |
#6
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
On Jun 19, 1:56*pm, "
wrote: On Wednesday, June 19, 2013 1:24:33 PM UTC-4, njoracle wrote: I may be selling my home in the next year or so. I am therefore thinking of getting a home inspection report to see what needs to be fixed before putting the house on the market. Any pro cons to hiring someone to do this? When I Google, I find a number of companies advertising to do this in my area but have no idea how to judge their level of competence. There is one big downside. *If you hire an inspector and he finds something material that isn't right, now under NJ law you would know about it and have to disclose it to future buyers or fix it. And many buyers will hire their own home inspector anyway. *I wouldn't trust one hired by the home seller. * So now you have the opportunity for two inspections to find stuff that you need to fix. I would fix the obvious things, things that you know are broken and that you legally are required to disclose. *I wouldn't hire an inspector. t-4, I see your point, but I'd like to offer a counter point. No argument, just a discussion. I'm the type of guy that would rather know upfront if there was an issue that might impact the sale, especially if I have a year to take care of it. I guess I could wait and hope that the buyer's inspector wouldn't find it, but if I assume that they will hire someone just as competent as I would, then the issue is going to be found and it could cause any number of issues related to the sale. e.g. The buyer's inspector finds a bad sewer pipe. They buyer could run like hell, and I'd have to disclose it (anyway) to anyone else that puts in an offer. Or I could be in a time crunch to get out and into my next house, and I'd have to sweeten the pot with the current buyer to cover the cost of the repair, plus landscaping, etc. or the buyer could say, fix it right now or I walk. Now I'm in emergency mode with no time to shop around for a contractor. I'm sure it will end up costing me more in the long run than if I have a year to get the pipe fixed then take care of my own landscaping, etc. That's just one example, but I assume you see my point. If we assume that anything my inspector finds is going to be found anyway, I think I'd rather know now than later when it might be the difference between be able to move or not or to at least get the price I thought I could. In general, less stress in an already stressful time. |
#7
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
On 6/19/2013 12:24 PM, njoracle wrote:
I may be selling my home in the next year or so. I am therefore thinking of getting a home inspection report to see what needs to be fixed before putting the house on the market. Any pro cons to hiring someone to do this? When I Google, I find a number of companies advertising to do this in my area but have no idea how to judge their level of competence. The only recommendation I could give you is to hire an independent home inspector. Don't get one who works for the buyer or real estate company. You want to make sure an inspector has the license and certifications required by your state and local government. ^_^ TDD |
#8
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
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#9
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
njoracle wrote in
: I may be selling my home in the next year or so. I am therefore thinking of getting a home inspection report to see what needs to be fixed before putting the house on the market. Any pro cons to hiring someone to do this? When I Google, I find a number of companies advertising to do this in my area but have no idea how to judge their level of competence. The buyers inspector is going to find things no matter how deep he/she has to look. Reason: Justify his job/fee. If you were a buyer and hired an inspector and they found nothing that justified his fee, the buyer is gonna think home inpections are a waste of money. Bad for inspectors' future business. You could argue you had an inspection and "the item" was not flagged. Buyer says that's nice but I'm going with the inspector I paid for advice. I'd be stupid not to listen to them. In another reply you said: I'd have to disclose it (anyway) to anyone else that puts in an offer. Depends. If someone is not certified you can ignore it. In some states, literally, you don't even need a flashlight to be an inspector. Self declared home inspector. Ignore them. State requirements: http://www.nahi.org/legislative/legislative-map |
#10
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
On Wed, 19 Jun 2013 23:33:23 +0000 (UTC), Red Green
wrote: The buyers inspector is going to find things no matter how deep he/she has to look. Reason: Justify his job/fee. True. A buyer inspection sheet said the PSI in the curb to home was to high. 85 PSI I tested it myself, with my hose bib PSI gauge - AND refuted the inspectors report. Nothing fixed, as the buyer accepted my position that there was nothing wrong with the pressure. X PSI pressure. (the inspector's PSI gauge was not calibrated :-\) |
#11
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
On 6/19/2013 7:33 PM, Red Green wrote:
njoracle wrote in : I may be selling my home in the next year or so. I am therefore thinking of getting a home inspection report to see what needs to be fixed before putting the house on the market. Any pro cons to hiring someone to do this? When I Google, I find a number of companies advertising to do this in my area but have no idea how to judge their level of competence. The buyers inspector is going to find things no matter how deep he/she has to look. Reason: Justify his job/fee. If you were a buyer and hired an inspector and they found nothing that justified his fee, the buyer is gonna think home inpections are a waste of money. Bad for inspectors' future business. You could argue you had an inspection and "the item" was not flagged. Buyer says that's nice but I'm going with the inspector I paid for advice. I'd be stupid not to listen to them. In another reply you said: I'd have to disclose it (anyway) to anyone else that puts in an offer. Depends. If someone is not certified you can ignore it. In some states, literally, you don't even need a flashlight to be an inspector. Self declared home inspector. Ignore them. State requirements: http://www.nahi.org/legislative/legislative-map You snipped out a key point of my response: "I guess I could wait and hope that the buyer's inspector wouldn't find it, but *if I assume that they will hire someone just as competent as I would*, then the issue is going to be found and it could cause any number of issues related to the sale." I know that any inspector I would use would be certified and the entire premise of my response was based on the theory that I am dealing with an intelligent buyer who is also going to use a certified inspector. |
#12
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
On Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:50:22 -0700, Oren wrote:
On Wed, 19 Jun 2013 23:33:23 +0000 (UTC), Red Green wrote: The buyers inspector is going to find things no matter how deep he/she has to look. Reason: Justify his job/fee. True. A buyer inspection sheet said the PSI in the curb to home was to high. 85 PSI I tested it myself, with my hose bib PSI gauge - AND refuted the inspectors report. Nothing fixed, as the buyer accepted my position that there was nothing wrong with the pressure. X PSI pressure. (the inspector's PSI gauge was not calibrated :-\) P.S. During a move on transfer / promotion I opted to have the government buy my house in lieu of a private sale. Talking with the company contracted to do the paper work, it was mentioned about my "septic problem and it needed to be fixed." I challenged that comment. The company had the inspection report from another house and not mine. In my file. It was fixed, because I explained to the company representative that their contract could be voided with the government. Snap Crackle Pop... |
#14
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
On Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:24:33 -0400, njoracle
wrote: I may be selling my home in the next year or so. I am therefore thinking of getting a home inspection report to see what needs to be fixed before putting the house on the market. Any pro cons to hiring someone to do this? When I Google, I find a number of companies advertising to do this in my area but have no idea how to judge their level of competence. Nor does anybody else. They are a crap-shoot at best. |
#15
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
On Jun 19, 7:06*pm, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On 6/19/2013 7:33 PM, Red Green wrote: njoracle wrote in : I may be selling my home in the next year or so. I am therefore thinking of getting a home inspection report to see what needs to be fixed before putting the house on the market. Any pro cons to hiring someone to do this? When I Google, I find a number of companies advertising to do this in my area but have no idea how to judge their level of competence. The buyers inspector is going to find things no matter how deep he/she has to look. Reason: Justify his job/fee. If you were a buyer and hired an inspector and they found nothing that justified his fee, the buyer is gonna think home inpections are a waste of money. Bad for inspectors' future business. You could argue you had an inspection and "the item" was not flagged. Buyer says that's nice but I'm going with the inspector I paid for advice. I'd be stupid not to listen to them. In another reply you said: * * * * * *I'd have to disclose it (anyway) to anyone else that puts in * * * * * *an offer. Depends. If someone is not certified you can ignore it. In some states, literally, you don't even need a flashlight to be an inspector. Self declared home inspector. Ignore them. State requirements: * * * * * *http://www.nahi.org/legislative/legislative-map You snipped out a key point of my response: "I guess I could wait and hope that the buyer's inspector wouldn't find it, but *if I assume that they will hire someone just as competent as I would*, then the issue is going to be found and it could cause any number of issues related to the sale." I know that any inspector I would use would be certified and the entire premise of my response was based on the theory that I am dealing with an intelligent buyer who is also going to use a certified inspector.- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - I second all of Derby Dad's comments!!!! |
#16
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
On Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:24:33 -0400, njoracle
wrote: I may be selling my home in the next year or so. I am therefore thinking of getting a home inspection report to see what needs to be fixed before putting the house on the market. Any pro cons to hiring someone to do this? When I Google, I find a number of companies advertising to do this in my area but have no idea how to judge their level of competence. Do you live in this home? If so, don't you know what's broken and needs fixing? I wouldn't waste my time or money paying someone to do a pre-inspection. When you are ready to sell clean the place up and put it on the market. Disclose anything you know about it's condition. If the buyer cares they will ask for a home inspection as a condition of the sale. You'll find out the same things from that as you will find out now and you can negotiate with the buyer about what to fix and what to leave alone as you negotiate the price. It's not going to cost any more to fix things then than it will now. But at least then the buyer will be paying for the inspection (around $400 in my neck of the woods) instead of you paying for it. |
#17
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
On Thursday, June 20, 2013 1:03:19 AM UTC-4, Ashton Crusher wrote:
On Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:24:33 -0400, njoracle wrote: I may be selling my home in the next year or so. I am therefore thinking of getting a home inspection report to see what needs to be fixed before putting the house on the market. Any pro cons to hiring someone to do this? When I Google, I find a number of companies advertising to do this in my area but have no idea how to judge their level of competence. Do you live in this home? If so, don't you know what's broken and needs fixing? I wouldn't waste my time or money paying someone to do a pre-inspection. When you are ready to sell clean the place up and put it on the market. Disclose anything you know about it's condition. If the buyer cares they will ask for a home inspection as a condition of the sale. You'll find out the same things from that as you will find out now and you can negotiate with the buyer about what to fix and what to leave alone as you negotiate the price. It's not going to cost any more to fix things then than it will now. But at least then the buyer will be paying for the inspection (around $400 in my neck of the woods) instead of you paying for it. I agree. When I sold our last house I went ahead and fixed the stuff that was going to be a pain. I left the little bs stuff alone. The inspector is going to find something or it looks like he didn't do his job. He found a laundry list of small stuff and I went through the list and fixed it while the buyer was waiting for financing.. |
#18
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
On Wednesday, June 19, 2013 2:19:53 PM UTC-4, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Jun 19, 1:56*pm, " wrote: On Wednesday, June 19, 2013 1:24:33 PM UTC-4, njoracle wrote: I may be selling my home in the next year or so. I am therefore thinking of getting a home inspection report to see what needs to be fixed before putting the house on the market. Any pro cons to hiring someone to do this? When I Google, I find a number of companies advertising to do this in my area but have no idea how to judge their level of competence. There is one big downside. *If you hire an inspector and he finds something material that isn't right, now under NJ law you would know about it and have to disclose it to future buyers or fix it. And many buyers will hire their own home inspector anyway. *I wouldn't trust one hired by the home seller. * So now you have the opportunity for two inspections to find stuff that you need to fix. I would fix the obvious things, things that you know are broken and that you legally are required to disclose. *I wouldn't hire an inspector. t-4, I see your point, but I'd like to offer a counter point. No argument, just a discussion. I'm the type of guy that would rather know upfront if there was an issue that might impact the sale, especially if I have a year to take care of it. I guess I could wait and hope that the buyer's inspector wouldn't find it, but if I assume that they will hire someone just as competent as I would, then the issue is going to be found and it could cause any number of issues related to the sale. I don't think your assumption is valid. There are all kinds of home inspectors out there and plenty of them are incompetent. I'm sure you've seen buyers here complaining over the years about major items an inspector missed. e.g. The buyer's inspector finds a bad sewer pipe. They buyer could run like hell, and I'd have to disclose it (anyway) to anyone else that puts in an offer. Or I could be in a time crunch to get out and into my next house, and I'd have to sweeten the pot with the current buyer to cover the cost of the repair, plus landscaping, etc. or the buyer could say, fix it right now or I walk. Not a very good example. There is almost zero chance of a home inspector finding a bad sewer line runnning from the house to the street or septic. Unless there is obvious sewage water coming out of the ground. Or when he flushes a toilet, it doesn't go down. And you would already know that. That's the extent of their "inspection", they aren't sending cameras down drain lines, not for a normal house inspection. Now I'm in emergency mode with no time to shop around for a contractor. I'm sure it will end up costing me more in the long run than if I have a year to get the pipe fixed then take care of my own landscaping, etc. While I think the sewer line example isn't a good one, I do agree that if the buyer's inspector finds something, it could cost more if you have to get someone to do all the work, versus DIY. On the other hand, depending on what it is, you can still DIY part of it. For the landscape repair, for example, you could hire some day laborers, buy some shrubs and in a morning, it's done. It's kind of what a lot of DIY folks would do if they were making the repair themselves at any time, no? That's just one example, but I assume you see my point. If we assume that anything my inspector finds is going to be found anyway, That's the very big assumption. And i don't see the compelling advantage of shelling out $500 to hire an inspector and take the chance. I think I'd rather know now than later when it might be the difference between be able to move or not or to at least get the price I thought I could. In general, less stress in an already stressful time. The way I see it, you're likely to pay for some stuff your inspector finds, then pay again for some stuff the other inspector finds. Hopefully there would be a lot of overlap. Why can't you just do the "inspection" yourself? The vast majority of this is simple stuff... Leaking pipes under sinks, leaking water heater, GFCI not working, obviously open electrical junction boxes, spots of rotted siding, etc. I just take care of that myself. I can find those. And if there is some $10,000 pig in a poke that I don't know about, I don't want 2 chances to find it with me paying $500 for the first chance. |
#19
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
On Wednesday, June 19, 2013 4:08:38 PM UTC-4, njoracle wrote:
wrote: On Wednesday, June 19, 2013 1:24:33 PM UTC-4, njoracle wrote: I may be selling my home in the next year or so. I am therefore thinking of getting a home inspection report to see what needs to be fixed before putting the house on the market. Any pro cons to hiring someone to do this? When I Google, I find a number of companies advertising to do this in my area but have no idea how to judge their level of competence. There is one big downside. If you hire an inspector and he finds something material that isn't right, now under NJ law you would know about it and have to disclose it to future buyers or fix it. Good point. I think I heard somewhere that if an inspector found Radon, the inspector was required to report it to the state. Do you know anything about that? No, I'm in NJ and have not heard that, but can't say for sure it's not true either. |
#20
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
On Wednesday, June 19, 2013 7:33:23 PM UTC-4, Red Green wrote:
njoracle wrote in : I may be selling my home in the next year or so. I am therefore thinking of getting a home inspection report to see what needs to be fixed before putting the house on the market. Any pro cons to hiring someone to do this? When I Google, I find a number of companies advertising to do this in my area but have no idea how to judge their level of competence. The buyers inspector is going to find things no matter how deep he/she has to look. Reason: Justify his job/fee. If you were a buyer and hired an inspector and they found nothing that justified his fee, the buyer is gonna think home inpections are a waste of money. Bad for inspectors' future business. You could argue you had an inspection and "the item" was not flagged. Buyer says that's nice but I'm going with the inspector I paid for advice. I'd be stupid not to listen to them. In another reply you said: I'd have to disclose it (anyway) to anyone else that puts in an offer. Depends. If someone is not certified you can ignore it. It would seem if you're hiring a home inspector that you would certainly get one that has whatever certification is required in the state you live in. Otherwise, paying $500 to some hack makes no sense. And there are states where home inspectors are not licensed. So, if you live in one of those states, and a home inspector tells you that the rear deck has no foundation, you think you can just ignore it? Even in states where certification is required, I would think it's highly questionable that you could just ignore it under the disclosure laws. If you have case law examples that show what you say, I'm sure we'd all like to see them..... In some states, literally, you don't even need a flashlight to be an inspector. Self declared home inspector. Ignore them. State requirements: http://www.nahi.org/legislative/legislative-map |
#21
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
On Wednesday, June 19, 2013 7:50:22 PM UTC-4, Oren wrote:
On Wed, 19 Jun 2013 23:33:23 +0000 (UTC), Red Green wrote: The buyers inspector is going to find things no matter how deep he/she has to look. Reason: Justify his job/fee. True. A buyer inspection sheet said the PSI in the curb to home was to high. 85 PSI I tested it myself, with my hose bib PSI gauge - AND refuted the inspectors report. Nothing fixed, as the buyer accepted my position that there was nothing wrong with the pressure. X PSI pressure. (the inspector's PSI gauge was not calibrated :-\) That's an example of what I was talking about. If a seller hires that inspector, now he has a "problem" that he knows about. A "problem" that a different inspector for the buyer probably would not have found. But that inspector might in turn find some other BS or quetionable stuff, in part to justify his fee. So, IMO, if as a seller you hire an inspector of your own, and then the seller hires one, you get to go through the above example twice.... |
#22
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
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#23
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
On Jun 20, 11:23*am, "TomR" wrote:
wrote: On Wednesday, June 19, 2013 1:24:33 PM UTC-4, njoracle wrote: I may be selling my home in the next year or so. I am therefore thinking of getting a home inspection report to see what needs to be fixed before putting the house on the market. Any pro cons to hiring someone to do this? When I Google, I find a number of companies advertising to do this in my area but have no idea how to judge their level of competence. There is one big downside. *If you hire an inspector and he finds something material that isn't right, now under NJ law you would know about it and have to disclose it to future buyers or fix it. And many buyers will hire their own home inspector anyway. *I wouldn't trust one hired by the home seller. * So now you have the opportunity for two inspections to find stuff that you need to fix. I agree. *Let the homebuyer do (and pay for) any home inspections that they may want. *And, not all homebuyers decide to have a home inspection done, so leave it up to them. I would fix the obvious things, things that you know are broken and that you legally are required to disclose. *I wouldn't hire an inspector. Also agreed. I disagree, both around here and in phoenix where I have family problems found by a inspector REQUIRE all repairs done by a licensed professional once your in the sales process..... look your probably selling a home worth 100 thousands bucks or more. 500 bucks for a home inspection so you can do the repairs yourself, you will likely save enough on repairs to pay for the inspection..... and getting the home all set to sell before putting it on the market is just smart planning.... you will be amazed at how many troubles a home inspector finds |
#24
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
" wrote in
: On Wednesday, June 19, 2013 7:33:23 PM UTC-4, Red Green wrote: njoracle wrote in : I may be selling my home in the next year or so. I am therefore thinking of getting a home inspection report to see what needs to be fixed before putting the house on the market. Any pro cons to hiring someone to do this? When I Google, I find a number of companies advertising to do this in my area but have no idea how to judge their level of competence. The buyers inspector is going to find things no matter how deep he/she has to look. Reason: Justify his job/fee. If you were a buyer and hired an inspector and they found nothing that justified his fee, the buyer is gonna think home inpections are a waste of money. Bad for inspectors' future business. You could argue you had an inspection and "the item" was not flagged. Buyer says that's nice but I'm going with the inspector I paid for advice. I'd be stupid not to listen to them. In another reply you said: I'd have to disclose it (anyway) to anyone else that puts in an offer. Depends. If someone is not certified you can ignore it. It would seem if you're hiring a home inspector that you would certainly get one that has whatever certification is required in the state you live in. Otherwise, paying $500 to some hack makes no sense. And there are states where home inspectors are not licensed. So, if you live in one of those states, and a home inspector tells you that the rear deck has no foundation, you think you can just ignore it? Even in states where certification is required, I would think it's highly questionable that you could just ignore it under the disclosure laws. If you have case law examples that show what you say, I'm sure we'd all like to see them..... In some states, literally, you don't even need a flashlight to be an inspector. Self declared home inspector. Ignore them. State requirements: http://www.nahi.org/legislative/legislative-map And there are states where home inspectors are not licensed. So, if you live in one of those states, and a home inspector tells you that the rear deck has no foundation, you think you can just ignore it? Hey Trader: Just as a point of discussion and not argument.... So you live next door to me. We're buds just how bad can this get :-) . I'm always doin' stuff from zappping weeds to replacing a roof, windows, whatever and things seem so go smooth from your POV. Suddenly you see me with a van and logo Red's Home Inspections. Self declared premitted in the state. One day you invite me over for a cheap chicken burned hot dog and an O'Doul's. After all we're buds. As we're solving the problems of the world I happen to mention "Your rear deck has no foundation.". You didn't hire me to do an inspection but you now have knowledge of it. You must now disclose this? Remember, I am a home inspector by trade, you have knowledge of it and I wasn't f*d up on O'Doul's. Your bud, Red... let's see what kind of chatter this reply generates. Heck, maybe 25 replies down the road we'll have it at the District Court level. |
#25
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
jamesgang wrote in
: On Thursday, June 20, 2013 1:03:19 AM UTC-4, Ashton Crusher wrote: On Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:24:33 -0400, njoracle wrote: I may be selling my home in the next year or so. I am therefore thinking of getting a home inspection report to see what needs to be fixed before putting the house on the market. Any pro cons to hiring someone to do this? When I Google, I find a number of companies advertising to do this in my area but have no idea how to judge their level of competence. Do you live in this home? If so, don't you know what's broken and needs fixing? I wouldn't waste my time or money paying someone to do a pre-inspection. When you are ready to sell clean the place up and put it on the market. Disclose anything you know about it's condition. If the buyer cares they will ask for a home inspection as a condition of the sale. You'll find out the same things from that as you will find out now and you can negotiate with the buyer about what to fix and what to leave alone as you negotiate the price. It's not going to cost any more to fix things then than it will now. But at least then the buyer will be paying for the inspection (around $400 in my neck of the woods) instead of you paying for it. I agree. When I sold our last house I went ahead and fixed the stuff that was going to be a pain. I left the little bs stuff alone. The inspector is going to find something or it looks like he didn't do his job. He found a laundry list of small stuff and I went through the list and fixed it while the buyer was waiting for financing.. Same thing on the last house I restored for sale. Buyers inspector came up with like 12 Mickey Mouse things - This isn't fastened within x inches of that, insulation above shower should be thicker, foundation vent screen handle sticky, etc. But to buyer "He found these 12, a whole dozen mind you, things. We would have never known about and been totally f*d over." Then, get this, buyer paid inspector $100 reinspection fee to inspect the punch list items that were flagged and I submitted as "Brought to inspectors sugggested level." |
#26
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
On Thu, 20 Jun 2013 06:38:22 -0700 (PDT), jamesgang
wrote: On Thursday, June 20, 2013 1:03:19 AM UTC-4, Ashton Crusher wrote: On Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:24:33 -0400, njoracle wrote: I may be selling my home in the next year or so. I am therefore thinking of getting a home inspection report to see what needs to be fixed before putting the house on the market. Any pro cons to hiring someone to do this? When I Google, I find a number of companies advertising to do this in my area but have no idea how to judge their level of competence. Do you live in this home? If so, don't you know what's broken and needs fixing? I wouldn't waste my time or money paying someone to do a pre-inspection. When you are ready to sell clean the place up and put it on the market. Disclose anything you know about it's condition. If the buyer cares they will ask for a home inspection as a condition of the sale. You'll find out the same things from that as you will find out now and you can negotiate with the buyer about what to fix and what to leave alone as you negotiate the price. It's not going to cost any more to fix things then than it will now. But at least then the buyer will be paying for the inspection (around $400 in my neck of the woods) instead of you paying for it. I agree. When I sold our last house I went ahead and fixed the stuff that was going to be a pain. I left the little bs stuff alone. The inspector is going to find something or it looks like he didn't do his job. He found a laundry list of small stuff and I went through the list and fixed it while the buyer was waiting for financing.. I should have added a similar comment to my statements.... fix what you know needs fixing and that any buyer will definitely have a problem with. The Inspectors NEED to find something so you WANT to have a few little things that need fixing, just like you said. Leave em a few crumbs, a broken switch plate, leaking faucet, etc. |
#27
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
On Thursday, June 20, 2013 4:07:10 PM UTC-4, bob haller wrote:
On Jun 20, 11:23*am, "TomR" wrote: wrote: On Wednesday, June 19, 2013 1:24:33 PM UTC-4, njoracle wrote: I may be selling my home in the next year or so. I am therefore thinking of getting a home inspection report to see what needs to be fixed before putting the house on the market. Any pro cons to hiring someone to do this? When I Google, I find a number of companies advertising to do this in my area but have no idea how to judge their level of competence. There is one big downside. *If you hire an inspector and he finds something material that isn't right, now under NJ law you would know about it and have to disclose it to future buyers or fix it. And many buyers will hire their own home inspector anyway. *I wouldn't trust one hired by the home seller. * So now you have the opportunity for two inspections to find stuff that you need to fix. I agree. *Let the homebuyer do (and pay for) any home inspections that they may want. *And, not all homebuyers decide to have a home inspection done, so leave it up to them. I would fix the obvious things, things that you know are broken and that you legally are required to disclose. *I wouldn't hire an inspector. Also agreed. I disagree, both around here and in phoenix where I have family problems found by a inspector REQUIRE all repairs done by a licensed professional once your in the sales process..... This is only possible one of two ways: 1 - There is a state or local law that says all repairs must be done be a licensed professional. 2 - You, as seller, chose to sign a contract that specifically stated that a licensed professional must be used. I'm betting that if it's true, then it has to be option two. Because no state is going to require a licensed contractor to install a piece of trim molding, tack down some loose wall to wall carpet, paint a ceiling in a bathroom, etc.... look your probably selling a home worth 100 thousands bucks or more. 500 bucks for a home inspection so you can do the repairs yourself, you will likely save enough on repairs to pay for the inspection..... Most home inspectors aren't all that good. They can see what I can see. I can probably see more. And if they do happen to find a $5000 problem that I had no idea existed and that the buyer's inspector might not have found, then what? and getting the home all set to sell before putting it on the market is just smart planning.... That's true. you will be amazed at how many troubles a home inspector finds Yes, especially the second one, who finds new stuff, after you've paid $500 for the first one. And the second one probably would have missed some of the stuff guy #1 found. |
#28
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
On Thursday, June 20, 2013 6:52:42 PM UTC-4, Red Green wrote:
" wrote in : On Wednesday, June 19, 2013 7:33:23 PM UTC-4, Red Green wrote: njoracle wrote in : I may be selling my home in the next year or so. I am therefore thinking of getting a home inspection report to see what needs to be fixed before putting the house on the market. Any pro cons to hiring someone to do this? When I Google, I find a number of companies advertising to do this in my area but have no idea how to judge their level of competence. The buyers inspector is going to find things no matter how deep he/she has to look. Reason: Justify his job/fee. If you were a buyer and hired an inspector and they found nothing that justified his fee, the buyer is gonna think home inpections are a waste of money. Bad for inspectors' future business. You could argue you had an inspection and "the item" was not flagged. Buyer says that's nice but I'm going with the inspector I paid for advice. I'd be stupid not to listen to them. In another reply you said: I'd have to disclose it (anyway) to anyone else that puts in an offer. Depends. If someone is not certified you can ignore it. It would seem if you're hiring a home inspector that you would certainly get one that has whatever certification is required in the state you live in. Otherwise, paying $500 to some hack makes no sense. And there are states where home inspectors are not licensed. So, if you live in one of those states, and a home inspector tells you that the rear deck has no foundation, you think you can just ignore it? Even in states where certification is required, I would think it's highly questionable that you could just ignore it under the disclosure laws. If you have case law examples that show what you say, I'm sure we'd all like to see them..... In some states, literally, you don't even need a flashlight to be an inspector. Self declared home inspector. Ignore them. State requirements: http://www.nahi.org/legislative/legislative-map And there are states where home inspectors are not licensed. So, if you live in one of those states, and a home inspector tells you that the rear deck has no foundation, you think you can just ignore it? Hey Trader: Just as a point of discussion and not argument.... So you live next door to me. We're buds just how bad can this get :-) . I'm always doin' stuff from zappping weeds to replacing a roof, windows, whatever and things seem so go smooth from your POV. Suddenly you see me with a van and logo Red's Home Inspections. Self declared premitted in the state. One day you invite me over for a cheap chicken burned hot dog and an O'Doul's. After all we're buds. As we're solving the problems of the world I happen to mention "Your rear deck has no foundation.". You didn't hire me to do an inspection but you now have knowledge of it. You must now disclose this? Remember, I am a home inspector by trade, you have knowledge of it and I wasn't f*d up on O'Doul's. Your bud, Red... Your above scenario is a big step removed from the discussion thread. In the discussion, the home inspector is being hired and paid by the seller. I say in states where no licensing is required, as long as the inspector pointed out a material defect, if you fail to disclose it to a buyer and later the buyer finds out about it, the seller is very likely going to be liable. It's going to be hard to argue that the inspector was incompetent and could be ignored, when the buyer has other experts who now concur, isn't it? In your case of having a friend over who is in the business of doing home inspections and is doing so legally in the state, it's one step further removed. For one thing, there isn't a report as possible evidence, you didn't pay the guy, it wasn't a formal inspection, etc. But I would say that in states with strict disclosure laws, the seller might still be liable, but clearly it's more iffy. The guy is in the business of doing inspections, he did point out a major material defect, you now know about it.... From a practical standpoint, you new scenario is going to be much, much harder to prove. There is no written evidence, presumably no witnesses, etc. In the original scenario, there is a written report, probably a check trail to the inspector, etc. Even that case though is usually hard to prove. My main point in all this was to be aware that if you do go get a real inspection report, if he finds something major, you could be in for a disclosure problem. Don't go looking for what you don't know and you have no duty to disclose. |
#29
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
" wrote in
: On Thursday, June 20, 2013 6:52:42 PM UTC-4, Red Green wrote: " wrote in : On Wednesday, June 19, 2013 7:33:23 PM UTC-4, Red Green wrote: njoracle wrote in : I may be selling my home in the next year or so. I am therefore thinking of getting a home inspection report to see what needs to be fixed before putting the house on the market. Any pro cons to hiring someone to do this? When I Google, I find a number of companies advertising to do this in my area but have no idea how to judge their level of competence. The buyers inspector is going to find things no matter how deep he/she has to look. Reason: Justify his job/fee. If you were a buyer and hired an inspector and they found nothing that justified his fee, the buyer is gonna think home inpections are a waste of money. Bad for inspectors' future business. You could argue you had an inspection and "the item" was not flagged. Buyer says that's nice but I'm going with the inspector I paid for advice. I'd be stupid not to listen to them. In another reply you said: I'd have to disclose it (anyway) to anyone else that puts in an offer. Depends. If someone is not certified you can ignore it. It would seem if you're hiring a home inspector that you would certainly get one that has whatever certification is required in the state you live in. Otherwise, paying $500 to some hack makes no sense. And there are states where home inspectors are not licensed. So, if you live in one of those states, and a home inspector tells you that the rear deck has no foundation, you think you can just ignore it? Even in states where certification is required, I would think it's highly questionable that you could just ignore it under the disclosure laws. If you have case law examples that show what you say, I'm sure we'd all like to see them..... In some states, literally, you don't even need a flashlight to be an inspector. Self declared home inspector. Ignore them. State requirements: http://www.nahi.org/legislative/legislative-map And there are states where home inspectors are not licensed. So, if you live in one of those states, and a home inspector tells you that the rear deck has no foundation, you think you can just ignore it? Hey Trader: Just as a point of discussion and not argument.... So you live next door to me. We're buds just how bad can this get :-) . I'm always doin' stuff from zappping weeds to replacing a roof, windows, whatever and things seem so go smooth from your POV. Suddenly you see me with a van and logo Red's Home Inspections. Self declared premitted in the state. One day you invite me over for a cheap chicken burned hot dog and an O'Doul's. After all we're buds. As we're solving the problems of the world I happen to mention "Your rear deck has no foundation.". You didn't hire me to do an inspection but you now have knowledge of it. You must now disclose this? Remember, I am a home inspector by trade, you have knowledge of it and I wasn't f*d up on O'Doul's. Your bud, Red... Your above scenario is a big step removed from the discussion thread. In the discussion, the home inspector is being hired and paid by the seller. I say in states where no licensing is required, as long as the inspector pointed out a material defect, if you fail to disclose it to a buyer and later the buyer finds out about it, the seller is very likely going to be liable. It's going to be hard to argue that the inspector was incompetent and could be ignored, when the buyer has other experts who now concur, isn't it? In your case of having a friend over who is in the business of doing home inspections and is doing so legally in the state, it's one step further removed. For one thing, there isn't a report as possible evidence, you didn't pay the guy, it wasn't a formal inspection, etc. But I would say that in states with strict disclosure laws, the seller might still be liable, but clearly it's more iffy. The guy is in the business of doing inspections, he did point out a major material defect, you now know about it.... From a practical standpoint, you new scenario is going to be much, much harder to prove. There is no written evidence, presumably no witnesses, etc. In the original scenario, there is a written report, probably a check trail to the inspector, etc. Even that case though is usually hard to prove. My main point in all this was to be aware that if you do go get a real inspection report, if he finds something major, you could be in for a disclosure problem. Don't go looking for what you don't know and you have no duty to disclose. Don't go looking for what you don't know and you have no duty to disclose. Perfect post closing. |
#30
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
On 6/20/2013 1:03 AM, Ashton Crusher wrote: On Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:24:33 -0400, njoracle wrote: I may be selling my home in the next year or so. I am therefore thinking of getting a home inspection report to see what needs to be fixed before putting the house on the market. Any pro cons to hiring someone to do this? When I Google, I find a number of companies advertising to do this in my area but have no idea how to judge their level of competence. Do you live in this home? If so, don't you know what's broken and needs fixing? I wouldn't waste my time or money paying someone to do a pre-inspection. When you are ready to sell clean the place up and put it on the market. Disclose anything you know about it's condition. If the buyer cares they will ask for a home inspection as a condition of the sale. You'll find out the same things from that as you will find out now and you can negotiate with the buyer about what to fix and what to leave alone as you negotiate the price. It's not going to cost any more to fix things then than it will now. But at least then the buyer will be paying for the inspection (around $400 in my neck of the woods) instead of you paying for it. I think the correct answer varies with the situation. For example, I am a woman who isn't particularly handy, so it's less likely that I'd automatically know what needs fixing. (Same thing with my car, where I sometimes wonder if something is wrong but I'm just too used to it to notice). The other thing is it might depend on how well houses are selling in your area, and if you want to risk giving the buyers a way to ask for reductions or even to back out. In that case, there may be something to be said for finding out ahead of time if there is anything major that an inspector will hone in on and just get it out of the way. (Then again, my perspective is skewed because an inspector did find something when I sold my last house and the buyers backed out, and it was an uncomfortably long time before I got another decent offer). |
#31
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
On Sat, 22 Jun 2013 16:15:45 -0400, Lee B
wrote: On 6/20/2013 1:03 AM, Ashton Crusher wrote: On Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:24:33 -0400, njoracle wrote: I may be selling my home in the next year or so. I am therefore thinking of getting a home inspection report to see what needs to be fixed before putting the house on the market. Any pro cons to hiring someone to do this? When I Google, I find a number of companies advertising to do this in my area but have no idea how to judge their level of competence. Do you live in this home? If so, don't you know what's broken and needs fixing? I wouldn't waste my time or money paying someone to do a pre-inspection. When you are ready to sell clean the place up and put it on the market. Disclose anything you know about it's condition. If the buyer cares they will ask for a home inspection as a condition of the sale. You'll find out the same things from that as you will find out now and you can negotiate with the buyer about what to fix and what to leave alone as you negotiate the price. It's not going to cost any more to fix things then than it will now. But at least then the buyer will be paying for the inspection (around $400 in my neck of the woods) instead of you paying for it. I think the correct answer varies with the situation. For example, I am a woman who isn't particularly handy, so it's less likely that I'd automatically know what needs fixing. (Same thing with my car, where I sometimes wonder if something is wrong but I'm just too used to it to notice). The other thing is it might depend on how well houses are selling in your area, and if you want to risk giving the buyers a way to ask for reductions or even to back out. In that case, there may be something to be said for finding out ahead of time if there is anything major that an inspector will hone in on and just get it out of the way. (Then again, my perspective is skewed because an inspector did find something when I sold my last house and the buyers backed out, and it was an uncomfortably long time before I got another decent offer). And how serious WAS what he found??? Was it as bad as he said? Half the time they find things that are not really a problem at all, and miss the big things. They say "no gfi in the bathroom" in a 50 year old house and completey miss the fact you can almost see through the valley of the roof. |
#32
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
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