Real Estate Information
Home Find a topic Links Guest Book
Welcome

Buying a Home -- Is a Home Inspection a Good Idea?


To avoid "buying a pig in a poke," buyers have long demanded the closing on a home purchase be contingent upon a satisfactory inspection by a home inspection firm. In many parts of our country, we're now experiencing a strong sellers' real estate market and sellers often receive more than one purchase offer on the same day for their home. In this environment, buyers are rethinking the home inspection requirement. Is this a good idea?

To Inspect or Not To Inspect

Clearly, if a seller got two offers and one requires a home inspection be done, most sellers will choose the non-inspection offer with all other things being equal. So, a home inspection requirement can put you at a competitive disadvantage. Still, are you willing to risk purchasing a home that has some fundamental, expensive problems? What if you purchase the home and subsequently learn plumbing under the floors must replaced? What if the repair costs $10,0000?

One option may be to include a provision in your purchase offer that provides for a home inspection done for informational purposes only. That way, settlement under your offer is not conditioned upon the inspection. It would not provide you with the option of amending the contract to have the seller make repairs, nor would it provide a way for you to void the contract should serious problems be uncovered. Should serious problems be discovered, however, the seller is bound to know the deal will be in jeopardy. For that reason, even an "informational" home inspection won't look as good to her as a contract with no requirement for a home inspection.

Another option you might consider in lieu of a home inspection is a sub rosa inspection. Instead of using James Bond for spying, you could ask a friend working in the construction or engineering field to walk through the house with you. The goal, of course, is to look for any glaring "red flags" that are deal killers.

If your friend doesn't see anything disturbing, you can then write a clean contract offer without contingencies. Sellers love no contingency sales. The chances are good that you'll get the home you want, but still have a some assurance there isn't anything seriously wrong with the property.

There is no one right answer when it comes to deciding on home inspections. Each buyer has to ask himself how much risk he is willing to take. If you are the only party making an offer, demand an inspection. If you are one of many potential buyers, well, you are going to have determine your comfort level. Others can provide information, but the decision is yours.

Raynor James is with http://www.fsboamerica.org - providing homes for sale by owner, "FSBO", properties. Are you thinking, "Should I sell my home?" Visit http://www.fsboamerica.org/seller.cfm to sell your home sale for free for one month.


MORE RESOURCES:

Fidelity sheds portion of real estate investment group
Bizjournals.com, NC - 8 hours ago
Pyramis Global Advisors, a division of Fidelity Investments, is spinning out the private equity arm of its real estate group. A Fidelity spokesman declined ...


Real Estate Roundup Portland Business Journal
Bizjournals.com, NC - 3 hours ago
Mark Friel of Pacific Real Estate Partners Inc. brokered the transaction. ATC Partners is the lessor. • Derek Brown & Associates leased 3486 square feet at ...


Falcon Announces Best-in-Class Green Real Estate Project
MarketWatch - 10 hours ago
The project to be spread over 35 acres in the first phase, promises to be India's best ever green real estate project till date. The project encompasses a ...


Real Estate Wrap: Liberty Property sells South Jersey sites
Bizjournals.com, NC - 5 hours ago
The Malvern, Pa., real estate investment trust sold 8, 9,10, 12 and 14 Stow Road, which total 160000 square feet. The single-story buildings were bought by ...


Top Real Estate Expert Plans To Host First Time Home Buyer And Tax ...
ClickPress (press release), UK - 3 hours ago
Real estate expert Kenn Renner is hosting a series of timely real estate seminars and webinars free of charge designed to inform homeowners and homebuyers ...
HGTV House Hunters Features Kenn Renner Top Austin Real Estate ... NewDesignWorld (press release)
all 2 news articles


March of Dimes to honor real estate contributors
Statesville Record & Landmark,  USA - 5 hours ago
The March of Dimes announces its 3rd Annual Lake Norman Commercial Real Estate Breakfast in honor of those outstanding individuals and companies whose real ...


Is RP real estate boom ending?
Inquirer.net, Philippines - 1 hour ago
By Prince Christian Cruz THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL TURMOIL and high inflation have slowed down the Philippines’ raging real estate boom. ...


Real estate developers see easing of home loan rates
Hindu Business Line, India - 1 hour ago
Demand for real estate property has decreased by nearly 25-30 per cent in the country over the last 18 months, when home loan rates soared from an average ...


Real Estate
Upper Rogue Independent, OR - 2 hours ago
541-821-2696 PRIVATE MONEY- I have private money available to loan on all types of real estate loans. No credit or bad credit Okay. ...


Al-Bawaba

Bahrain real-estate market ‘faces record year’, says expert ...
Al-Bawaba, Jordan - 12 hours ago
DTZ the expert real estate advisory firm today released a market report on Bahrain giving a detailed examination of the state of the Kingdom’s real estate ...

Real-Estate - Google News

Home | Guest Book |Site Map | Recommended Resources | Search

Powered By: TJTMEDIA

© 2006
Google