Come see this beautiful nearly new custom Colonial in favorite walk-to Bates neighborhood! An ideal floor plan for family and friends to enjoy is superbly appointed throughout with custom cabinetry and built-ins, exquisite moldings, beautiful bathrooms, and extraordinary details. Set ideally at the end of the block abutting 64 acres of Boulder Brooks Reservation & [...]Should You Have a Home Inspection?
This is a question which may have a different answer depending on whether you are a buyer or a seller….. If you are a buyer, and you are buying a single-family home that you don’t plan on tearing down immediately, the answer is yes, yes and yes again. The days are long gone when buyers would submit offers without a home inspection contingency. Those were the days when the market was so strong that houses would have multiple offers within hours of coming on the market. At that time, buyers would often waive the home inspection contingency in order to make their offers more appealing to the sellers. It has not been that way in a long time – in fact, I have not seen this during my 8+ years in the business. As a buyer’s agent in our current market, I always recommend that buyers have a home inspection and put this contingency into their offers.
There are many varying opinions about the role of a home inspection. First and foremost, it is to give the buyers valuable information about the house they are potentially about to buy. The inspector looks at the home’s heating, electrical and plumbing systems, the roof, the chimneys and fireplaces as well as checks for any structural defects, safety hazards or wood rot and much more. Most buyers follow the inspector through the inspection and take copious notes – though the inspector generates a written home inspection report as well – so that they know how to operate and take care of their homes once they become the new owners. According to the American Home Inspector Directory website, “The role of the home inspector is to provide the buyer with their opinion of the home’s condition at the time of inspection….A home inspection is not a pass/fail test. It is up to the buyer to determine whether or not the home passes his own test.” That sums it up perfectly….. If many defects of concern are raised during the home inspection, some buyers will become too overwhelmed by the number and/or seriousness of the issues and will decide not to continue with their purchase of the home. Other buyers may choose to continue with the home purchase. It really depends on the buyer….. The bottom line is that the information generated by the home inspection is essential for the buyer to have as they progress along the home buying path.
The answer may be a little different when considering the question as a seller. While some agents advise sellers to have a home inspection prior to putting their houses on the market; others do not. Earlier this week, Barbara Corcoran, Today Show Real Estate Correspondent, avowed the former opinion by saying to sellers, “Don’t wait for the would-be buyer to discover the problems you could have fixed before selling. When they’re discovered, buyers will just move to the next house or rack up reasons to expect price cuts.” I see her point completely. The only problem with this is that often different home inspectors will find completely distinct issues with the same home. I have talked to many sellers who have had their homes inspected several times during their home selling process, and they have told me that none of the home inspection reports brought up the same issues. One inspector may bring up some roof repairs and wood rot in various areas, while another inspector may not mention those items at all but instead report a heating system that is failing and chimneys that need to be repointed. And home inspections are not inexpensive, in the Weston and Wellesley area, they typically range in price from $500 to $1,200.
So if prior to putting their homes on the market, sellers would like to do an inspection and they plan on fixing the items in disrepair, they should also know that when the buyers do their home inspections, other issues may also be found. And the buyers could very likely be looking for the sellers to address those items as well. This may result in two sets of costly home inspection repairs for the sellers instead of just one.
What have been your experiences with home inspections? Have you found them to informative and useful? I can’t wait to hear……
Contact Lisa Williams today, (781) 267-2844 or lwilliams@pinnaclehouses.com, for the best in real estate service, knowledge and experience. Click here for a complimentary search of the MLS real estate listings where you will have access to all homes currently on the market in Weston, Wellesley, Needham, Dover and surrounding communities.
