Maryland and Virginia Real Estate and Homes Blog

HOME INSPECTIONS ARE IMPORTANT FOR HOME OWNERS AS A PART OF REGULAR MAINTENANCE.

HOME INSPECTIONS ARE IMPORTANT FOR HOME OWNERS AS A PART OF REGULAR MAINTENANCE. 

This article points to:

1.  The necessity of regular inspections of our homes (even when it’s not for sale).

2.  The inevitable wear and tear of aging on our homes (not unlike ourselves).

3.  The cumulative damage done to our homes by weather and normal movement of the earth.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU HAD A HOME INSPECTION??  When you purchased your present home?  Never?  You might be very surprised to find that, although you are a conscientious home owner and preform regular maintenance, a TRAINED EYE will find items of deferred maintenance that you probably never considered.

HOW MUCH DOES A WHOLE HOUSE INSPECTION COST?  In my experience, a whole house inspection is going to be based on purchase price or square feet.  For an existing home, square feet would probably determine the cost.  $350-$500 would be my estimate for homes in the 1,500 square feet to homes in the 4,000 square feet range.  Few home owners will pay to have a home inspection on a home they already own.  However, while homeowners may understand the importance of service contracts or at least regular inspections of visible systems, how many will have an inspection of their roof, inside and out??  How many home owners drain their water tank on a regular basis (you’d be surprised at the gunk that is sitting in the bottom of the tank).  How many have an inspection for termites or other wood destroying insects??  Most WHOLE HOUSE INSPECTIONS are performed only when a property is for sale and there is a buyer who wants to know the true condition of the property for which they are going to invest many thousands of dollars.

MAINTENANCE IS MORE THAN JUST FIXING WHAT YOU CAN SEE.  Most of us understand that a regular cleaning and inspection of the heating system is important to the life of your systems.   But how many of us can identify the defects in an exhisting roofing system??

HOME INSPECTORS WILL EXAMINE AREAS HOME OWNERS MAY NOT CONSIDER.

STRUCTURE:  How many home owners understand the mechanics of construction and how natural movement may cause serious damage to the structure, foundation, roof, windows, etc., of your home?? 

EXTERIOR:  We may walk around the house but will we really know what we are seeing? 

INTERIOR:  Natural movement, water intrusion are matters that can cause cracking, separating, shifting in a home.  Is the insulation in your home adequate?  Or, are we just complaining about the utility costs?

MECHANICALS:  An inspection and maintenance on a heating or cooling system is far less expensive than replacement costs.

APPLIANCES:  When was the last time you vacuumed the dust out of the cooling area of the frig??  Can you determine the performance efficiency of your appliances?

PLUMBING:  Water, water, water is the most destructive force in any home.  Home inspectors can locate small problems before they turn into major problems.  (Shhhh, don’t say the word mold.)

ELECTRICAL:  How competent are we home owners to determine the efficiency AND SAFETY of electrical systems??

ADVICE TO HOME BUYERS:  Get a home inspection so you can discover the many items of deferred maintenance or simple wear and tear on the property you plan to buy and own for many years.

ADVICE TO HOME OWNERS:  Get a home inspection every 5 years or so to make sure there are no items of maintenance or wear and tear on the property that can usually only be found by an experienced home inspector.

Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988.  Representing home buyers in Maryland and Northern Virginia.

HOME INSPECTIONS FOR NEW CONSTRUCTION? WHAT IF THERE IS A DEFECT??

HOME INSPECTIONS FOR NEW CONSTRUCTION ARE IMPORTANT, HOWEVER. . . . .

Jay Markanich an experienced home inspector in Northern Virginia, offers good advice for new home buyers.  Have your new home inspected by an experienced new home inspector.  Good advice, however, it is also important that new home buyers work with an experienced new home Buyers’ Agent.

NO HOME INSPECTION CONTINGENCY.  One critical matter that a buyer’s agent is likely to convey to a new home buyers is the fact that, new home contracts of sale are written by attorneys for the builder.  In that process, new home contracts are often silent on the matter of buyer’s home inspections.

It is important that the home buyer(s) understand that, unlike most resale contracts, in new construction, there is no HOME INSPECTION CONTINGENCY.   The financing bank may have code or other inspections throughout for draws of money by the builder, but the buyer, even if they have purchased and own the lot, usually has no contingency.   So, for these and other reasons, periodic inspections for the buyer are as important for new construction as well as resales. 

BUYING A NEW HOME IS NOT THE SAME AS BUYING A RESALE.  Home buyers with previous home buying experiences may have had seller corrected defects.  However, new construction is a different world since “operating condition” is not usually the basis for defects, it’s the actual construction of the property that may be defective. 

This is why I encourage new home buyers to have pre-scheduled inspections throughout the construction process.  Waiting until the home is completed could leave construction defects hidden behind drywall. 

WHOM DOES THE SALES REPRESENTATIVE REPRESENT?  In my experience, after selling dozens of new homes, while building superintendents are often not overly friendly with home inspectors, the builders will take documented defects quite seriously.  Let the builder know in the contract phase that you will hire an outside inspector.  You just might get a better house.  In time and with experience, buyers’ agents learn builders in their area who are cooperative with home inspectors and those that are not.  It isn’t unusual for the builders’ representative, who represents the builder, to advise a buyer that “You don’t need to pay for a home inspection.  The county inspects the house throughout the building phase.”  While that is true, county code inspectors inspect for safety, not necessarily quality of construction.  We’ve had home inspection reports with several pages of construction deficiencies that were not noted by the county code inspectors. 

Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988.  Serving new home buyers in Loudoun County, Virginia.  Ask about the Homefinders.com new home buyers REBATE.

Of course an agent should attend and MANAGE the home inspection.  We are not mere agents for the buyer or the seller.  We represent them with a duty of fiduciary.  The home inspector is not a fiduciary.  We cannot protect our buyer or seller client in any inspection if we are not there.  An agent who does not attend the home inspection fails to manage the home inspection contingency to the CONTRACT OF SALE.

The home inspection process begins with a review of the “home inspection contingency” which is an addendum to and part of the Contract of Sale.  It’s important to review that contingency so that the buyer, seller and inspector understands the limits of the home inspection with respect to defects and maintenance.  

Items such as a gas furnace with a cracked furnace wall is a defect and should be written as a necessary repair to be done by the seller under the home inspection contingency.  However, unless a defect can be identified by the home inspector, the contingency does not cover “maintenance” and therefore, an inspector who writes “have unit serviced by licensed HVAC company” should explain to the buyer that making that note is for the buyer to perform regular maintenance on an annual basis.  Without the buyer’s agent at the inspection, buyers assume that whatever the inspector writes, must be done by the seller.  Nothing is farther from fact.  The seller doesn’t have to make any repairs.   The buyer may be able to void the contract, but there are nothing automatic about repairs pursuant to a home inspection.

If the agent for the seller or buyer does not attend the home inspection, there is no management of the contract and home inspection process.  The home inspector is not advised that the “maintenance” comment by the inspector refers to after settlement.  The buyer will think that, because the home inspector wrote it, the SELLER MUST HAVE THE UNIT SERVICED BY A LICENSED COMPANY.  

This is just one example of contract confusion that can be avoided if the agent is there to manage the inspection process. 

PROPERTY CONDITION STATEMENT.  The agent for he buyer will have the Contract of Sale of which the Property Condition Statement is a part.  If the home inspector finds a serious defect in the property, leaking roof, leaking foundation, poorly cooling air conditioning unit, etc., and the seller failed to disclose the defect in the Property Condition Statement, the agent for the buyer will be able to identify the discrepancy.  The home inspector cannot. 

The above is just one example of the importance of an agent attending, observing, and understanding the home inspection findings and how the home inspection process and contingency relates to the Contract of Sale. 

Agents do not perform home inspections but we manage the Contract of Sale of which the home inspection contingency is a pertinent part. 

That’s our job.