Robin, a 22-year-old single mom, just purchased her first home to raise her young daughter.
Robin wanted to hire a home inspector, but the sellers had already hired some one to perform a home inspection and Robin’s real estate agent recommended that she keep the $300 and just use the seller’s inspector’s findings. Robin followed her agent’s advice.After moving in, Robin decided that she wanted to change the base boards in the den and main hallway, so she began removing baseboards from the walls. While doing this, she noticed mold on the Sheetrock. As she removed more baseboards, she found more mold.
Because of this gruesome discovery, Robin tore a portion of Sheetrock from the wall. At that point, she found even more mold and mold on the back of the wall in an adjoining room. Before she knew it, Robin had completely gutted her newly purchased house; mold was everywhere. Moral of the story: hire your own home inspector.
This became a $45,000 mistake.Under most states’ laws, the seller of a house has a duty to disclose all de fects known to the seller at that time. The problem is that the seller can use the dumb defense and claim that he/ she did not know of the defect at the time of the sale. The defects are typically found after the new buyer has already moved into and becomes familiar with the home.
However, by that time, the buyer has no recourse against the seller because most houses are purchased “as is.” This makes a home inspector extremely important. There are many different types of home inspectors available. And, you want to make sure that the home inspector is thorough and knowledgeable in construction.
Robin’s inspector either didn’t know, didn’t care or just wanted to move on to the next job.As with anything, you get what you pay for. Don’t skimp on a house inspector.
You have just committed to one of the larger purchases in life. Why would you not research home inspectors and hire a good inspector?
Learn from Robin’s mistake, don’t repeat it.
– See more at: https://www.livingsafer.com/2011/12/never-skimp-on-the-home-inspection/#sthash.CHINnoNt.dpuf
This article was originally written by Michael Brandner and can be found here