You are buying your first resale home. It looks great with a fresh coat of paint on it -- so why bother getting a home inspection?
I'd like to tell you why...because a home inspection is cheap insurance.
Think about it ...Where else can you get the value you get from a $300 -$400 home inspection?
Have you ever actually thought about all of the hidden things that could be wrong with a reasle home-- things that an untrained eye can easily miss?
You would be surprised how many times a few hundred dollar investment has saved a first time buyer from getting stuck with a house that was a potential nightmare of an investment.
I'd like to tell you about amy son for example. A few years ago he bought his first home. It was a nice little a handyman special. The bank owned it as a foreclosure. The price was just right for a first time home.
The bank made him sign a little piece of paper saying that the house was being bought "as is" and that there was no warranty on anything. That should have been a redflag for him to give his old pop a call.
But wanting to do everything on his own...he made a common mistake that many first home-buyers make. Thats right -- he bought it without having it inspected by a certified home inspector.
First he noticed the little quirks about the house... like how the doors and windows didn't close properly.
Then there were the drafts in the winter that could not be sealed.
Finally there was the old "marble on the counter top test". You would not believe how fast it rolled down to the other end and under the fridge.
It turns out that the builder would not have won any ethics awards. Instead of dumping all of the construction garbage...he merely buried it of all places...under the front right corner of the house. As you can imagine, fter a few years the garbage began to decompose & the house began to settle.
And settle it did. Believe it or not... upon closer examination I found that I could stick my entire head under the foundation at one place.
Unfortunately for him it was a very expensive lesson. A lesson that cost him over $32,000 of lost appreciation when it came time to for him to sell. For you see, this house had some major structural problems. Problems-- that could only be fixed by driving (4) concrete filled posts into the ground 80 ft deep and jacking up the entire house.
The estimates came in at about ten grand-- Not including all of the repairs that would be needed to the sheetrock & newly laid hardwood floors when the house was leveled.
Now here is the Worst part of it all... the law states that you would have to disclose such repairs to any new home buyers. Now think about it...even after the problem was fixed-- would you buy this home?
My son decided to not spend the money & repair it . He wound up selling the house for the same price he paid for it 7 years prior. It cost him $32,000 or more in equity tand appreciation.
The sad part is that all of this could have been avoided...If he only would have asked for a little help. A home inspection would have turned up all of these concerns BEFORE he signed on the dotted line. How many of you would have gladly invested 300 bucks to avoid losing $32,000.00 ?
I can assure you he will NEVER make that same mistake again.
How about you?
Frank Ward Cheshire is an Atlanta Home Inspector
Did you know that by adding a little curb appeal with an Atlanta Handyman Service you can sell your home quicker and for more money?
http://ezinearticles.com/?Home-Inspections---A-Cheap-Form-Of-Insurance&id=626586
