|
Posted by Dan on February 9, 2005, 4:14 am
On Tue, 08 Feb 2005 16:02:42 -0600, John Willis
>On Mon, 07 Feb 2005 22:03:35 -0500, Stephen Huckaby
>
>>
>>First I'd like to say I'm a upright, honest sort of guy.
>>I'm buying my first home from someone, the seller/home owner.
>>When I went to the morgage broker he suggested having a home
>>inspection before making the contract final - and I would be the
>>one to pay for the inspection. No problem.
>
>You've had some good advise, as well as another kind of advise...
>
>There is no substitute for first hand knowledge and experience. Home
>inspectors are usually quite good at reading the "moron meters" that
>you poke into all the outlets to test for polarity, and if they got a
>good meter it will even properly test those fancy outlets found in wet
>areas of your home. Assuming the inspector knows how to understand and
>interpret the results the "moron meter" gives him or her...
>
>Inspectors. I'm sure there are some good ones out there simply because
>the law of averages demands that not all of them are incompetent. Some
>of them have to be worth their fee. Unfortunately, if that inspector
>was really any good at plumbing, hvac, electrical, roofing, structural
>engineering, framing, drywall, etc., etc., etc., then wouldn't that
>individual be better off making more money in that particular trade
>than in performing inspections?
>
>In our neck of the woods all you have to do to be a home inspector is
>pass a state mandated test and show some minimum number of hours of
>coursework. You don't have to have any first-hand knowledge or
>experience about what goes into building and/or maintaining a home.
>
>That being said, if you can find a good inspector, one who works well
>for his fee, one who knows what to look for and what constitutes real
>concerns, then you would do quite well to hire him to look over your
>potential purchase and give you his considered, expert opinion. If, on
>the other hand all you can find are home inspecting hacks, then forget
>the home inspector and see if you can get real professionals out to
>look things over-something you ought to do if a good home inspection
>report uncovers any major problems just so you can, at the same time,
>get estimates for how much those problems would cost to fix. This
>increases your negotiating position.
>
>Under no circumstances should you have the current owner perform any
>of the repairs. The current owner has an incentive to cut costs at
>that point, which runs counter to your interests. Negotiate a lower
>price and pay for the repairs yourself or have the seller place the
>repair funds in escrow, to be paid out to the contractor(s) when the
>repairs are performed and payment is due.
>
>Home inspectors. A few are good. A very few. Considering that even a
>good home inspection can't look at the framing, can't look at all the
>wiring, can't check out all the plumbing, etc. simply because all
>those systems are covered up except at their access points (meters,
>electrical boxes, switches and plugs, toilets, sinks, tubs, etc.) and
>they don't have the specialized knowledge of the professionals in
>those fields...well, lets just say the report is an opinion of a
>moderately educated individual, which you can and should become
>yourself if you want to make wise purchasing decisions.
I've been following this thread with some interest- I do home
inspections, as well as other kinds- There are two of us in our
office who do them, we are both ASHI certified, as well as being ICC
certified as Housing and Property Maintenance, Residential Building,
Residential Electrical, Residential Plumbing and Residential
MechanicaInspectors- I am also certified by the ICC as a Certified
Building Official, a Certified Building Code Official, A Certified
Plans Examiner, a Certified Housing Code Official and a Commercial
Building Inspector- You can get a good home inspector if you look
around and check qualifications! I never get involved in price
negotiations, my job is to make sure the buyer knows everything they
should know about the investment they are considering making- Their
final decision is completely up to them, I just try to make sure it's
an informed decision!
Dan
| 
Yahoo! 
Google 
Windows Live 
del.icio.us 
digg 
Netscape 
XML Sitemap