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Posted by John Willis on February 8, 2005, 10:27 pm
this interesting note:
>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
As I suspected, there are some out there who are qualified.
--
John Willis
(Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)
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Posted by Edwin Pawlowski on February 8, 2005, 7:19 pm
>
> 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.
>
> When I told the Seller, he said he had no objections to the
> inspection, but he was told by a "friend" who buys and sales
> homes, that people often take the Inspection report to the
> bargining table and use it as a deal breaker, ie, EITHER FIX ALL
> THE PROBLEMS IN THE REPORT or DROP THE PRICE OR WE WALK.
> And the seller said when he quoted me a price, he gave me the
> firm bottom price. He had it marked up to 'account' for any
> negotiation.
He has the choice of cutting his rice or walking away. Sounds like he is
ready to just say "no" to lower offers. Maybe. You just never know.
>
> I have to tell you this never, never occured to me. I am hoping
> that the report will save me from buying a "Money Pit." I
> realize the home I am trying to buy is not new and there will be
> MINOR problems.
That is what a home insector should do. There are both good and bad
inspectors. Some will miss things, others will do a superb job.
>
> But, while I know some wear and tear is quite reasonable, what is
> not. The easy answer would be "What can you afford." But that
> is not a good answer. It the report comes back with a problem of
> say Water Damage and $2000 to repair, should I eat the cost
> What about $5000 for the Damage or $10 K.
Te answer lies with your deisre to own that particular house. Real estate is
vauled at what people are willing to pay. If the base price of a house is
$200,000 three people can look at it and walk away with three idfferent
ideas. One will try to buy it lower because he things it is good practice.
Another may be willing to pay the asking price but expects the house to be
in good condition. The third may think the house is severely underprice,
knows it the location he always dreamed of, and is willing to pay for
$20,000 in repairs just to have it. The deciding factor is your willingness
to pay the asked price, and the lender's willingness to finance it for you.
They usually want an apraisal to be sure they won't have a loss if you run
off to a South Sea island.
You have to decide what your pain tolerance is on something like that. Is
renovation something you enjoy doing, or a chore to be avoided. If you have
serios concerns after seeing the report, just move on to another house.
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Posted by Brian Barnson on February 9, 2005, 7:54 pm
(snip)
> Te answer lies with your deisre to own that particular house. Real estate
> is vauled at what people are willing to pay. If the base price of a house
> is $200,000 three people can look at it and walk away with three idfferent
> ideas. One will try to buy it lower because he things it is good
> practice. Another may be willing to pay the asking price but expects the
> house to be in good condition. The third may think the house is severely
> underprice, knows it the location he always dreamed of, and is willing to
> pay for $20,000 in repairs just to have it. The deciding factor is your
> willingness to pay the asked price, and the lender's willingness to
> finance it for you. They usually want an apraisal to be sure they won't
> have a loss if you run off to a South Sea island.
>
> You have to decide what your pain tolerance is on something like that. Is
> renovation something you enjoy doing, or a chore to be avoided. If you
> have serios concerns after seeing the report, just move on to another
> house.
Excellent advice to which I would add the following:
1. Sometimes all those zeroes in the price can take your attention away
from the reality of the transaction, so pretend you're dickering on a
used car. How would you respond to a vendor who said the price was
firm and a mechanics report wouldn't change it? How much would you
drop your offer for a toasted engine, bad transmission, bald tires etc. Is
it
a "must have" '57 Belair or a '98 Corolla?
2. It might be worthwhile to get a realtor to help in your first home
purchase. This is what they do and a good one can be invaluable.
I think they're overpaid but I've used them for several transactions
and I don't regret it. A good realtor knows the answers to all those
niggling questions, should know a good home inspector and can tell
you what similar homes have been selling for in the area. It might
be worth the peace of mind, and 2 or 3%, or whatever the going rate
is in your area, to have a professional smooth your first purchase.
Brian, in Cedar
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Posted by on February 8, 2005, 9:24 pm
On Mon, 07 Feb 2005 22:03:35 -0500, Stephen Huckaby
>ANY ANY ANY ANY advice whatso ever you can give me re buying
>my first home would be greatly appreciated.
>
>If I sound Ignorent, its cuz I is. Please help me.
>
You're doing fine so far, Stephen. You've talked with a mortgage
broker and you're looking towards hiring an inspector.
Your mortgage broker probably can recommend an inspector, and can
also comment on price. (He should be able to tell you the value of the
last few comparable sales ... and of course, there will be an
appraisal as part of the financing.)
Real estate is one of the few reasonably free markets left. A house
is worth whatever the market will bear. And the market is different
in every town.
Any offer you make should be subject to financing and inspection.
The clauses should state they are for your exclusive benefit.
Have a lawyer draw it for you, don't use the forms from stationary
stores.
As to the conversations with the seller, the test is more than what
he is willing to accept, the test is also what you are willing to
pay. That would be guided by what else you can buy for the same
cost.
(Example: The seller wants $200 thousand. There is $17,500 worth
of work required over the next four or five years. What else can you
buy for $217,500?)
----------------
As an aside, I buy and sell a lot of homes. My experience is that a
FSBO (For Sale By Owner) quite often means one of two things: 1)
the owner is in a desperate situation and needs every nickel he can
get (big pressure to sell) or 2) the owner wants to get a price so
ridiculously high that no realtor would touch it. In the first
case, you have tremendous bargaining power; in the second case, you
should run, not walk. As I said, not always but quite often.
Listen for the negation. The longer and louder a seller insists he
won't take less, the more likely it is that he will.
-------
As a further aside, don't be afraid of paying a little too much
(particularly in a rising market) if the location and floor plan are
both excellent. Those are the two things that will hold value over
time.
-------
And as a final aside, have you looked at other homes with a realtor?
Do you have a solid idea of what homes are worth in your city, your
neighbourhood?
Ken
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Posted by xrongor on February 8, 2005, 3:12 pm
> Your mortgage broker probably can recommend an inspector
personally, i wouldnt get a recommendation for an inspector from ANYONE
involved in the transaction with me that stands to make money when i buy a
house. the broker, the agents, they all have their own adjenda.
if you must, check their references thouroughly.
randy
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