Should I Get a Home Inspection in DC?
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The purpose of this blog post is to explore what you should consider during your inspection period when buying a home in Washington, DC. This can be one of the toughest parts of the transaction as it is essentially another round of negotiations between a buyer and a seller. The buyer wants to ensure that they are well aware of the current condition of the home and any issues that might come up during their ownership. The seller, on the other hand, has likely lived in and loves the home, so having someone come in and nitpick can be a pretty stressful and intrusive process.
Below is a picture of the inspection portion of the sales contract (as of 8/24/2016):
The important items to note are:
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Number of Days for the Contingency - This is the number of days you are allowed to get an inspector in a home and then either request repairs/credits or back out of the contract without penalty. Miss this deadline and you will lose any ability to negotiate or void the contract (not good);
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Right to Negotiate - By checking that box you will receive the right to negotiate repairs/credits for items found to be deficient and/or dangerous; and
- Right to Cancel - By checking this box you are given the ability to void the contract based on your findings of the home inspection.
As a buyer, here are some things to keep in mind:
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Do I Need an Inspection? - Yes, is almost always the answer. Unless you are a professional home flipper and know exactly what you are looking for then an inspection should most certainly happen. I have seen some big issues pop-up that have either saved people thousands of dollars or elected them the ability to walk away from a property without consequence;
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What Should I Expect During an Inspection? - The goal of an inspector is to use all of his senses and knowledge to touch, test, prod & evaluate everything they can access within property lot. They will date and test appliances, get on your roof (if there is access), search through your electrical panel and assess all of the various components of the home in order to give you a full report on its overall condition;
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We Have a Report, Now What? - The answer to the question is never the same as every inspection is different. The first thing to do though is to schedule some time with your real estate professional to go through the report and pick out items of concern. With homes being resold, I generally focus on items that are defective or pose a risk to the long-term health of the home and the people living in it. If it's a new construction home, then the level of scrutiny is much higher as everything should be brand new and perfect working order. If you have the ability to negotiate repairs then this would be the time when you decide what items you would like repaired by the seller or you can even ask for a credit amount so you can fix it yourself after settlement;
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Negotiation - As mentioned above, the goals of each side differ on addressing items, so it's important to try and be as clear as possible about the items you want to be fixed and how it should be done. The DC contract also allows a buyer to specify if you want certain items handled by a licenced professional (electrician, roofer, etc). In DC each side has a three-day window to respond to the other sides submission. Generally, after a couple of rounds of negotiations, the parties will either come to terms or decide to move their separate ways; and
- Moving Forward - Once all the terms have been agreed upon then the seller will have until the final walkthrough of the property (unless otherwise specified) to complete the work. Anything that needs to be addressed by a licenced professional should come with a receipt and it's generally best practice to pass along some photos of the completed work to the buyer.
FAQ #1: "I heard many people just waive home inspections to be more competitive" - This is tricky to answer because some people simply do crazy things to get homes in DC. This is not typically recommended for your average buyer. However, if the goal is to make your offer more competitive by removing that contingency to the contract then you might consider doing a pre-offer inspection. This is where a potential buyer will have an inspector come to the home before submitting the offer to see if there are any items that are dangerous or need to be addressed. If the home checks out, then a person can proceed without having to have that contingency as part of their contract. The trade off is you are paying to have an inspection done on a home that might not even end up being yours.
FAQ #2: "What is the cost?" - Inspections range from $300-$1,000 depending on size and number of units within the building
If you are interested in buying a home in Washington, DC and need help then please feel free to call John Coleman at (202) 427-9689.
Thank you so much for reading my post about whether of not you should get a home inspection in DC.
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