If you can’t afford the inspection you can’t afford the house!
This is a great post by Charles Buell about the importance of having a home inspection when purchasing a home. I can't imagine suggesting to a buyer to forego this very important step. Often times things found during an inspection are not major and are an easy fix, while I've seen other times where some major issues were noted and very costly. Buying a home? Don't scrimp on a home inspection. It is the best money you can spend.
I have had recent discussions with agents and inspectors about what to me is a scary proposition. These discussions are not scary because the result would mean less work for me and other inspectors---but because of the sheer risk to the consumer. It also reflects badly on how well the real estate industry has communicated about the importance of inspections.
What I am hearing is that buyers are forgoing (and in some cases being encouraged to forego) home inspections to both save money and to avoid “one more obstacle” in the way of closing the deal. I can’t imagine the thought process behind this---and one can only hope it is not the tip of the ice-berg of some “trend.” I would much rather see this as an isolated conjugation of the planets and/or stars with no merit or substance in reality---that somehow I am the only person on the planet that has heard these voices. Perhaps I ate some tainted shell-fish or exotic mushroom and it was all just a nasty hallucination.
These are my thoughts on the two parts of the hallucination that bother me the most.
1. Placing the emphasis on “closing the deal” as being the most important part of the process is overlooking the bigger picture of taking care of the buyer and fostering relationships that would encourage both repeat business as well as future referrals. Can one really afford to ignore the path one takes to get to closing?
2. Lawyer fodder. While all of us like to save money, I would suggest that the home inspection is the last place that a buyer should scrimp on. Information that might be missed could end up being much more costly to both the buyer and their agent. Inspectors are ALWAYS cheaper than lawyers.
The bottom line here is that if the buyer can’t afford a home inspection they can’t afford a house.
Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector
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