New Construction – Is a Home Inspection Really Necessary?
When selling new construction I am always asked if the buyer should get a home inspection. I tell them it's never a bad idea and that there are things that could have been overlooked, done wrong, shortcutted or defective even in new homes. Claudette Millette's post is quite good pointing out the things that could happen before the closing during the construction process.
When buying a new home in Massachusetts you need to be aware that, just because a home is new, it is not necessarily fault free.
Not only can you greatly benefit from an inspection on your newly constructed home but it is something that you should insist on. All new construction should be inspected to ensure that your home is being built with the quality that you are expecting it to be.
Builders will often point to the fact that the town will be requiring a number of inspections at different stages of the construction process and certainly prior to an issue of a certificate of occupancy. They may also cite these inspections as reasons why an independent inspection is unnecessary.
While it is true that town inspections will be done, these inspectors focus primarily on code violations - not the quality of the contractor's work. A professional home inspector will scrutinize the workmanship that is going into the construction and will uncover potential defects in the process.
A relocation client of mine who was having a new home constructed initially disagreed with my advice to have an inspection done several weeks prior to the closing. I finally won out and attended the home inspection in my client's absence. This particular home had a finished basement that had been nearly completed.
During the course of the inspection, it was discovered that there had been a substantial flood in the basement and all of the finish work had been submerged for a period of time. Detecting the moisture, the inspector revealed the problem. It appeared as though the builder was hoping that all would be dry by the time of the final walk-through.
That may, in fact, have been the outcome if the inspection had not been done and could have resulted in a serious mold or rotting situation at a later time.
As a result of the inspector's discovery, the builder was forced to rip out all of the finish work in the basement including the sheet rock and build it back from scratch. And, my client was saved from a potentially bad outcome.
This episode is one of many that make a solid case for the fact that a professional home inspection is a necessary part of any home purchase, including new construction. It also demonstrates the need for a professional buyer broker to oversee the entire process. If left to their own initiative, my clients would have certainly suffered some serious damage at some point in the future.
Having a new home built is an exciting and rewarding undertaking. Don't have the excitement ruined by not taking the property precautions. Protect your investment with a professional home inspection. It's the extra step that is worth taking.
Copyright 2009 - Claudette Millette, Broker, Owner, TheBuyersCounsel - 800-392-1446 - E-mail
Ashland, Holliston, Hopkinton, Natick, Newton, Northborough, Framingham, Shrewsbury, Sherborn, Southborough, Sudbury, Wayland, Westborough
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