In some states and counties, you don’t have to have a piece of property inspected before it is bought and sold. This lack of a requirement pretty much makes seller’s disclosure statements not even worth the paper they are printed on. You can walk through a property, find out when the HVAC system was replaced, and even inquire with the neighbors, but you can’t know the history of a property just by looking at it. Even with new construction, it makes a lot of sense to pay the price it costs to have a home inspection, as you truly don’t know what will be uncovered. Check out these five reasons you need to have a licensed property inspector look over any property you are thinking about investing in.
1. Issues Can Go Overlooked
When people visit with their primary doctors once a year, it is generally for preventative measures. Property inspections are basically the same thing. Everything on the day might look okay but that is not an assumption you can just blindly make when you are about to buy. Various kinds of issues can go overlooked and unnoticed by previous owners as well as builders, so have an inspection to know for sure.
2. Getting More Leverage During Price Negotiations
It can be mildly unnerving to learn that the home you are interested in buying requires more work than you thought, but this is quite a normal occurrence. Home sellers will add all sorts of incentives into the sales contracts on their homes to help entice buyers and keep the process moving along. So, if something is uncovered during an inspection, there’s a good chance that the seller will go ahead and have it fixed or earmark money to have the problem rectified.
3. The Original Owner May Not Be Aware
Even with new home construction, you need to have an inspection to cover the bases. Now more than ever, home buyers have access to oodles of documents that lay out how each property was built to code and inspected.
4. Anything Can Happen Behind the Walls
Remember that a leak can start between the walls, originate in the ceiling, or flood the basement. You can’t see termites either, but they can do loads of lasting damage. Home inspections uncover everything that may not meet the eye. It is best to get one and find that you didn’t need it rather than need one and not find out until it is too late.
5. Being Safe Rather Than Sorry
People get home inspections for the very same reason that they carry homeowners insurance or have their roofs inspected annually. No one wants to make a decision that is going to follow them for many years or have a negative impact on the property they own. With a home inspection report in hand, you can buy the property or walk away; in both cases, you will have much more insight.
Do you have any comments or hindsight to add about home inspections? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below. And if you have any questions about selling or buying a home in metro Albuquerque, be sure to contact me today!
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