Success, Your Bid Is Accepted. You’re Ready For Your Second Assistant

Retaining the services of Licensed Professional Engineer (P.E.) home inspector can translate into big savings at the closing table. First, you need to be sure that you retain the services of a qualified Licensed Professional Engineer who can identify subtle defects that are not readily visible to the typical home buyer. Buyers who inspect their prospective homes by themselves are rarely qualified to conduct a thorough home inspection and even if they have a good knowledge base to work from, they are too emotionally involved in the purchase and are usually blinded by the glitter of the cosmetic issues.

Buying the home of your dreams usually consumes all of your available resources as well as everything you can borrow. You sure don’t want to wake up to an unexpected $3,000 repair bill for a new heating system three months after you move in.

Identifying subtle defects before you sign a contract can translate into a reduced selling price or repair of uncovered defects at the sellers cost. And don’t believe that the seller is offering the house “as is”, there’s always room for negotiation. The extermination of a termite infestation has historically been a seller’s responsibility. Of course, there is a limit to what any inspector can uncover because home inspections are visual investigations and destructive probing is not the standard of practice in the industry. However, there may be times when destructive probing may be recommended by the home inspector and this must be undertaken with the seller’s approval. The purpose of a pre-purchase home inspection is to reduce risk to the buyer, the visual inspection can not eliminate risk.

Room For Renegotiation

Choose The Right Person To Conduct Your Home Inspection

Some States and communities require sellers to provide a property condition disclosure document to the buyer revealing what they know to be defects in their home, your real estate agent should obtain a copy of this disclosure for you. Although these disclosures are useful, they are useful only to the extent that they are honestly executed; in addition, although most sellers may be aware of very obvious defects, they cannot be expected to be aware of subtle, and possibly costly, defects that a home inspection engineer may uncover. Therefore, choosing the services of a qualified home inspector is a very important decision that you will need to make. Don’t wait until your bid is accepted to make your choice. Smart home buyers do their homework beforehand and conduct their interviews before they begin their house hunt.

Home inspectors have various credentials, some are engineers, some are not engineers. If it takes a Licensed Professional Engineer (P.E.) or Registered Architect to design and file the plans for a home to be constructed for sale, it makes good sense to retain the services of a similarly qualified person to inspect the same home years later. In addition, since only a P.E. can offer a professional engineering judgment regarding a structural problem, home buyers who retain the services of a non-engineer may have to pay a second fee to obtain an opinion. Be sure to obtain a home inspector with the credentials needed to assist you. Don’t be confused by home inspectors who claim certification, certification can be purchased and is available to almost anybody, a high school diploma is not a requirement.

Home Inspector Credentials

Written Report Or Check List

It is preferable to retain the services of a home inspection engineer who issues a full written report detailing what is wrong, why it’s wrong, and what needs to be done to correct the uncovered defects. Home inspection reports that consist of check lists handed to you at the end of an inspection are often void of needed detail; checking off good, fair poor, adequate, inadequate, etc. often leaves you wondering what to do next. Be sure that you retain the services of a home inspector engineer whose door is open for future questions.

Your home inspectors report should be ready the day after the home inspection. Review your report and discuss any questions you may have with your home inspection engineer.

If defects are uncovered that you feel require re-negotiation, compile a list and discuss these items with your real estate agent; if you are being represented by an attorney you may also want to discuss these items with your attorney. If the seller agrees to re-negotiate, you are better off accepting a monetary adjustment rather than repair by the seller because seller repairs may not be to your satisfaction. Although most sellers will re-negotiate for serious uncovered defects, there are occasions where the seller refuses and then you will need to rethink your position and decide whether to proceed with the sale or continue your house hunt.

The On-Site Home Inspection

The Home Inspection Engineer’s Report

Your home inspection engineer’s report should be ready the day after the inspection. Review your report and discuss any questions you may have with your engineer.

If defects are uncovered that you feel require renegotiation, compile a list and discuss these items with your real estate agent; if you are being represented by an attorney you may also want to discuss these items with your attorney. If the seller agrees to renegotiate, you are better off accepting a monetary adjustment rather than repair by the seller because seller repairs may not be to your satisfaction. Although most sellers will renegotiate for serious uncovered defects, there are occasions where the seller refuses and then you will need to re-think your position and decide whether to proceed with the sale or continue your house hunt.