HUD Homes Articles | Yes, I know just about no matter where you live in the USA the home you buy today has hefty monthly payments and huge fees to pay prior to purchase of the home.
A common way to save money is to find a cheap home inspector. While your can get lucky once in a while I have found there are few bargains in life.
After spending weeks, months or years looking for a home devote a little time picking your home inspector carefully. Even in the few states that require home inspector licensing it is a very minimal requirement that does little to protect consumers. If you wish to protect your self against the purchase of the money pit you must find out all you can about the qualifications of the home inspector before you hire them.
Just about every reputable home inspection company is proud of the reputation of their inspectors and will happily provide you with their resumes, if they will not that should be a red flag.
Beware of the cheap inspector the realtor knows. That inspector may be cheap because he lacks enough experience to charge more, he many also not have enough experience to find defects. Worse yet the inspector may be experienced but may feel that if tells you about defects in the home he may loose future referrals from that realtor or the real estate office.
When searching for a home inspector the most important qualifications are his or her experience in the field and independence from realtors. Independent inspectors are free to tell it like it is. Inspectors who depend on realtors for referrals may also feel pressure to down play defects or not tell you the whole story in order to avoid rocking the boat.
Recently I inspected a home listed as a four bedroom. When I got into the attic I knew it was not a legal bedroom due to the height of the windows above the ground. I told the buyer to go and check with the town. Needless to say the listing realtor is not happy because the buyer now knows she did not do her due diligence and check the tax records, besides now she got caught. The selling realtor is not happy because the buyer needs a four bedroom home and the home he was bidding on does not have four legal bedrooms. The buyer is not happy because he was about to pay for a home with one less bedroom than he thought it had and the home did not meet his minimum requirements.
Let’s put things in perspective: If you’re buying a $350,000 home and the inspection fee is $600, that’s .172% of the cost of the home! The cost of a New Jersey home inspection is a bargain! If the inspection turns up little wrong with the home (few do), you’ve bought some relatively inexpensive peace of mind. If the inspection finds serious problems (most do), then the few hundred dollars you invest in our home inspection could end up saving you many thousands of dollars.
Michael Del Greco is President of Accurate Inspections, Inc. A New Jersey home inspection firm. He has performed thousands of home inspections in New Jersey since 1993. He has taught the New Jersey Home Inspector Licensing classes and New Jersey Home Inspector CEU classes as well as participated in developing questions for the National Home Inspector Exam. Michael’s home inspector resume may be viewed at http://www.accurateinspections.com/michael2.htm.
Visit http://home-inspector.NewJerseyHomeInspection.com for a list of home inspectors in New Jersey.
This article may be freely reproduced if it is not altered and the above two lines are reproduced with active hot links.
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