A great SitePro Inspection is
made up of three components; a snapshot of the building materials and
systems in your home, a list of 'deficiencies' from correct or safe
building practices, and an education on your homes major systems. The
list of 'deficiencies' is often the most concerning to home buyers after
a SitePro Inspection as this is what may break a sale or
could involve unexpected expenses during the purchase process. So what
should home buyers do after they get the SitePro inspection report?
Get All The Information
Everything about a home can be fixed except for its location and no home is perfect under the lens of a SitePro Inspection .
Most home 'deficiencies' are related to changes made by amateurs after
the home was built, neglected maintenance items, or aging systems
needing replacement soon.
Read the SitePro Inspection report and all the written comments from your SitePro inspector to get the most information from the report. Your SitePro inspector and your SitePro Inspection
report should be able to tell you what your next step is for each
deficiency and the degree of urgency a defect has. Some 'deficiencies'
are inexpensive to repair but urgent to repair as they may present a
life safety hazard (e.g. exposed live wires). Other 'deficiencies' are
not immediate life safety hazards but may require budgeting for the
repair such as replacing an old hot water tank that is still fully
functional at the time of the inspection.
Home sellers are also a great source of information on the home. For example, if the SitePro Inspector notices
signs of a past oil heating system, the home seller should be able to
identify if an oil tank has been removed from the site. Home sellers
also should keep copies of warranties and guarantees on work done on the
home. If the SitePro Inspector identifies an installation defect on a new furnace, this may be repairable under the original warranty.
Talk To Your Realtor
You
should have an excellent working relationship with your Realtor if you
are going to have a successful real estate transaction. Experienced
Realtors have dealt with many of the common home deficiencies found in SitePro Inspections in the past and they can offer solutions to you like:
- · Arrange for the seller/builder to fix a deficiency before possession changes
- · Helping you find a contractor or handy person who can fix the deficiency
- · Arrange for more time before removing purchase subjects to investigate the problem(s)
- · Re-negotiating the purchase price of a home
- · Negotiating a Hold-Back in case of premature system failure or future Strata assessments
- · Help You Decide when to remove inspection subjects
Your
Realtor can also help give you guidance if the home deficiencies are
beyond normal and reasonable repair and perhaps you should consider
walking away from the home and looking for another one. Ultimately this
decision is up to the client but your Realtor can help you understand
what your options are.
Who Should Fix the Deficiencies?
Many
home sellers are quick to suggest they will fix a deficiency rather
than take a hold-back, lower the purchase price, or lose the sale.
While this method may solve the problem, the buyer does not have any
control over who is fixing the problem and the materials used. As many
'deficiencies' in a SitePro home inspection come from
amateur work, the last thing you want is for another amateur to 'fix'
the problem. It is also important that all work is performed by licensed
trades people and that any permits that may be needed are in place.
On existing homes, SitePro Home
Inspectors typically recommend that the home buyer has the correct
people come in to fix any deficiencies after the home transaction is
complete. This allows the future occupant of the home to know that the
repairs are done right and will be safe and solid for years to come. If
the home is newly built, the builder and their trades people should
correct any deficiencies before the transaction is completed.
Professional SitePro Home
Inspectors operate under standards of ethics which prevent them from
quoting on, performing any repair work, or collecting referral fees for
recommending any contractors. This is to protect SitePro home inspection clients who have a lot at stake based on the recommendations of a SitePro home inspection report. If your SitePro home
inspector offers to do repairs or have a family member do repairs for a
fee, you should throw away the entire inspection as suspect and bring
in an independent professional SitePro home inspector for a new inspection.
Call in the Experts
All
repairs should always be performed by licensed professionals. For minor
fixes, many professionals will perform repairs based on an hourly labor
rate plus repair material which they typically will have in their
service vehicle. Don't be surprised if there is a minimum charge for
showing up. Your Realtor or the Better Business Bureau can help you find
a trusted professional if you don't have any personal connections.
If
the repair job is beyond a normal service call, it may be necessary to
get a few quotes from professionals in your area. Contractor rates can
vary by as much as 300% and the quality of labor and materials can vary
greatly.
Final Thoughts
As no home is perfect under the lens of a SitePro home inspection, clients will always have to make some decisions about 'deficiencies' found in a SitePro
home inspection report and assume some of the risks and maintenance
expenses with a home purchase. While in some extreme cases the
deficiencies may be severe enough to walk away from a home purchase,
most items are fixable for a very small percentage of the purchase price
of the home or with just a little maintenance time from the new home
buyer.
Van Hibberts, CMI
Certified Residential Building Code Inspector ICC-5319905
Florida-State Certified Master Home Inspector Lic. #HI89
Florida-Certified Wind Mitigation Inspector
203(k) FHA/HUD Consultant #A0900
WDO Certificate #JE190791
NACHI #10071802
362 Gulf Breeze Parkway, #214
Gulf Breeze, Florida 32561
850.934.6800 (Office)
850.485.3209 (Cell / Text Msg)
"Looking Beyond The Obvious"
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