The current seller's market for houses can mean that your offer on a home will be competing with other offers. In a May 2013 article titled, "9 Ways to Make Your Home Offer Irresistible", Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine offers strategies to make your bid stand out from the others in the eyes of the sellers.
Suggestion #7 is to make your offer's contingency clauses palatable for the sellers. And one way to do that is to, in the home-inspection contingency clause in the offer you make on a home, tell the sellers that you will cover the cost of any repairs recommended following the home inspection. If those repairs get too pricey, you can back out of the deal. Telling the sellers that they won't get stuck paying for a new roof, or new furnace/air conditioner, or similar repairs on a house they are leaving, might give your offer an edge over others. It's an interesting strategy for the magazine to suggest.
Your real estate professional can guide you as to what would be best for you to do in your individual situation. But here's an explanation of the home inspection process so that you'll understand it all. When you hire Complete Home Inspection to do your Kansas City home inspection, I am NOT the "house police" and can't require repairs to be made. I will thoroughly inspect the property and ascertain whether, at the time of the inspection, the house's appliances and systems are functioning as intended. I will also inspect the structure and exterior of the house. You will receive a complete report following the inspection, including photos and a summary page that lists recommended repairs.
Most people use the summary of recommended repairs as a place to start negotiating. Sometimes repairs are made, other times a change in the price of the home is worked out. If you're working with a real estate agent, ask him or her. It is important to take the age, price and condition of the house into consideration, asking only for important, expensive or safety-related items to be corrected. Obviously, if you follow the Kiplinger's advice, that wouldn't be an option for you.
So, it's an interesting new wrinkle for you to consider in your home-buying process, one that's brought on by the current seller's market in home sales. Ask your real estate professional what your best strategy would be, so that you're protected throughout the process.
Whole house inspections, condo inspections, radon testing, mold testing, and more, we do it all for you. Call or E-mail today to schedule your Complete Home Inspection, 913-268-0222, www.completehomeinspectionkc.com.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Monday, April 8, 2013
New or Existing, get it inspected either way
The March 2013 issue of Money magazine included an article examining the pros and cons of buying a just-built home versus an existing home. While the article focused on Sales Price, Speed of Transaction, Cost of Ownership, and Chance for Near-Term Gains, what it didn't talk about was that just-built homes and existing homes each need to be inspected by a certified home inspector before you buy.
A March 2012 post on this blog showed the attic in a new house I had inspected recently -
No insulation at all. Now, is that something you would check as soon as you move into your new home?
Probably not. Instead, you'd be wondering why it cost so much to cool and heat your new place.
In another new construction, I couldn't get the kitchen sink spray hose to extend from its resting place. The dishwasher's drain hose and the spray hose were tangled up under the sink. Further, the dishwasher was susceptible to backflow from the sink's garbage disposal because of the way its drainage hose had been placed. Again, you don't usually move into a brand new house and immediately check under the kitchen sink.
And a July 2009 post on this blog detailed a new house where I filled the whirlpool bathtub in the master bath as part of the inspection. As the water drained, it ran out all over the bathroom floor and flooded the rooms underneath. The tub's drain pipe hadn't been connected to anything. In another new house, I found that the control wire for the furnace had been connected to the doorbell instead of the house's thermostat. A couple of weeks into your first winter in the house, you'd wonder why the house only felt comfortable when the pizza guy rang the doorbell. And one more just-built house horror story for you - the kitchen garbage disposal had no power cord connected to it.
Yes, your builder's warranty covers things in your just-built home. Yes, you have a year to make a list of what needs to be repaired. Getting a Kansas City home inspection from Complete Home Inspection BEFORE you move in, though, gets you a jump start on that list and allows you to get many of those things fixed before you take occupancy. While warranties may protect you, the time lost, the inconvenience and the frustration you'll experience can only be handled by getting a Complete Home Inspection for your new property. So let me handle you final walk-through for you. Put my experienced eye to work for you and your family.
Whole house inspections, condo inspections, radon testing, mold testing, and new construction final walk-throughs, we do it all for you. Call or E-mail today to schedule your Complete Home Inspection, 913-268-0222, www.completehomeinspectionkc.com.
A March 2012 post on this blog showed the attic in a new house I had inspected recently -
No insulation at all. Now, is that something you would check as soon as you move into your new home?Probably not. Instead, you'd be wondering why it cost so much to cool and heat your new place.
In another new construction, I couldn't get the kitchen sink spray hose to extend from its resting place. The dishwasher's drain hose and the spray hose were tangled up under the sink. Further, the dishwasher was susceptible to backflow from the sink's garbage disposal because of the way its drainage hose had been placed. Again, you don't usually move into a brand new house and immediately check under the kitchen sink.
And a July 2009 post on this blog detailed a new house where I filled the whirlpool bathtub in the master bath as part of the inspection. As the water drained, it ran out all over the bathroom floor and flooded the rooms underneath. The tub's drain pipe hadn't been connected to anything. In another new house, I found that the control wire for the furnace had been connected to the doorbell instead of the house's thermostat. A couple of weeks into your first winter in the house, you'd wonder why the house only felt comfortable when the pizza guy rang the doorbell. And one more just-built house horror story for you - the kitchen garbage disposal had no power cord connected to it.
Yes, your builder's warranty covers things in your just-built home. Yes, you have a year to make a list of what needs to be repaired. Getting a Kansas City home inspection from Complete Home Inspection BEFORE you move in, though, gets you a jump start on that list and allows you to get many of those things fixed before you take occupancy. While warranties may protect you, the time lost, the inconvenience and the frustration you'll experience can only be handled by getting a Complete Home Inspection for your new property. So let me handle you final walk-through for you. Put my experienced eye to work for you and your family.
Whole house inspections, condo inspections, radon testing, mold testing, and new construction final walk-throughs, we do it all for you. Call or E-mail today to schedule your Complete Home Inspection, 913-268-0222, www.completehomeinspectionkc.com.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
