3. THE THINGS YOU NEED TO DO BEFORE PURCHASING A HOME

Don’t buy someone’s problem, or like they say in cards, “don’t get left holding the Old Maid”. Protect yourself from buying someone else’s problem. The way you do this is simple. Hire a qualified home inspector in your proposed community/neighborhood to do a thorough home inspection, before you buy anything. When making an offer on a home, legal experts frequently suggest you need to include the following phrase:

“This offer is subject to a satisfactory home inspection”.

While disclosure statements are important, who wants to go through the drama of a long or protracted law suit against a seller, for an undisclosed or improperly disclosed defect? Hire a qualified home inspector to find out for yourself. The home inspector will typically work off a data spread sheet or a punch list. While punch list items will vary around the country, areas to be inspected typically include roof, foundation, siding, windows, plumbing, septic (if appropriate), dry rot, and other important items. You, as a smart consumer, should be aware of these items before you buy the house.

To find an acceptable home inspection service in your desired area, contact the local Board of Realtors. Typically they will have a preferred list of reputable home inspection services in the neighborhood or area near your proposed home purchase. Before hiring the home inspector, make certain that he/she has all the appropriate licensing if required by the state. Equally important, make certain the home inspection service has errors and omissions insurance coverage. If for one reason or another, the inspector misses what was an obvious problem, this potentially allows you recourse against the inspector and or his/her insurance firm. Do not use the services of a home inspection firm that does not have insurance.

In the event you are purchasing a new home, have it inspected! One of our affiliated groups focuses on construction defect litigation. Most Americans would be amazed at how poorly many new homes are built. And even if the home builder offers a “warranty” program, sometimes getting the homebuilder to come back and fix obvious defects is harder than you think.