(CHEROKEE LAKE REALTY WRITES A WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE GRAINGER COUNTY JOURNAL NEWSPAPER. THIS WAS A RECENT QUESTION ASKED BY A READER.)
Absolutely. Now, here is the catch. There are good inspectors. There are fair inspectors. And there are not very good inspectors. I guess you can say that about any profession. They all have to be licensed by the state, so anyone you hire is going to be licensed. So, if you can’t qualify them that way, how do you find the good ones? That’s tough. Some inspectors have a vast knowledge of what makes a home suitable for living. Some have even been builders that have built a home from the foundation up. Some don’t have that type of experience. They have been classified as a “handyman” before they became inspectors. Some took a course, bought into a franchise, were given a template of what to look for and where to take photos to insert in the template and that’s it. In other words, Caveat Emptor (Buyer Beware). Over the years, I have run into every type. Here is what you need to realize as a buyer. Whether you are buying a manufactured home, a fairly inexpensive home, a home just built, or a mansion, there is no perfect home. They were built by human beings, and as we know, we are not perfect. The most expensive items to replace in a home are the roof and the heat pump(s). These will cost you thousands of dollars to replace. Settling? All homes settle. It is extremely rare when you don’t see cracks in bricks, concrete, blocks. It’s the amount of settling that should be of concern. I recently read a home inspector’s report that notated that the home was unstable because of some thin cracks on the stone foundation. He attributed this to a major settling issue. After reading the report, one would think that the home was sinking into the ground. Well, guess what, the home was built in 1940, and it had less signs of settling than some homes that were built in 2020. Yep. Amazing. Besides the HVAC(s), the roof, perhaps some electrical issues, most of everything else can be considered cosmetic. And depending on your satisfaction level, cosmetic items may need to be addressed now, or later, or never. Even if a home is perfect, and please remember what I said earlier about “perfect homes”, to maintain “perfection” you must spend money every single year on maintenance issues or new repairs that pop up constantly. So read the inspection report and keep all this in mind. If you like the home and negotiated a fair price, then move forward on the purchase. If there are very expensive issues, like the ones previously mentioned, then ask your agent to approach the seller and see if they will reduce the price that you have agreed to pay as a concession. This again will come down to what you have agreed to pay for the home. If you got a great deal, the seller may decide they can’t reduce the price anymore. Every situation is different. Finally, and here is a scary thought. You pay for an inspection and consider it the final word on the condition of the home. Not necessarily. Read the fine print in the inspection report. If the inspector did not see the issue, could not identify concealed or latent defects, or could not access that part of the house, basically did not inspect that portion of the house for whatever reason, and an issue turns up, they have no legal responsibility to you. Scary I know.
