If I were asked, as a Buyers Agent, what is my biggest obstacle? My answer would probably be convincing the buyers that they do need to hire a licensed, professional Home Inspector. I can’t even count how many people have told me they were going to waive the home inspection and do it themselves because they “worked construction in college”.
There are so many advantages to having a quality, licensed Home Inspector check out the property before you close and very few advantages of inspecting it yourself. Every climate and environment are different and mother nature can cause a lot of damage to a house. A local Home Inspector automatically knows, through experience, what to look for in the particular area. One big example I use is termites. Termites are very common in the Florida Keys. Most homes have them. Just like any other animal, bug, pest, critter or whatever you want to call them, termites will travel. A local home inspector will know if the house next-door recently had termites and that will raise a red flag for him to be extra thorough on your termite inspection. A local Home Inspector can pull permits for jobs that have been done on the house in the past and see if the work was done by a reputable contractor. Local knowledge is a valuable thing.
A home inspection will uncover what may appear to be a very small problem at a quick glance but will become a large and expensive problem if not treated immediately. One example I remember was a house that appeared to be in pristine shape with all of the walls freshly painted the carpet steam cleaned the house was immaculate. The Home Inspector had a tool he ran over the drywall checking for moisture. He determined the reason everything had been freshly painted was one of the pipes behind the drywall had leaked and caused water damage. The drywall was all painted pretty but once it was opened up inside the framing had a lot of water damage. The damage you don’t so you can be more expensive than the damage you do see. Another home inspection I was on the inspector discovered a crack in the pipe that was buried underground going from the house to the septic tank. Raw sewage was leaking into the yard where this families children would have been playing every day. I have also seen a home inspection turn up faulty wiring that was a fire hazard waiting to happen. I could tell 100 more stories similar to those but I’m sure by now you get the point I’m trying to make with the importance of hiring a home inspector.
One of the biggest advantages, locally to the Florida Keys, of hiring a Home Inspector is the windstorm insurance mitigation. Many Home Inspectors are also licensed to write letters of credit for your windstorm insurance which is the most expensive of the insurances in Monroe County. The cost of the average home inspection, including the wind mitigation letter, will be anywhere between $500 and $700. I have seen cases where having this letter has saved over $1000 a year on the insurance policy. Assuming you’re going to own your home 10 or more years that’s a pretty good return on investment. If you’re planning on buying the home to flip it, having this letter in hand is a huge selling feature. Also, if the house does not meet the criteria to get the wind insurance discounts, the Home Inspector can suggest some improvements that will make the house eligible for these credits. Adding $2000 worth of improvements could save you over $1000 a year in insurance.
As a buyers agent, I am so adamant about the home inspection that if a buyer insists on waiving it I will require them to sign a release saying they are waiving their home inspection against my advice as their Realtor. As I mentioned above, the average home inspections will cost between $500 and $700. A lower end house in Key West will start around $500,000 and the high end will be $5M plus. Don’t jeopardize making a poor investment of that amount over the cost of a home inspection. In most cases, the seller will credit the buyer on the purchase price for any defects the inspector has found which usually is more money than the cost of the Home Inspection.
Gary
Gary McAdams, PA
Realtor and Notary Public
Barbara Anderson Realty
Key West, Florida
