Real Estate Roadblocks – How Do I Make Sure that I’m Not Buying a LEMON?

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Filed under: Home Buying Tips

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Today I talked to Matt Smith, from Trust Home Inspections, who offered advice about how to be careful about unknown issues that might be in the home that you are buying. Matt’s company can be hired to look around the house and find potential problems that you need to know about before closing on the property.

Technology for Home Inspections

Make sure your home inspector is using new technology. These are some of the common issues that can be uncovered in the inspection:

• Roof Inspections: Matt uses a drone for roof inspections, which means that all roofs can be inspected, regardless of the height, materials, etc. You can’t see everything from the ground, but a drone enables full view of the areas that are hard to reach.
• Thermal Imaging: It’s always a good idea to use thermal imaging to see temperature differentials, which can sometimes also uncover moisture in the ceiling. Then moisture meters are used to back up the findings.
• Water Meter: This check identifies potential leaks in the house and landscaping. Water does a lot of damage. It gets real expensive if these issues are left unchecked.

Some people are a bit skeptical about home inspections because they worry about the efficacy of the findings. When the inspector utilizes this technology, problems of all sizes can be identified which could potentially save you thousands of dollars in repair costs.

One example of a way that a home inspection saved a buyer money is when a problem was recently uncovered with the chimney and roof on a home. This problem ended up costing $17,000 in repair work. The seller footed the bill since the problems were identified in the pre-sale inspection. Paying a few hundred dollars for an inspection paid off for the buyer since they avoided those repairs in the future.

Do Your Research Before Buying a Home

During this home inspection, you can’t identify everything that needs to be repaired. But the key is to identify issues with the major systems, such as plumbing, electricity, structural integrity, and more.

If you need help with a home inspection, talk to Matt Smith of Trust Home Inspections for more information. Contact me any time for information about financing your home purchase.

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