Your Home Inspection: Plan to be There!

Recently, I spoke with Joel Schachter of Precise Home Inspections who had a very strong piece of advice for me to pass on to my clients: If you are buying a house, make sure you attend the inspection!

When you buy a $30 toaster, it comes with a user manual.  Unfortunately, for the most valuable, complicated purchase you're ever going to make - your home - doesn't come with one.  And once you own it, you're responsible to maintain it.  

That's why Joel highly recommends that you attend the home inspection so the inspector can point out the critical items that need attention and can also give you a tour of the home's important systems - for example, the location of the water shut off valve, the electrical shut off switch, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, etc.

In the State of New York, only a Licensed Professional Engineer or a Registered Architect is authorized to give you a professional opinion regarding the structural elements of a home.  As a buyer you have to pay for this service, but it is well worth the investment. After the inspection, the inspector will give you a written report on the condition of the home's systems, including heating, cooling, septic, etc. and structure, including condition of the roof, foundation, electrical, plumbing, etc.  Every property is unique and has its own issues.

In his report, Joel separates problem areas into three categories:

1)      Items that need to be done immediately

2)      Items that the buyer should budget for in the future

3)      Items the buyer should maintain in order to retain the value of the house

Sellers are not always willing to negotiate with buyers over Category 1 items, and may insist on selling the property "as is."  As I mentioned earlier, if there are significant problems, it may not benefit the buyer to go forward as repairs may be too costly, especially if the seller won't negotiate.  At the same time, any item that is a safety concern has to be disclosed by the seller to a potential buyer, so it's usually in the seller's best interest to fix these problems.

I asked Joel for an example of a category  2 item.  He said that could be a roof that is showing its age and already has two layers of shingles.  Since you can't add a third layer, the buyer would need to budget for that expense.  As part of his service, Joel  lets buyers know that roofs need to be maintained to get the most number of years out of them.  His advice would be to make sure there are no overhanging branches, to regularly remove leaf debris and make sure that that the roof gets sunlight so moss doesn't grow.

Call me to answer any of your real estate questions or concerns.

Michael Marciano

The Marciano Realty Team 914.721.0038 

marcianokw@gmail.com | 

www.westchesterhouses4sale.com