The Value Of A Home Inspection In A Competitive Market

The California Real Estate Inspection Association (CREIA) cautions homebuyers and homeowners to not allow any party in the real estate transaction to advise against a professional home inspection because of market conditions.

It is a grave error for anyone to advise against an inspection. Every home has concealed or unknown defects awaiting discovery by a qualified home inspector. These might include mere functional problems, such as faulty plumbing or a defective roof. But there might also be major safety issues awaiting discovery such as electrical wiring deficiencies or a faulty furnace. Any party related to the transaction who recommends against a home inspection is not representing the best interest of the home buyer and/or the home seller and may be subjecting themselves to potential future liability.

Hot markets, the kind that entice buyers to make rush-to-judgment offers are emotionally driven environments in which the rush to buy can be invitation to financial disaster and years of regret.

There is no limit to the numbers and kinds of problems that can be discovered in the course of an accurate and competent home inspection. Therefore, the unseen problems you might acquire, just to meet the demands of the sellers’ could saddle you with major repair costs not anticipated or budgeted for at the time of the purchase.

The best approach to obtaining essential disclosure information without committing to a blind purchase is to make an offer that includes your right to have a home inspection preformed for information purposes only, but without the “deal” being depended on the inspector’s findings.

This constitutes a fully informed risk with all parties’ eyes wide open. In the event that the home inspection reveals problems so major that they eclipse the desirability of the property, you can still walk away from the deal. You may or may not recover your purchase deposit, but in some cases that would be a minor loss compared with the long term ache associated with of a regretted acquisition. It should be remembered that a home inspection report is not a repair list for the seller. It is an information list for you, the buyer, to help you know what you are buying and help you decide weather or not to proceed with the deal.