RayFinkle Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Buying a house, got the inspection today. Anything special I should ask the dude while I am shadowing him for 3 hours? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erynthered Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Dont shadow him. Let him do his job, then afterword, ask him the questions you may have. I'm sure he'll have some things to go over with you on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wooderson Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 I'm sure you know this but make sure the roof is checked and in good shape. Nothing worse than throwing large amounts of cash away right after purchasing a place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Buying a house, got the inspection today. Anything special I should ask the dude while I am shadowing him for 3 hours? Make sure he runs all the water taps long enough to be sure that all the drains work and don't back up. Have him test the outlets for proper ground. There are a lot of older homes that are 2 wire, with replacement 3 prong outlets. That's not necessarily a deal breaker - PM me if that's the case. Make sure he identifies the water-elec-gas shut-offs. Gives an opinion about the electric panel. If the roof pitch permits - he should walk it, looking for weak spots, including the ridge. And check gutter condition. If it has a basement - get an opinion about any flooding evidence. Make sure he sights the exterior for wall bowing. Foundation cracks. Settling. Basement humidity. Doors that bind. Killer trees on your neighbor's property waiting to crush you. Raised sidewalk sections waiting for a lawsuit. And - unless I missed it before... *Your question should have been asked before today*. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plenzmd1 Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Buying a house, got the inspection today. Anything special I should ask the dude while I am shadowing him for 3 hours? All of the stuff Cincy pointed out sounds great. I would also add tell him to find enough small stuff that you can request a 1 year home warranty from the sellers. If they so no eh..at least you tried. In all seriousness, I am of the old school. To me. inspections should be for major thiings like Cincy sited. Youa re buying a USED house, everything is not going to be perfect! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayFinkle Posted March 24, 2009 Author Share Posted March 24, 2009 Make sure he runs all the water taps long enough to be sure that all the drains work and don't back up.Check Have him test the outlets for proper ground. There are a lot of older homes that are 2 wire, with replacement 3 prong outlets. That's not necessarily a deal breaker - PM me if that's the case. Home was built in 2001. All 3 prong. Make sure he identifies the water-elec-gas shut-offs. Gives an opinion about the electric panel. Check If the roof pitch permits - he should walk it, looking for weak spots, including the ridge. And check gutter condition. Not walkable If it has a basement - get an opinion about any flooding evidence. This is North Carolina. What is a basement? Make sure he sights the exterior for wall bowing. Foundation cracks. Settling. Basement humidity. Doors that bind. Can interrior walls bow as well? Killer trees on your neighbor's property waiting to crush you. Raised sidewalk sections waiting for a lawsuit. No killer treees, we don't have sidewalks either down here in Carolina... And - unless I missed it before... *Your question should have been asked before today*. Thanks Dad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayFinkle Posted March 24, 2009 Author Share Posted March 24, 2009 All of the stuff Cincy pointed out sounds great. I would also add tell him to find enough small stuff that you can request a 1 year home warranty from the sellers. If they so no eh..at least you tried. In all seriousness, I am of the old school. To me. inspections should be for major thiings like Cincy sited. Youa re buying a USED house, everything is not going to be perfect! Already have a 1 year home warranty worked in... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Interior walls... Yes - they can. It's rare, and generally obvious when you first visited the shack. Sonny... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dib Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 I'm sure you know this but make sure the roof is checked and in good shape. Nothing worse than throwing large amounts of cash away right after purchasing a place. wood rot, dry rot, termites, carpenter ants foundation cracks pipes/wiring composition check behind closed drapes for cracked windows when was the house re-roofed how current is the insulation/furnace/ac/water heater Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordio Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 I'm sure you know this but make sure the roof is checked and in good shape. Nothing worse than throwing large amounts of cash away right after purchasing a place. I will second this notion. Bought a nice house 3 years ago. When the home inspector was doing the inspection I noticed there was a part on the one side of the roof that the shingles were curling a little. I asked him about & said can you writeup in your report that he recommends that the house needs a new roof. Fuggin a**hole inspector says" ah dont worry, it just a little curling, I would not be concerned about it". Well a mere 2 years later, you guessed it, I had to pay for a new roof. 2 of my friends did it so they got everything for me at cost so it was not super expensive, but it still cost about 4 grand. Burns my a**. When you pay over $200K in the WNY market for a house(I know in some markets that kind of money only gets you a shack, but in WNY it gets you a decent house) I did not expect to drop 4 grand on a roof so early. If there is anything wrong with the roof that you notice, make sure he puts it into the report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Dont shadow him. Let him do his job, then afterword, ask him the questions you may have. I'm sure he'll have some things to go over with you on. I did the opposite....asked him questions as he went around, had him point out stuff to me that I didn't know or needed another opinion on. Hell, you're paying him so he shouldn't mind. And don't forget to check the septic and for termites. I've walked away from two pending house details over inspections that turned up major problems in those areas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erynthered Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 I did the opposite....asked him questions as he went around, had him point out stuff to me that I didn't know or needed another opinion on. Hell, you're paying him so he shouldn't mind. And don't forget to check the septic and for termites. I've walked away from two pending house details over inspections that turned up major problems in those areas. What ever works for you I suppose. What I did was let him do his job while I did some closer inspections of the house myself. At the end he walked me through all of what he found then I walked him through what I had found. Win Win. An extra 2 K off the price of the house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayFinkle Posted March 24, 2009 Author Share Posted March 24, 2009 What ever works for you I suppose. What I did was let him do his job while I did some closer inspections of the house myself. At the end he walked me through all of what he found then I walked him through what I had found. Win Win. An extra 2 K off the price of the house. One thing that sucks about me is we are purchasing the house through a short sale with the bank. A short sale is basically one step before it goes into foreclosure. The property is being sold "as is". If the inspection turns up anything major, we can't go back to the seller. We either absorb the cost or walk away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erynthered Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 One thing that sucks about me is we are purchasing the house through a short sale with the bank. A short sale is basically one step before it goes into foreclosure. The property is being sold "as is". If the inspection turns up anything major, we can't go back to the seller. We either absorb the cost or walk away. There's always that. Just kiddin Ray, best of luck to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 One thing that sucks about me is we are purchasing the house through a short sale with the bank. A short sale is basically one step before it goes into foreclosure. The property is being sold "as is". If the inspection turns up anything major, we can't go back to the seller. We either absorb the cost or walk away. In your post..#7 here..you stated: "Already have a 1 year home warranty worked in... " Dad asks: Explain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayFinkle Posted March 24, 2009 Author Share Posted March 24, 2009 In your post..#7 here..you stated: "Already have a 1 year home warranty worked in... " Dad asks: Explain. The home comes with a one year home owners warranty. So if any sh-t breaks, we only to pay a deductable of $75. If they fix it, they replace it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mead107 Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 How did it go ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 What ever works for you I suppose. What I did was let him do his job while I did some closer inspections of the house myself. At the end he walked me through all of what he found then I walked him through what I had found. Win Win. An extra 2 K off the price of the house. Geez...you waited till that day to do your own inspection? Slacker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 I did the opposite....asked him questions as he went around, had him point out stuff to me that I didn't know or needed another opinion on. Hell, you're paying him so he shouldn't mind. I did the same thing. You can always go back to the house and do your own inspection if you make arrangements through the realtor. We went back a couple of times, not just to look more closely, but also to take measurements and get rooms labled for the move. Tailing the inspector completely helped me put into perspective the depth of the individual problems he found. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Miner Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 The home comes with a one year home owners warranty. So if any sh-t breaks, we only to pay a deductable of $75. If they fix it, they replace it. Home warranties are good, but be a little careful. Say for instance, in your first year, your hot water heater goes out. You call the warranty people, and they'll send someone to take a look at it. He'll say that you need a new hot water heater. Fortunately for you, you'll only be out $75 for your deductible. But you also may be out some extra cash if there are upgrades that need to be made to your system in order to install the new water heater. Warranty doesn't cover the upgrades since they aren't part of the original home, but the new heater can't go in without them (perhaps code has changed or something like that). But it's still definitely better than getting a new one yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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