What Home Inspectors Don't Notice

Buyers face big expenses when they don’t discover these common problems before they move in

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April 27, 2011 RSS Feed Print
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Bottom line: To avoid unexpected costs after closing, home buyers should consider going beyond a standard home inspection, especially if they're living with seniors, children, or pets. Then they can ask the seller to cover some of the costs or at least factor them into their budget, and avoid ugly surprises after the move-in date.

Kimberly Palmer (@alphaconsumer) is the author of the new book Generation Earn: The Young Professional's Guide to Spending, Investing, and Giving Back.

Tags:
prices,
home improvements,
personal finance,
real estate

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As a home inspector, we encourage our clients, and especially first time homeowners to follow us around during the inspection. This enables them to ask questions about the house, as well having us explain what we are looking for, how systems work, what we find wrong and what corrections should be made. As stated in the article, home inspectors can only see whats visible, so if the defect is hidden, it may just be missed. Get references, and don't rely solely on the real estate agent for a home inspectors name.

Barry www.thelongislandhomeinspector.com of NY 2:27PM August 29, 2012

FLORIDA requires a home inspection licensce now.

John of FL 2:19PM May 22, 2011

RJ did a home inspection for me last Fall.

The cons:

* Missed a lot (A LOT) of issues that I truly believe many other home inspectors would have found.

* Poor level of customer service. I found the owner to be, at first, unresponsive, and later very insulting.

The pros:

* When I complained about how dissatisfied I was with the initial inspection (and my agent agreed that it was a very poor job), a new inspection was conducted at no additional charge.

* When I brought some of the issues discovered after I purchased the house to the attention of the owner, he provided a total refund of the inspection cost.

Bottom line: I would never use again nor would I recommend this service to anyone seeking advice on a home inspection.

Kevin of MA 12:46PM May 12, 2011

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