You really want to get a Home Inspection…whether you’re buying or selling

       Now we at Short Notice Inspections may be a bit bias when we say this, but it’s true. If you’re working with a good real estate agent, they will tell you the same thing. There may also be a time when they say it will make your offer stronger without having a contingency for one, which is also true, but that is not them advising you not to have one. It’s them telling you a fact about the offer, not about the home inspection or the home itself. 

       If you are a first time home buyer, you are about to make the biggest purchase in your life. An investment like no other you have made. Waiving the home inspection means you’re quite literally buying it “as is”. Even though it was not even advertised as “as is”. You’re taking out negotiation power from your agent. Worse, unless you’ve been trained on knowing what to look for, you are buying something “as is” and only looking at the wrapping it comes in. Even if your real estate agent does advise you to remove the home inspection contingency from your offer, you can still ask them to put in the offer you are allowed to have a Home Inspection for knowledge only, without it being a contingency to back out of the sale. That way you can at least know and plan what you need to work on in priority.

      If you’re looking for your next home or a second home, then in most cases you know what can and has gone wrong with homes. It’s easy to say I’ve dealt with it before, but it’s a better idea to have a second set of eyes that is impartial, looking at it. Again, it’s an investment. You want to know as much as possible about it before you dive in. You may also say, “well I’ll just bring a general contractor with me instead,” and yes, we’ve definitely seen this on travels. How are they impartial though? Their income actually relies on you paying them to fix things. If they don’t find things to fix, then they don’t get paid. We’re not saying reputable contractors would try to find something if there isn’t anything to find, but the home inspector is paid to review the home and give you as much information as possible about its current status and condition. We’re specifically forbidden from providing additional professional services (Plumbing, Electrical, Roofing, Carpentry, etc…) for a full year to our clients. This prevents a conflict of interest for Home Inspectors.

        As someone selling a house, we know it’s easy to say, “I don’t want to know, and I don’t want them to find anything,” but that is a dangerous thought and statement. While not required in Massachusetts, other states do require a sellers disclosure form. Some brokerages in Massachusetts do have clients fill these out as part of their listing agreements. It’s a legal document, it’s coverage for the brokerage to say “it’s not our fault there was something defective found in the house after the sale went through. We asked the seller all these questions and they answered they had no knowledge of it. You need to go sue them, not us.” With a Pre-list Home Inspection performed before the house hits the market, you can rely on that to support your answers. 

       This can also be a selling point to speed up your sale. Having your agent upload a copy of your Home Inspection into MLS with the listing, can give buyers a better view of the house condition and follow up with contractors on estimates of any work they would opt to have done. This helps them give you a more targeted offer. Also you and your real estate agent can do the same so you know how much, if any, you’re willing to negotiate. Even in some cases they may feel comfortable enough to put in an offer waiving the home inspection. We know, this contradicts what we said earlier about not waiving the Home Inspection. This is why we used the word “can” earlier in this paragraph instead of “will”. This goes back to human nature and trust. Some will always say, “Never trust another person’s home inspector,” and “Always get your own.” We would agree with the second statement there, but not the first. 

       All licensed home inspectors in MA are supposed to follow the same standards and ethical codes. As long as they are doing their job correctly, their report should be fine to review. Please remember though, home inspections are only representative of the home on the day it was inspected. Do we trust other home inspectors to do their job, yes, we do. Have we seen reports that we find lacking in details or useful information for someone, yes, we have. Having your own inspection can still be useful so you have a point of contact to follow up with on questions. 

      Do you need a home inspection, yes, and after reading through this, you may have some pretty good reasons why. You may also have some ways to use them in order to quicken the sale of your home, and from the buyers side, you have some ways to get them in without losing a competitive edge.