Buying A Home -- Is A Home Inspection A Good Idea?
By Raynor James, Fri Dec 9th

To avoid "buying a pig in a poke," buyers have long demandedthe closing on a home purchase be contingent upon a satisfactoryinspection by a home inspection firm. In many parts of ourcountry, we're now experiencing a strong sellers' real estatemarket and sellers often receive more than one purchase offer onthe same day for their home. In this environment, buyers arerethinking the home inspection requirement. Is this a good idea?

To Inspect or Not To Inspect

Clearly, if a seller got two offers and one requires a homeinspection be done, most sellers will choose



the non-inspectionoffer with all other things being equal. So, a home inspectionrequirement can put you at a competitive disadvantage. Still,are you willing to risk purchasing a home that has somefundamental, expensive problems? What if you purchase the homeand subsequently learn plumbing under the floors must replaced?What if the repair costs $10,0000?

One option may be to include a provision in your purchase offerthat provides for a home inspection done for informationalpurposes only. That way, settlement under your offer is notconditioned upon the inspection. It would not provide you withthe option of amending the contract to have the seller makerepairs, nor would it provide a way for you to void the contractshould serious problems be uncovered. Should serious problems bediscovered, however, the seller is bound to know the deal willbe in jeopardy. For that reason, even an "informational" homeinspection won't look as good to her as a contract with norequirement for a home inspection.

Another option you might consider in lieu of a home inspectionis a sub rosa inspection. Instead of using James Bond forspying, you could ask a friend working in the construction orengineering field to walk through the house with you. The goal,of course, is to look for any glaring "red flags" that are dealkillers.

If your friend doesn't see anything disturbing, you can thenwrite a clean contract offer without contingencies. Sellers loveno contingency sales. The chances are good that you'll get thehome you want, but still have a some assurance there isn'tanything seriously wrong with the property.

There is no one right answer when it comes to deciding on homeinspections. Each buyer has to ask himself how much risk he iswilling to take. If you are the only party making an offer,demand an inspection. If you are one of many potential buyers,well, you are going to have determine your comfort level. Otherscan provide information, but the decision is yours.

About the author:Raynor James is with http://www.fsboamerica.org - providing FSBOhomes For Sale By Owner. Visit our "sell my home" page athttp://www.fsboamerica.org/seller.cfm to list and sell your homefor free for one month. Visithttp://www.fsboamerica.org/buyer.cfm to see homes for sale byowner.

Here are some more For Sale By Owner articles...