{"id":220,"date":"2006-08-18T06:39:02","date_gmt":"2006-08-18T13:39:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=220"},"modified":"2006-08-18T06:39:20","modified_gmt":"2006-08-18T13:39:20","slug":"home-inspection-important-but-dont-let-it-scare-you-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/220\/home-inspection-important-but-dont-let-it-scare-you-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Home inspection important, but don’t let it scare you off"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is me in today’s Arizona Republic<\/i><\/a> (the permanent link<\/a>):<\/p>\n

Home inspection important, but don’t let it scare you off<\/b><\/p>\n

When you buy a home inspection, are you looking for reasons to buy the house or reasons to walk away?<\/p>\n

Some inspectors seem to think it’s their job to scare buyers to death. They’ll call out things that are almost never found in resale homes — for example the absence of arc fault circuit interrupters — then describe the possible consequences in the direst of terms.<\/p>\n

Please understand, I think you should have a home inspection. Even if you’re purchasing the home “as is,” with no seller-supplied repairs, you still should get an inspection. Done properly, this can be the cheapest $400 you’ll ever spend. It will either tell you to fully embrace the house you already love so much. Or it will tell you to run away in horror.<\/p>\n

What matters is the house, not the inspector. Repairs in a newer home should run to $1,000 or less. For an older home, the costs might run to as much as 1 percent of the purchase price. If the work needed starts to climb toward 2 or 3 percent of the purchase price, that could be cause for concern.<\/p>\n

If the seller is doing the repairs, will they be done in a “workmanlike manner,” using licensees where required, with everything documented with receipts? If you’re doing the work yourself to save on the purchase price, will you have the financial resources to finish the job?<\/p>\n

Here is what you need to know from the inspector: What is serious and what is trivial? Was the home built — and remodeled — to code? Which repair issues are health and safety issues, and which are optional or cosmetic? What are the repairs likely to cost?<\/p>\n

Ideally, your home inspector should have a strong background in the building trades. This will inform his determination of what is and is not significant. You want your inspector to be honest to a fault, without the fault of being an alarmist.<\/p>\n

What you want is the truth, expressed calmly, rationally, realistically. A phlegmatic analysis of the Read more<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is me in today’s Arizona Republic (the permanent link): Home inspection important, but don’t let it scare you off When you buy a home inspection, are you looking for reasons to buy the house or reasons to walk away? Some inspectors seem to think it’s their job to scare buyers to death. They’ll call […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-220","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-marketing","7":"category-real-estate","9":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1899,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1899\/appraisal-inspection-could-swing-the-balance-toward-sellers\/","url_meta":{"origin":220,"position":0},"title":"Appraisal, inspection could swing the balance toward sellers","author":"Greg Swann","date":"September 7, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"This is me in the Arizona Republic (permanent link): \u00a0Appraisal, inspection could swing the balance toward sellers It's not fun to be a home seller right now. We've talked about why your home must be priced right, prepared right and presented right in order to sell. But -- guess what?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1015,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1015\/small-but-helpful-tip-practical-use-of-after-tax-analysis\/","url_meta":{"origin":220,"position":1},"title":"Small But Helpful Tip — Practical Use Of After-Tax Analysis","author":"Jeff Brown","date":"February 9, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"You're a married couple in your mid-30's living in your first home, bought five years ago. You've discussed your future, especially as it relates to retirement, and agree that real estate provides a much more predictable potential for capital growth. You have about $20K in your company retirement plans combined.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Investment"","block_context":{"text":"Investment","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/investment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16288,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/16288\/has-your-town-pissed-away-a-fortune-on-the-so-called-creative-class-bad-news-from-richard-florida-on-close-inspection-talent-clustering-provides-little-in-the-way-of-trickle-down-benef\/","url_meta":{"origin":220,"position":2},"title":"Has your town pissed away a fortune on the so-called ‘creative class’? Bad news from Richard Florida: \u201cOn close inspection, talent clustering provides little in the way of trickle-down benefits.\u201d","author":"Greg Swann","date":"March 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Joel Kotkin:Among the most pervasive, and arguably pernicious, notions of the past decade has been that the \u201ccreative class\u201d of the skilled, educated and hip would remake and revive American cities. The idea, packaged and peddled by consultant Richard Florida, had been that unlike spending public money to court Wall\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Mother"","block_context":{"text":"Big Mother","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/big-mother\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3293,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/3293\/just-wanted-to-drop-this-off\/","url_meta":{"origin":220,"position":3},"title":"Just wanted to drop this off….","author":"Eric Blackwell","date":"June 28, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the newer agents in our office, Judy Stockton stopped me in the hallway the other day. New is probably a misnomer...she is a savvy veteran REALTOR, just new to our 120. She always seems to have a pleasant smile and an upbeat demeanor, even when things are not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Realty Reality"","block_context":{"text":"Realty Reality","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/realty-reality\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3069,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/3069\/what-would-it-look-like-if-home-buyers-actually-shopped-for-value-an-illustration-of-my-kind-of-internet-lead\/","url_meta":{"origin":220,"position":4},"title":"What would it look like if home buyers actually shopped for value? An illustration of my kind of internet lead","author":"Greg Swann","date":"May 7, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This came in over the transom, and I think it is a thing of beauty. The ludicrous notion that buyers don't pay for real estate representation induces too many buyers to be lax in choosing their Realtor. 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