Home Inspections...Why Should I Bother?

You are buying a resale home. It has a new coat of paint on it & so it looks OK to you -- so why bother with a home inspection?

A Home Inspection Is Cheap Insurance?

Where else can you get the value from a $300 -$400 home inspection?

Think about all of the hidden things that an untrained eye can miss?

You would be surprised how many times a few hundred dollar investment has saved a potential buyer from getting stuck with a lemon of a house with major structural problems. If they had bought the place they would be stuck with a home that couldn't be sold.

Fore example, a few years ago my son bought his first home. It was a nice little foreclosure...a handyman special. Best of all the price was just right.

In fact...the price was a little too good if you know what I mean.

Wanting to do everything on his own...he made a common mistake that many first homebuyers make. He bought it without having it inspected.

First he noticed little things like how the doors and windows didn't close properly.

Then there were the drafts that could not be sealed.

Finally there was the old marble on the counter top test. You would not believe how fast it rolled down to the other end.

It turns out that the builder was not such a nice fellow. Instead of dumping all of the construction debris...he merely buried it under the front corner of the house.
After a few years the garbage began to decompose & the house began to settle.

Upon closer examination I found that I could stick my entire head under the foundation at one place.

Unfortunately for him it was a very expensive lesson. A lesson that cost him over $30,000 of lost equity when it came time to sell. For you see, the home had major structural problems. Problems...that could only be fixed by driving (4) posts into the ground 80 feet deep and jacking up the entire house.

The estimates came in at about $10,000--
Not including all of the repairs that would be needed to the drywall & hardwood floors when the house was leveled.

Worse of all, the law now states that you would have to disclose such information to any new home buyers. Now think about it...even after the problem was fixed-- would you buy this house?

My son decided to not repair it & had to sell the house for the same price he paid for it 7 years earlier.
It cost him $30,000 or more in equity that it had appreciated over the years.

If he only would have asked for a little help. An Atlanta Home Inspection would have turned up all of these concerns BEFORE he signed on the dotted line.
How many of you would have invested $350 to avoid losing $30,000 or more?

I can assure you he will never make that mistake again.

The question is...will you?

F.Cheshire is an
Atlanta Home Inspector

Did you know that by adding a little curb appeal
with an Atlanta Handyman Service
you can sell your home quicker and for more
money?