Very Special Thread Of Real Estate Randomness

[jenny]

Originally Posted by gayla

So since it's my very special thread of real estate randomness, I get to tell you random real estate stories!

I've had a number of buyers ask me if they really need to do a home inspection and my answer is always yes. Inspections are paid for by the home buyer. Often buyers are trying to keep their out of pocket costs as low as possible so while they may try to get away without one, I don't recommend it. Up until this week, my advice has always been theoretical but now I have a real, live story of why home inspections are so important!

...

Needless to say, they will not be purchasing this house. The $350 they spent on the inspection may have just saved them tens of thousands of dollars in future repairs.

I absolutely agree that inspections are essential; unfortunately, although I had one done, it didn't tell me what I needed to know. If the inspector could have looked behind the walls, he would have seen exposed electrical wires, cut beams, and all sorts of things that he would have warned me about. He couldn't see that stuff, however, and found some minor issues with the house I was buying, and so I moved ahead.

Four years later, during bathroom renovations, the beginnings of the problem became evident, when the ceiling was taken out and the beams up to the main joist were exposed -- and they'd been cut, then sistered with 2x4s. Under the shower pan was an exposed outlet. (Yes, an outlet, in the floor, under a shower. Go figure.)

Long story short, a builder who I've known for years came over, pulled some walls down and recommended that I get my kids out of the house if we had more than two inches of snow, because the roof was completely unstable. We planned a "remodel" which really was a complete rebuild, and seven weeks later, knocked the house to the ground.

What. A. Disaster. In taking down the house, we found things that were horrifying, and frankly, it's amazing the house didn't go up in flames prior to the demolition. Frayed, barely connected electrical wires running through the walls. Beams that were cut and didn't reach the joists they should have been attached to. No subflooring at all in the living and dining rooms -- just hardwood laid on beams, over a crawl space. (No wonder it was impossible to keep the house warm in the winter!!) The front wall of the house wasn't attached to anything at all -- literally, it was just sitting on the dirt... but that fact was hidden by the front porch. The list goes on and on...

I'm lucky... I now have a very safe, comfortable home, and nothing awful happened to my family. And of course, I can't blame the home inspector, as he clearly stated that he couldn't guarantee anything he couldn't visually inspect. So yeah, absolutely get a home inspection -- I wouldn't buy a house without one. But beware... there may be hidden issues you don't have any way of knowing about!!