Buying A Home: The Risks Of Not Getting A Home Inspection

Buying A Home The Risks Of Not Getting A Home Inspection

Buying A Home: The Risks Of Not Getting A Home Inspection

I totally get it! If you live in Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Langley or the Lower Mainland right now the housing market is crazy. You might be in a bidding war and the other person says, no condition sales or no inspection. With probably the largest purchase of your life in your hands, that is sicky business. When buying a home the risks of not getting a home inspection can be huge. You could need a new roof, or they have done some cosmetic fixes that were not done to code. Is it really worth it?

The biggest risks of not getting a home inspection should frighten buyers enough to reconsider. Unfortunately, in hot real estate markets, fear of losing a home to another qualified buyer is too much anxiety to overcome. That’s a huge mistake and in more than just one way. You might be in the market to buy a bigger home, are relocating from out-of-town, or even wanting to downsize to reduce maintenance work. Whatever the case may be, skipping a home inspection is typically not a smart decision because there’s too much at stake.

 

Most Common Home Inspection Myths

Home inspections are conducted by experienced, licensed professionals to uncover what’s known as “material defects.” These are problems with a home’s components and systems, such as the roof, foundation, electrical wiring, HVAC, plumbing, and the like. Material defects are issues which negatively affect a home’s value and/or pose safety and/or health hazards. However, there are certain home inspection myths most buyers believe, such as the seller must make all repairs and other inspections and the appraisal will suffice.

For buyers, waiving the option to have a professional inspection contingent on their offer to purchase a home can have major repercussions in the long run. Sellers tend to like these offers because it essentially means they are selling the home ‘as is’ and are not responsible for any thing that is not immediately visible. Without a licensed inspector viewing the property, the buyer can only comment on the things that they see that are potentially wrong with the home. The buyer essentially loses the right to make any requests for additional repairs that aren’t agreed to at the time of signing the initial purchase contract. —Realtor.com

Another two big home inspection myths are there’s no need for it when purchasing new construction and buyers only need to see the report, not attend the inspection. These misconceptions are based on the belief a new construction home will not have an issues because it meets building code standards and the report will tell all. The truth is, a building inspection is not the same and just seeing the report will cause you to have more questions than answers.

 

Biggest Risks of not Getting a Home Inspection

Whether you’re in the market to buy a second home, are buying for the first time, or are upsizing, you need a home inspection for several reasons. If you don’t, you’re opening yourself up to the very real possibility of purchasing a lot of buyer’s remorse. Here are some of the biggest risks of not getting a home inspection you need to know about:

  • The home might not be insurable. There are insurance companies who will not issue a policy if a home does not have a documented wind mitigation inspection and/or four-point inspection. Without an insurance policy covering the home, your lender won’t give you final approval for your mortgage.
  • You’ll have less legal contractual outs. One of the biggest benefits of a home inspection is it gives the buyer a legal contractual out through a contingency clause. However, if you forgo a home inspection, you’ll have fewer options to legally walk away with your earnest money deposit.
  • Unpermitted work won’t be discovered. While it’s not something home buyers are generally concerned about, unpermitted work can present sizable problems. Experienced home inspectors often detect telltale signs of DIY work and it can be further investigated to learn if it’s legal and up to local building codes.
  • You won’t be alerted to real safety issues. There are a number of safety issues you might not discover without a home inspection. For instance, mold, radon, and carbon monoxide are just a few of many safety issues you need to know about before you proceed with the purchase and take possession of a property.
  • You’re giving-up a handy negotiation tool. If material defects or small problems are found during a home inspection, a buyer can use these to his or her advantage by negotiating the selling price, repair costs, and/or share of closing costs. Without knowing, it will be you in most cases, who will have to deal with said problems well after the seller is gone.
  • Protection from expensive repairs and replacements. Even if you’re buying a home in “as-is” condition, whether it’s a newly built property, a short sale, or a foreclosure, a home inspection is crucial to put you in-the-know about the house’s true condition. At the very least, even if the inspection report is positive, an inspector can alert to you probable future repair or replacement scenarios.

I can tell you that my sister was told that she needed a new roof before buying her home in Surrey. She saw all the great renos that the previous owner had done and was super impressed, on the outside. Once she lived in the home for only a few weeks, she found out how many corners they actually cut. Not only that once she decided to actually get quotes to replace her roof, that approximately 10,000 to replace became a reality at 19,000 and that was based off of three estimates.

Living In Langley Area

Murrayville Plumbing & Heating Ltd. is located in Langley BC and we get calls every day about plumbing and heating issues. I deal with the estimates here and do on average 7 poly b replacement quotes per week. Poly B or Polybutylene , is a flexible grey pipe used in residential plumbing and hot water heating systems from the mid-70s through the 80s and into the mid-90s.  If you have this in your home it isn’t a question on if it will leak, it is  more of when it will leak. The majority of insurance companies will not insure your home if you have these pipes in your residential plumbing system. We do poly b replacements every week especially in the Langley area, it is usually the same story; we just bought a new home and found out that we have poly B.

If you need plumbing, heating, gas fitting services, we can help you with 24 hour emergency services. Call us at 778.888.6451 or book online here on our website for non-emergency jobs.

 

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