Home inspections are one of the most crucial elements of buying a home. However, many people skip, gloss over, or rush through the process. This can be a major mistake!
Quality home inspectors in Grand Rapids have saved us a ton of time, money, and headaches over the years. To illustrate, this point, we wanted to share some of the good, the bad, and the ugly we’ve had with home inspections. Learn from our mistakes and lessons, and don’t repeat them yourself!
1. The Good
When we were first starting to work with houses, inspections seemed like a big cost and hassle. They cost anywhere from $200-$500, and most of the time didn’t reveal anything major.
One day, we came across a nice looking house in a good neighborhood. It needed some updating, but other than that, the place seemed fine. Our first instinct was to skip the inspection entirely, and save money in the process.
However, since we were just starting out, we wanted to make sure that we weren’t missing anything. We hired a good home inspector, and she went to work. As we walked through, she noticed something funny about a wall in the basement.
When she looked closer, she saw MAJOR structural damage. The seller had tried to cover it up by installing new drywall over the foundation wall! This repair would have cost over $25,000.
Suddenly, the $350 inspection fee didn’t seem so pricey.
2. The Bad
In Grand Rapids, there are many older houses. We were working on one that was built in 1896, and it had many of the challenges that come with historic homes. The place was very nice, but had old electrical systems, outdated plumbing, plaster walls, etcetera.
Unfortunately, we were not able to use one of our regular inspectors for this place. The contractor we hired told us that everything should be fine, and that no major fixes would be required.
However, he failed to account for the additional support that was needed in the basement, the dirt in the backyard that was a little too termite-friendly, and some plumbing that needed serious work. All totaled, this added huge costs to our rehab project.
Learn from our lesson – don’t just go with an average joe! Make sure your inspector really knows his or her stuff, and have them bring in other experts when necessary. Otherwise, your repair estimates could be off by thousands of dollars, or you might get hit with a nasty surprise down the road.
3. The Ugly
This last one happened to a friend. This person regularly works in more rural areas, and has run many repair jobs himself.
He went with a typical inspection for the home, and everything came back as expected. Unfortunately, he decided to skip the well and septic inspection.
After a moderate rain, the lawn had several smelly pools of water in it. He hadn’t noticed them previously, since it hadn’t rained much recently. Hoping it was a minor problem, he had an inspector come out.
Unfortunately, it was NOT a small problem, and the entire septic system needed to be replaced. The repair was stinky, took too long, and was very expensive.
So, as a final piece of advice, make sure you’re getting ALL the inspections you need for your area. In Grand Rapids, that might mean getting someone to look at lead paint, structure, plumbing, septic systems, and more. While this money can add up, it may wind up saving you thousands of dollars and a smelly, bad time.
Good luck, and get inspecting!