Why You Shouldn't Skip Your Home Inspection
This week on the Thoughts from the Crawlspace podcast, Jamie Miller, CEO of Gold Key Home Inspections, Inc., shares how skipping a home inspection can lead to significant financial risks and surprises after purchasing a property, especially in competitive real estate markets where buyers may feel pressured to forgo this crucial step. Jamie highlights common reasons buyers might skip inspections and the potential hidden costs arising from such decisions.
Always prioritize an inspection to safeguard against unforeseen issues and ensure a wise investment in homeownership.
Connect with Gold Key Inspection Services!
Episode Highlights
- Skipping a home inspection can lead to unexpected and costly repairs later on.
- In competitive markets, buyers may feel pressured to skip home inspections; don't succumb to this.
- Even if you're an experienced investor, it's wise to get a home inspection before purchase.
- The peace of mind from a thorough inspection outweighs the short-term savings of skipping it.
- Consider the mental reassurance of knowing your home has been properly inspected.
Timestamps
(00:01) Introduction to Homeownership Solutions
(06:05) What to Look for in a Home Inspection
(11:11) The Consequences of Skipping Home Inspections
(13:15) Importance of Home Inspections
Transcript
Welcome to Thoughts from the Crawl Space, a podcast where our goal as home inspection experts is to support and serve our community.
Speaker A:Whether you're a homeowner, home buyer, real estate agent, or investor, we believe everyone deserves solutions to their homeownership challenges and inspiration along the way.
Speaker A:Your path to success starts here.
Speaker A:Hello again, everybody.
Speaker A:Glad you made it through the new year and Christmas and all the holidays and everything.
Speaker A:We have had some great episodes drop recently.
Speaker A:We have one on radon that just came out, also one on decluttering your house, which really leads to decluttering your mind.
Speaker A:Well, today we're going to jump back in a little bit more into home inspections.
Speaker A:And more specifically, should you have one.
Speaker A:There seems to be a trend.
Speaker A:There was a trend a couple of years ago, especially to skip home inspections, and there's a lot of reasons why you shouldn't.
Speaker A:And we're going to talk a little bit about why that comes about, why you might think you need to or why you feel like that's your only option.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:And if you absolutely must, what are some things to know about that?
Speaker A:But first of all, we're going to jump in right away to, you know, what is the inspection process?
Speaker A:Well, you put a purchase down on a home or.
Speaker A:Or you make an offer on a home and you have a time period there where you can get it inspected to check for electrical, mechanical, structural, roof, et cetera, et cetera, defects.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And then you at least have the peace of mind to know what's up with that house.
Speaker A:And so what we have found in recent years, and it's still happening a little bit, not as much as it was, but is people skipping that process.
Speaker A:One of the main reasons given is, is the competitive market dilemma.
Speaker A:For example, there's a shortage of homes.
Speaker A:It was even worse a few years ago or a year ago.
Speaker A:And so you have maybe 10 people looking, and there's one house for every 10 people looking.
Speaker A:And so a house pops on the market and you love the house, and the seller says, I will take an offer, but there's no inspections.
Speaker A:Well, what do you do?
Speaker A:What if the other nine people offering don't have a home inspection?
Speaker A:Or are you going to insist on an inspection?
Speaker A:Well, then you know your offer is going to be rejected.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So that is kind of what's leading a little bit of this.
Speaker A:Now, there are some states that are crafting new laws to prevent this.
Speaker A:In other words, the seller does not have the right to dictate whether you get the home inspected or not.
Speaker A:Regardless, I would not Fall for this.
Speaker A:If I was a home buyer, what we've seen in 20 years of inspecting, we know what's there and we know the potential for you incurring very large costs if you don't get your home inspected.
Speaker A:You know, it may not happen.
Speaker A:It may be fine.
Speaker A:There's some that are.
Speaker A:There's some.
Speaker A:There's hardly anything to point out.
Speaker A:And that's awesome.
Speaker A:We love homes like that.
Speaker A:But you just don't know.
Speaker A:Unless you are an actual home inspector buying the house, or you have extended extensive background in rehabilitating homes or remodeling or whatever, most issues that pop up are going to be unfamiliar to a new homeowner.
Speaker A:So the competitive market dilemma, what we have found is that a little workaround or out that if you have a situation like this where the seller really does not want home inspections, you can still offer it and just say, we're going to do inspections, but we won't ask for any repairs.
Speaker A:Now, this is not my advice to you.
Speaker A:That's just something that I've seen some real estate agents that follow that route, and I think that's very legitimate.
Speaker A:It's still giving you the knowledge that you want.
Speaker A:It's still giving you the information you need to have peace of mind when you're sleeping at night.
Speaker A:All right, so that's one option.
Speaker A:I would say this.
Speaker A:If you're buying a home and you have a real estate agent that is encouraging you to skip the inspection, you probably need to find a different real estate agent.
Speaker A:All right?
Speaker A:There really is no reason to skip it.
Speaker A:And if they are encouraging you to do that, then they are putting themselves out there.
Speaker A:They're going to ask you to sign some paperwork that says you skipped it, but that doesn't relinquish any liability you may have when you buy the house and find major problems.
Speaker A:Think of the hidden costs of skipping a home inspection.
Speaker A:All right, let's say you're skipping it just because of monetary reasons.
Speaker A:Well, you know, we had to put all our money into a down payment.
Speaker A:I don't have much money, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker A:We had to pay for the appraiser.
Speaker A:We have to pay for this and that and everything.
Speaker A:And I get it.
Speaker A:There's a lot of expenses going on with a purchase of a home.
Speaker A:But if we go in and we find defective or old wiring, for example, in a house that's easily, you could rack up 5, 10, $15,000 if there's areas you have to replace the wiring.
Speaker A:Same with plumbing.
Speaker A:Do you have old cast iron or Galvanized drain pipes.
Speaker A:Do you have holes in your copper supply lines?
Speaker A:They may not be leaking, but they're on the verge of that.
Speaker A:And that's all yours once you close.
Speaker A:So you really need to know these things going in and those hidden costs are really what you're preventing when you get a home inspection.
Speaker A:Now, a home inspection is thorough.
Speaker A:It's there to find the defects.
Speaker A:It's not exhaustive.
Speaker A:We're there for three hours, okay?
Speaker A:We're not living there.
Speaker A:So you're going to find some things living there that might not have shown themselves during the home inspection.
Speaker A:But in general, you get a thorough home inspection with a company that's been around a while, is competent, constantly training, constantly trying to get better, then you're going to find the major things that you need to know before you buy that home.
Speaker A:All right?
Speaker A:Some other things you're missing if you skip the inspection.
Speaker A:And one thing you may not think about a little bit is the mental side of it, right?
Speaker A:When you buy a house, there's always some nervousness involved because you're making a very large purchase and you're plunking down.
Speaker A:In most cases, people have a mortgage or if they're paying, even if they're paying cash for it, that's a lot of money going out, right?
Speaker A:And you want to know that what you got is a good house.
Speaker A:And so if you skip the inspection, that peace of mind that you would get from an inspection is going to not be there.
Speaker A:So I would encourage you just for that.
Speaker A:What's the risk versus reward?
Speaker A:I guess the only possible reward I can think of, and it's very short term for skipping the home inspection, would be you're saving a few dollars.
Speaker A:All right?
Speaker A:A typical home inspection on average size house is going to be 4 to $500.
Speaker A: you can easily get up around: Speaker A:And that is covering every aspect of a home.
Speaker A:And many clients want this.
Speaker A:They want full security.
Speaker A:They want to know every aspect of this home, get their water tested, make sure the water is good to drink.
Speaker A:You get the get mold testing done, make sure there's not hidden mold problems.
Speaker A:They get a sewer line scan done to make sure they don't have a defective sewer line or backup or roots in the line.
Speaker A:And I could go on and on.
Speaker A:All those things add up and they are costly.
Speaker A:I'm not discounting that.
Speaker A:But if you calculate that cost compared to what potentially could be Just for example, a sewer line scan.
Speaker A:You pay roughly 250 for a sewer line scan.
Speaker A:And if you don't get that and you have a defective pipe that needs dug up and replaced, you could look at 10, $15,000 for that kind of repair.
Speaker A:So you can see a little bit of expense up front, potentially saves you from a huge expense later.
Speaker A:So really the only benefit is a little bit extra money right now.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:Which like we mentioned, might not be much in the long run.
Speaker A:So we've recently been in contact with a, a homeowner who for one reason or another skipped the home inspection.
Speaker A:They were a first time home buyer, they moved in a few months later.
Speaker A:Their sewer line wouldn't work.
Speaker A:Things were backing up.
Speaker A:Had someone come out and look, and there was roots in the line and so they started cleaning it out.
Speaker A:Cleaning it out.
Speaker A:Well, it just so happens that this pipe ran close to a large tree.
Speaker A:It had been there many, many years and they couldn't even get it cleaned out.
Speaker A:And the roots had grown in.
Speaker A:So far it had broken the line.
Speaker A:Complete sewer line replacement, including under the street, cost them, I believe it was over $12,000.
Speaker A:And this was for a newly married couple.
Speaker A:And at that point, it's all on you.
Speaker A:And so having a sewer line scan done, a home inspection with a sewer line scan done early would have prevented that problem.
Speaker A:A sewer line scan will take a camera down the line.
Speaker A:It'll examine it for cracks and breaks and clogs and anything that's going on down there, there shouldn't.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So I don't want to focus too much time on a sewer line scan, but those are the things that pop into my mind quickly as far as big expenses if you're skipping that aspect of the inspection.
Speaker A:So you might ask, is there ever a time where skipping the inspection makes sense?
Speaker A:And I don't personally think so.
Speaker A:I think that everybody has to make their own decision.
Speaker A:I would say the only time that you know this is a situation where skipping it might make sense is if you are an investor, you're going to gut this house from top to bottom.
Speaker A:You've already had folks maybe checking it out for you.
Speaker A:You've bought a lot of houses, you're experienced, you have the financial reserves to make any repair needed.
Speaker A:Well, in that case, maybe.
Speaker A:But even so, we do tons of inspections for investors and investment groups.
Speaker A:They're wise, they want to know what they're getting into, especially if they're out of the country.
Speaker A:We've done many for overseas or west coast buyers who just Want to know what they're getting into?
Speaker A:They have the money to fix things, but they're not going to foolishly buy a house that needs an insane amount of repairs just to make it livable.
Speaker A:And so we investors are very diligent generally about getting inspections.
Speaker A:And I believe anybody that's buying a house should be.
Speaker A:But if someone's going to skip one, that's about the only case I would ever say.
Speaker A:You know, you can probably get away with it.
Speaker A:You got the financial reserves, the experience, the backing and everything else to cover that.
Speaker A:So what happens after skipping the inspection?
Speaker A:What's an example?
Speaker A:I just gave you one with the sewer line.
Speaker A:So what if you move in and you have, let's see, you plug something in the kitchen, you run the microwave, and boom, all your power goes out in the kitchen.
Speaker A:The breaker keeps tripping.
Speaker A:Well, that's an electrical short.
Speaker A:It's an overcurrent of some sort that's causing that breaker to trip off.
Speaker A:What's the problem?
Speaker A:Well, we don't know for sure, but it's going to take investigation by a professional.
Speaker A:It's probably going to be some expensive repairs.
Speaker A:And in between all that, you're inconvenienced living in your own home, especially with plumbing.
Speaker A:That can happen if your toilets don't flush.
Speaker A:You have leaks in pipes, Pipes can leak into walls, walls, water in walls can create mold and so forth.
Speaker A:And so all those things.
Speaker A:You know, I think many people have stories from their experience of having something happen in their house whether they got it inspected or not.
Speaker A:But particularly if you did not have it inspected, you move in and you're going to have some surprises.
Speaker A:And so that's what this inspection skipping journey is all about.
Speaker A:It's transferring risk from you to us.
Speaker A:It's like insurance, right?
Speaker A:Insurance is not an investment.
Speaker A:It's simply transferring risk.
Speaker A:I'm going to transfer the risk of protecting my house by myself to an insurance company.
Speaker A:That's essentially what you're doing with a home inspection.
Speaker A:You're transferring the risk of the unknown and liability to us.
Speaker A:All right?
Speaker A:Again, we're not exhaustive.
Speaker A:We're not there.
Speaker A:Staying at your house for two weeks, checking every possible little thing out.
Speaker A:But we do give it an extremely thorough evaluation, running all the major systems of the home and finding out defects that you may have.
Speaker A:So if you do not get it inspected prior to closing, what is an alternative you might have?
Speaker A:And I thought I'd bring this up because this did come up, especially a few years back, and that's what I Like to call a maintenance inspection or I mean, you don't even have to call it that, an inspection.
Speaker A:You can get it after closing, too.
Speaker A:The only difference is now you're on the hook for everything that is found.
Speaker A:All right, But I still think it's a great idea.
Speaker A:So let's say for whatever reason, you've skipped the inspection, you buy the house, you move in, let's get it inspected, let's find out where everything is, let's find out how old your appliances are, let's find out what condition they're in, have they been installed safely, what are some things you're going to have to look at down the road?
Speaker A:How long does your roof have left on it, how old is your furnace?
Speaker A:And is it high efficiency, is it mid efficiency, is it 50 years old and is really a drag on your electric bill and so forth?
Speaker A:All those things are education we can give to a buyer whether they're about to purchase it or whether they have already purchased it.
Speaker A:So I would highly recommend, even if you skip it before you buy it, there's great value in getting an inspection and finding out that information.
Speaker A:Really.
Speaker A:Just to kind of summarize, what happens if major issues are found after skipping the home inspection?
Speaker A:Well, there's no, no, no way around this.
Speaker A:You're responsible for them.
Speaker A:If there's somehow a fraudulent, you know, the seller has, oh, I fixed this, or I've done this and I've done that, and then you, you find out later that they haven't, that they covered something up, they lied about it, whatever, you know, that's a legal issue.
Speaker A:Those can be really messy and generally you don't get anywhere with it.
Speaker A:So I think the best thing is to avoid that scenario altogether.
Speaker A:Get it inspected.
Speaker A:Call a professional.
Speaker A:Give us a call.
Speaker A:Let us give you peace of mind.
Speaker A:Don't start the year out wondering.
Speaker A:Don't start your real estate journey by skipping and home inspection.
Speaker A:To save a few hundred dollars, insist on it.
Speaker A:Make sure you get a company that is, that knows what they're doing.
Speaker A:They've been around a long time.
Speaker A:Give us a call.
Speaker A:We'd love to help you out.
Speaker A:Thanks for listening.
Speaker A:Have a great day, everybody.
Speaker A:Thank you for listening.
Speaker A:This week you can catch up on the latest episode of the Thoughts from the Crawl Space podcast on Spotify, Apple podcast, podcasts and YouTube.
Speaker A:For more information about Gold Key inspection services, go to goldkeyinspect.
Speaker A:Com.
