How to get building inspections reports? (Chicago, Normal: real estate, rent, homeowners association)

[kprobertwhite]

Hello

i am thinking about moving to Chicago and looking for a home these days. The question i have is how do i get the building inspection reports for the properties i see? A couple of houses that i am seeing the owners already have some reports but the question is can i trust those? Or should i get them done all over again? Also any specific services regarding Home inspection that i can use in Chicago Also what kind of reports do i need? I have lived on rent my entire life so a little new to all this and want to make sure that i do not end up wasting money on things that are not needed.

[emathias]

If you trust your real estate agent, they can refer you to one, but you can also check out a place like Angie's List to find home inspectors.

You will need your own inspection done to get a mortgage for a property. Any inspection provided by a current owner should only be used as a general guideline - as you suspected, you can't really assume that it's unbiased. Even if most of them are (and realistically, most of them are unbiased), you need your own for the mortgage, and since you're spending hundreds of thousand of dollars it wouldn't be worth saving a few hundred dollars on the off chance the seller provided a scam report.

You don't normally get an inspection done until you are seriously considering buying a property, as a good one will cost hundreds of dollars even for a simple condo, and potentially a couple thousand for a multi-unit masonry building. It is not something you do for every property you look at. Normally, you do it after making an offer. Nearly all offer letters are contingent on a clean inspection report.

Having been on the condo board for a set of old brick buildings for the past 6-7 years, if I ever buy an entire brick building myself, I will probably spring for more than just a normal home inspector - I'd probably get an actual structural engineer's report due to the number of things that could go wrong that would cost many tens of thousands to fix. So if you're in the market for a brick or stone single family home or 2-4 flat building, I'd recommend at least considering getting an actual engineer's report. That's what's likely to cost a couple thousand dollars, but if it keeps you from buying something that needs $100,000 in repairs, it'd be well worth it.

[knitgirl]

To clarify: you do not need a home inspection to get a mortgage. I am a loan processor and have never needed one for a conventional loan. I highly RECOMMEND a home inspection. It was quite useful when I bought my own home, both to know what I was getting into, and to use as bargaining leverage.

Occasionally an appraiser will make an appraised value "subject to completion" in which case an inspection is required to determine that the work specified by the appraiser has been completed. FHA is VERY concerned with roofs, peeling paint and GFI circuits and generally require a termite inspection. Conventional loans don't require termite inspections and a little peeling paint will slide. Appraisers are not property inspectors and are not necessarily knowledgeable about the building trades, so you cannot rely on the appraisal to catch construction issues.

If you decide to buy a condo, look VERY carefully into the strength of the condo's homeowners association. You don't want to buy into a sinking ship. Lenders do scrutinize the responses to condo questionnaires and budgets pretty carefully, but it wouldn't hurt to have a knowledgeable person take a look at the budget for you.

Using a real estate attorney is also a very good idea, especially if you are buying a property that may have some issues. I recently processed 2 purchases of Fannie Mae owned properties and the buyer's attorneys were very helpful on helping deal with Fannie Mae's attorneys. Expect delays in those situations, though you can get good deals on those properties.

pm me if you have specific questions.

[Vlajos]

You will want to hire your own inspector. This is a company that I have used and trust.

http://www.westlundinspectionteam.com/Home_Page.html

[ernestrjackson]

Getting inspection reports for any building is not very difficult as we all know how many inspectors are present today. However, if you are getting any report from any home owner, then it is up to you to trust them or not, but you always have the option of verifying those reports. You can do the inspection on your own through any agency or I can recommend you the third party inspection reporting service:

[url]https://www.inspectionreportsonline.net/[/url]

One of my acquaintances used this website once and he told me that this website is good for building reports or any other kind of inspection reporting.
Anyway, I don’t really have much idea about what kinds of inspections you should do, because I really done this kind of things. But I guess you should do fire and safety inspections at least. Good luck with your moving and hope you get a good and safe home and the above website is helpful.