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The bank accepted my offer for this gorgeous foreclosure! Now the 10 day inspection period starts. We have no seller disclosures about the property so this is huge.
My realtor told me most people get a regular home inspection plus a termite inspection. These are no brainers.
But what other inspections should I pay for? I was thinking ROOF and PLUMBING as I know home inspectors might not go "deep" enough to discover big problems. I've also heard that everyone should get a WATER analysis. Anything else that is crucial?
Or should I just do the regular home inspection and wait for them to tell me if the above special inspections are needed or not?
So I posted this on another forum but then realized the general real estate forum might be best. My apologies!
The bank accepted my offer for this gorgeous foreclosure! It is a lovely 3 bed, 2 bath 2600 square foot house with a loft.Now the 10 day inspection period starts. The house looked amazing inside and out and my sharp as a tack dad didn't see anything weird when we looked, but I know that since I have no seller disclosures about the property so the inspection is key, as there could be major problems lurking beneath the lovely surface. This is my first house so I want a THOROUGH inspection for my piece of mind.
My realtor told me most people get a regular home inspection plus a termite inspection. These are no brainers.
But what other inspections should I pay for? I was thinking ROOF and PLUMBING as I know home inspectors might not go "deep" enough to discover big problems. I've also heard that everyone should get a WATER analysis. I am also considering RADON, LEAD BASED PAINT, and MOLD inspection? Anything else that is crucial? Or should I just do the regular home inspection and wait for them to tell me if the above special inspections are needed or not?
When was the house built? If it was not before 1978 you "probably" don't need a lead paint test. Is it on city water or a well? If it's on city water, then there's really not much you can do about the water quality except put a filter on the taps if you don't like the taste. If you have qualified inspector they should go into the crawlspace and take a look at the plumbing pipes; likewise they should look at the roof on a ladder. You should also take a good look at the roof yourself and check for curling shingles and/or evidence of granules coming off the roof or collecting in the gutters or on the ground below if no gutters are in place. If shingles are missing, that's not a good thing either, obviously.
A radon test is usually indicated by the type of soil/subsoil where you live, but you should also ask your realtor if radon tests are normally done in your area. They should be aware of that fact.
Built in 1998, so that is good!
It is city water, not well water.
I called a random company to get a roof inspection done and when I was giving them the property address, they said "OH! We did a full inspection and some minor work on this roof a month ago! We will send you the full report!" LOL - what a coincidence.
What part of the country are you? How old is the house?
Are the utilities turned on? Why the water concerns, is it on well water?
Some general home inspectors are good some not as good but what they have that most buyers lack is an organized way of inspecting the home. So yes, definitely get a referral for a good home inspector.
What material is the roof? An inspector will take a look at the roof and the attic space. When they look at the roof itself they will be looking for damaged material (cracked tiles or curled and ripped shingles) and joints. When they look in the attic they will be looking for signs of leaks like water spots or stains. If it is a concrete tile roof (on a 93 it should be unless it is a trailer/prefab home) that should last 30-100 years. If it is shingle on a foreclosure I would expect your insurance to demand a replacement anyway unless it looks to be in really good shape. The inspector will also test the drains in all the sinks, tubs, and toilets and tell you if any of them are draining slowly so I wouldn't worry too much about it.
I would get your insurance agent to look the home up and see if there have been any claims on it in the past, last year there was a bad hail storm that damaged a lot out there so there may have been an insurance claim on it recently.
Tldr; wait until the inspector goes over everything with you before you schedule more inspections and get in touch with your agent to run a check on insurance claims.
Edit: I just saw your other post, that house is in really good shape and was only recently foreclosed so I wouldn't worry about anything but still check the insurance stuff.
What material is the roof? An inspector will take a look at the roof and the attic space. When they look at the roof itself they will be looking for damaged material (cracked tiles or curled and ripped shingles) and joints. When they look in the attic they will be looking for signs of leaks like water spots or stains. If it is a concrete tile roof (on a 93 it should be unless it is a trailer/prefab home) that should last 30-100 years. If it is shingle on a foreclosure I would expect your insurance to demand a replacement anyway unless it looks to be in really good shape. The inspector will also test the drains in all the sinks, tubs, and toilets and tell you if any of them are draining slowly so I wouldn't worry too much about it.
I would get your insurance agent to look the home up and see if there have been any claims on it in the past, last year there was a bad hail storm that damaged a lot out there so there may have been an insurance claim on it recently.
Tldr; wait until the inspector goes over everything with you before you schedule more inspections and get in touch with your agent to run a check on insurance claims.
Edit: I just saw your other post, that house is in really good shape and was only recently foreclosed so I wouldn't worry about anything but still check the insurance stuff.
Agreed,
Start with the regular home and pest inspection and go from there. This does look like a better condition FNM property. They probably just had the whole house repainted. Look for previous damaged recently repaired and make sure the inspector test the repaired of assuming it looks new, everything is OK. My experience with FNM is that they don't spend top dollars on repairs..
Look at the log sheet that FNM has on the property. It will give you a sense of who has been there (repairs/maintenance). They contract a field office that maintain/repair the property.
You might consider running an hvac guy in for a checkup on the a/c.. the inspector will just see if it blows cool air, an a/c guy could tell you the age, look for kludged repairs inside the unit, check amp draw & line pressures, etc. Sometimes when the a/c stops working in the desert, you're kinda desperate, so any repair dude looks like a savior.. i've seen several really scary / unsafe repairs on a/c units here & on my first house here - even though the a/c seemed to run ok, my first electric bill was $800 (and it should have been $200 ish).. the indoor coils were clogged with hair & the compressor was failing)... not sure if you have aps or srp there, but both have a very thorough checklist for an hvac unit on their webpages - it's a lot more than just hooking the gauges up & "adding a pound" - doing a through check costs more than $39, but it's well worth it in peace of mind & efficiency, even after you move in.
I've also started having an actual roofer check the roof out on houses i buy here.. usually a hundred bucks or so to walk a tile roof & check for chipped/cracked/misaligned tiles, tar any stink pipes or flashing that looks tired (around patios, fireplaces, etc).. you can miss stuff just looking from the ground..
A good termite inspection might take longer than the actual home inspection, so don't skimp or pick the cheap guy there - figure most of a hundred bucks for a good guy - my guy climbs all over the attic, inside every closet & cabinet, along every inch of baseboard & obviously along the entire perimeter of the house..
You can go to the "office of pest management's" website & pull up "e-tarf" reports for any termite inspections or treatments on your house in the past ten years. Just type in the house number, not the whole address, and don't include the street name when you do your search - then scroll down until you find your house.. a previous infestation shouldn't necessarily be a deal breaker, but you should know about it anyway. I've only seen one kinda scary tarf report & it was on a freddie-mac foreclosure - multiple treatments on all the exterior walls over a few years, along with recent stucco & paint work on the house - and even though the last treatment was done while the govt owned the house, not a peep of disclosure..
also, don't forget the silly stuff - on my parent's foreclosure, someone had kicked in the side door on the garage & stolen the water heater - the govt put a new door on & fixed the trim, but they just "bypassed" where the water heater should have gone.. again, they paid for repairs, but didn't disclose that they had.. not a huge deal, but if you moved in & expected to take a hot shower that night, you would have been disappointed if you didn't notice that there wasn't a water heater present!
I don't actually hire a home inspector myself, but I have experience & don't mind spending the time to look for things myself.
This is a Homepath property. It is basically as is. A good home inspector will identify they types of HVAC/age and make sure it's working condition (efficiency? Probably not).
I would not bring in any specialty inspector in unless it's noted by the inspector (foundation, structure, etc..)
Again.. not all home inspector are the same. Get a reputable one that is familiar with the style of home you are having inspected.
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Home inspection tips on a foreclosure?
