First time buyers of an old home - Seeking Advice (sale, real estate)
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First time home buyers in MA. We recently put on offer on an older home, built before 1978, which the seller accepted. I am seeking some advice from this forum members on how to go about finding a home inspector, and things to pay attention to during the inspection. I read on this forum to avoid inspectors suggested by the realtor and to find an independent inspector. Are there any go to websites, where I could read reviews for various inspectors except google? We are planning to do a full inspection that includes but not limited to Lead, mold, and radon inspection. I am little nervous about Lead since I have a 2 year old. Do the inspectors gives you an estimate of how much it will cost to fix things that comes up in the inspection? What things are absolute red flags to make you walk away from the property? (I hope it does not come to that especially in this market). I might not have asked all the questions I should be asking as a buyer (since I am first time home buyer) so any advice but not limited to the questions I have raised above will be greatly appreciated.
P.S. - This forum has really helped us nail down the town to purchase a home, and I really appreciate all the responses I have gotten to my previous post. Thank you.
What is the year, makes a big difference if its 1800s (poor plumbing, foundation), 1920s (best quality years), 1940(worst years due to war), 1950 (quick construction for GIs)
Fyi, i paid 300 for full licensed lead inspector. The remediation varies alot if depending on lead location. Lead law changed 3 years ago to allow encapsulation (paint over with special paint) for some lead areas by licensed lead person
What is the year, makes a big difference if its 1800s (poor plumbing, foundation), 1920s (best quality years), 1940(worst years due to war), 1950 (quick construction for GIs)
The year built is approx. late 1950.
How do you find a good licensed lead inspector? I would look into encapsulation. It seems to me with encapsulation you just need to be aware of any paint chipping in future.
What is the year, makes a big difference if its 1800s (poor plumbing, foundation), 1920s (best quality years), 1940(worst years due to war), 1950 (quick construction for GIs)
Fyi, i paid 300 for full licensed lead inspector. The remediation varies alot if depending on lead location. Lead law changed 3 years ago to allow encapsulation (paint over with special paint) for some lead areas by licensed lead person
40s-50s are indeed more of a mixed bag in terms of build quality, but there are plenty examples of very high quality builds from this period.
Both my parents and my grandmother own homes dating to the mid to late 50s and the build quality is exceptional. Far better than my semi-custom ‘80s contemporary, despite buying modest middle class homes.
How do you find a good licensed lead inspector? I would look into encapsulation. It seems to me with encapsulation you just need to be aware of any paint chipping in future.
Local reviews are likely the best approach. If you have any contacts in town or the town has a social media group an inquiry might be worthwhile.
Unless your two year old has a habit of chewing window sills, I wouldn’t worry too much about lead paint. It’s not going to shed lead into the home environment unless someone takes a sander to it. At most, I’d encapsulate any exposed lead paint with some fresh paint and worry yourself with with more immediate risks ... like navigating a global pandemic.
As for the rest of the home, the ‘big’ concerns are those which are costly to repair ... foundation issues, major framing issues, etc. Roofs, boilers, etc. aren’t too costly to replace if and when the time comes. In a pinch, someone you trust with *some* experience might steer you clear of major concerns.
My inspector pointed out a bunch of code non-compliance, but any of the major concerns were easily identified by someone with a minor understanding of home building ... rotted windows sashes bad.
Last edited by Shrewsburried; 02-08-2021 at 09:14 PM..
First time home buyers in MA. We recently put on offer on an older home, built before 1978, which the seller accepted. I am seeking some advice from this forum members on how to go about finding a home inspector, and things to pay attention to during the inspection. I read on this forum to avoid inspectors suggested by the realtor and to find an independent inspector. Are there any go to websites, where I could read reviews for various inspectors except google? We are planning to do a full inspection that includes but not limited to Lead, mold, and radon inspection. I am little nervous about Lead since I have a 2 year old. Do the inspectors gives you an estimate of how much it will cost to fix things that comes up in the inspection? What things are absolute red flags to make you walk away from the property? (I hope it does not come to that especially in this market). I might not have asked all the questions I should be asking as a buyer (since I am first time home buyer) so any advice but not limited to the questions I have raised above will be greatly appreciated.
P.S. - This forum has really helped us nail down the town to purchase a home, and I really appreciate all the responses I have gotten to my previous post. Thank you.
Make sure the house has good drainage and there are no foundation/structural issues (i.e., cracks, tilt etc.). Radon is rarely an issue. Lead also is not a problem unless the interior hasn't been repainted since 1970s. Good luck!
Make sure the house has good drainage and there are no foundation/structural issues (i.e., cracks, tilt etc.). Radon is rarely an issue. Lead also is not a problem unless the interior hasn't been repainted since 1970s. Good luck!
And even if Radon is present, the mitigation is typically cheap as it's little more than a fan. I suppose one could spend a bit more on mitigation using an ERV/HRV, but one would only do that in a conditioned finished basement. If you have an air tight home and ERV might be a good idea.
What is costly is mitigating radon in well water. The aeration systems can be spendy as they typically utilize an industrial grade jet pump or motor to aerate the water, as well as a blower motor to evacuate the aerated air/radon ... plus the additional plumbing, tanks, and the labor to install it.
Lead paint usually isn't an issue unless there's flakes of it all over the place. Getting rid of all lead paint nationwide would be a huge undertaking and frankly might not be productive and could make it worse depending on the place. Radon is more common now with newer houses actually. Asbestos you might want to know about though. If a contractor drills and discovers it then that might change everything. I felt fortunate that I hardly have lead, there's no asbestos and radon was very low.
Drainage is a huge thing. Does it have a sump pump? Look at the house. Where does water go with gutters? It's winter. Where does the snow go? Is there anything that requires more maintenance say a retaining wall or a fire hydrant? I moved to a place where if you don't shovel your sidewalk it's $50 a day!
Bigger issues are furnace, roof, plumbing etc. What are things made of? I grew up with gutters that are aluminum. Vinyl is pretty cheap but I don't think it's worth it. Stainless or copper is extremely expensive.
Little things can be a pain to deal with but aren't huge issues. Do your cabinets have pulls installed? Are there stoppers? Is there anything not installed (microwave, dishwasher etc).
Here's a biggy. Are there any records left from the prior owner of when things were done. Houses aren't cars but if a furnance wasn't cleaned in years that might be recommended.
Heck I look at vision software for assessments and then look up neighbors on facebook to get a good idea on things. Google street maps is good. I'm about to take down a tree branch. If they have issues with it I know they took down six trees on their property over the past ten years, I know this from google maps street view.
I read on this forum to avoid inspectors suggested by the realtor and to find an independent inspector.
The folks who post that are so paranoid they probably don't trust their own mother. If you did a good job hiring your agent and you find them trustworthy and that they put your needs before theirs then there is no need to worry about taking their recommendation for a home inspector.
Think about who is a better resource for information about home inspectors . . .
A). Your Aunt Sally who bought a house 10 years ago
B). Your co-worker Tim who bought his FIRST house last year
C). Some guy on the town Facebook page who's cousin is a home inspector or is recommending a home inspector because they grew up or live in the town (trust me I'm an active participant in my town's Facebook page and 75% of the business recommendations are based on things like this which would have absolutely ZERO influence on my decision to hire someone).
D). Your agent (if you hired a good one) takes part in dozens of real estate transactions every year and stays in contact with their clients after the sale and so they likely hear about anything the inspector "missed" (I put that in quotes because 99% of the time when I'm told the inspector "missed" something there was a 0% chance that any inspector would have caught it. For example, if the dishwasher broke a month after moving in. No inspector has a crystal ball and could tell you that).
If you didn't hire a trustworthy agent, then why are you still working with them? Hire someone else before submitting any other offers and then ask them about home inspectors. I can tell you I get calls all the time from various companies that offer me kickbacks. ADT calls me every week and says "if your clients sign up for our alarm service we'll send you a $200 gift card." I can tell you I've NEVER and will NEVER recommend ADT because of that and because of the fact that I just don't believe in their service. I think there are better alternatives.
Quote:
Originally Posted by av0205
Are there any go to websites, where I could read reviews for various inspectors except google?
Review websites are unreliable. People pay for reviews and some of these websites if you pay to advertise will delete/hide negative reviews. I had a client a couple of years ago hire an inspector based on reviews from Angie's List. The guy did a fine job but he did it in 7 hours because he was completely disorganized and looked at everything 3 times. The inspectors I usually work with would have done the same job in 4 hours or less. Even the buyer was annoyed about how much time it took.
Quote:
Originally Posted by av0205
We are planning to do a full inspection that includes but not limited to Lead, mold, and radon inspection. I am little nervous about Lead since I have a 2 year old. Do the inspectors gives you an estimate of how much it will cost to fix things that comes up in the inspection? What things are absolute red flags to make you walk away from the property? (I hope it does not come to that especially in this market).
What items are "red flags" really depends upon things like . . .
-How bad you want the house
-What your budget is for repairs
-What your current plans are for renovations (if you're already planning to gut the kitchen does it matter that the dishwasher is broken?)
-Current market conditions (the market heavily favors the seller right now so you may have to take on more repairs than you would in a more balanced or buyer favorable market in order to secure a house)
Quote:
Originally Posted by av0205
I might not have asked all the questions I should be asking as a buyer (since I am first time home buyer) so any advice but not limited to the questions I have raised above will be greatly appreciated.
If you're working with a good agent, they should be asking the questions for you or educating you about what questions you should be asking.
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