Home Inspector or Contractors Bids needed? (plumber, appraiser, agent, prices)

[recuerdeme]

I want to buy a fixer upper. Would a regular home inspector be able to tell me what I could expect to pay in order to refurbish the house or should I just go to the general contractors?

[Narfcake]

The inspector usually won't tell you, because when it comes to construction, there are too many variables. Say a slow drain from the sink ... a repair could cost anywhere between $50 to unclog to $80k for tearing out underslab piping and rebuilding. 5 minutes of inspecting that sink isn't going to yield a good answer.

The thing about fixer uppers is that if you're not at least doing a major portion of the work yourself (sweat equity), it usually won't pay off. The amount you'll be spending on the contractor(s) will be more than if you just put that money up front in buying a house that was in better condition.

[recuerdeme]

I plan on doing a lot of the work myself but leaving any potential roof, plumbing, electrical to the professionals.

So I guess I will have to do both? Or would any contractor worth his salt be able to find/show anything that a inspector would show

[Narfcake]

A GC could very well do an inspection if you paid for their time, though it wouldn't be as impartial as an inspector.

What do I mean by that? Simple. GC notes that the furnace is functional but old and should be replaced for $3k, in which they stand to gain the business. Inspector would also note down that the furnace is functional but old ... but how you proceed is your business, as whomever is called out to service or replace, the inspector isn't going to earn a single penny more.

My take ... proceed with a home inspector, and if anything major comes up, then get a contractor involved.

[2bindenver]

You could have all the mechanicals inspected by a professional in that field. You know a HVAC, a roofer, a plumber and a electrician. That would be best.

[chet everett]

I have a different take on this, as I have made money by buying properties in poor condition and then eventually learning what makes sense to repair, what makes sense to replace, and what makes sense to leave alone.

No contractor, even a honest one that you are on long term friendship basis with, will ever be the best source of advice about the smartest way to spend your fix-up dollars. If they knew that themselves they would probably not be contracting for a living because they could almost certainly make more money in less time fixing up places. Now I do know a few guys that are skilled in the building trades that TRY to make money from fixing up places but almost with out exception they, by themselves, do not have the other skills to do this consistently.

At the other end of the spectrum are the really good inspectors. They can produce a very very detailed report of all the major and minor areas of concerns for a property. This can be VERY useful because most SMART buyers will trust such a report. Thus your goal is to use the information from such a report to decide what will cost more to fix than it is worth to a buyer. If you are really good at this you can decide what makes the house not worth buying in the first place.

Every house has a unique combination of things that make it desirable and a unique condition that will appeal to a certain kind of buyer at a certain price point. No inspector or contractor individually can help you determine how to take House X with pluses A,B, & C as well as shortcoming Q,R, & S and make it a profitable project in your local market. You need the skills of a real estate agent for both the purchase and eventual re-sell, which includes deep knowledge of the pricing trends, buyer pool and near term economic conditions. You probably also need a lender that can work with you in a way to do this sort of deal in the easiest way. Also helps A LOT to have some one that is skilled in staging a home to the nines for next to nothing. Put all the together generally takes LOTS of experience in several different sub-fields that do not naturally go together. I have never met anybody that makes their living tearing off roofs that can tell me the prettiest color to paint a bathroom. Similarly the best stagers generally do not understand the difference between schedule 40 PVC and schedule 80...

[escanlan]

chet everett and Narfcake have good points well worth considering, well said, and no need to repeat here. You don't list your location but I would also add to check your State's laws regarding inspections and Inspectors. Your State might have laws against a contractor from performing a whole home inspection. Using people that are unlicensed for particular systems, subsystems, leaves you hanging in the wind if you later find they were negligent in their assessments. Licensing might not solve all issues but at least it provides an avenue of redress if warranted.

[kostastina]

Originally Posted by recuerdeme

I want to buy a fixer upper. Would a regular home inspector be able to tell me what I could expect to pay in order to refurbish the house or should I just go to the general contractors?

contractor is the answer- home inspector does just that inspects the home for things that would go against ---let say financing--- whole in the roof- not a good risk for a bank if the roof will cave in - a GC actually does the reconstruction of the home- can tell you what your facing- the materials you ll need, the cost involved- now and in the future

[rmxcarol]

Kostatina, I think you are confusing the home inspector with the appraiser. The home inspector's job is to determine the condition of the major systems and components of the house and determine whether or not there are material defects. This has nothing to do with financing. Also, no one can predict the cost involved in the future. When prices for materials are increased, etc., the price of the job increases. That is why many contractors only give you an estimate that is good for a certain period of time. If you don't hire them by the end date, the price could very well go up

[Brandon Hoffman]

Do both. Get the inspection and then give a copy to your contractor so he can give you an estimate based on the punch list.