BUILDING INSPECTION SERVICES – THE WARNING SIGNS!

Home inspections, when performed by professional and qualified inspectors, have the potential to help buyers save extraordinary amounts of money on repairs as well as costs. In some cases, a home inspection may be a catalyst in endangering the entire property deal. However, property purchase is a tricky process, and it is extremely important that both buyers and sellers protect themselves from legal risks by instituting a range of basic practices.

Inspector identity

One of the ways in which individual’s make themselves vulnerable to increased risk is by delegating authority on their property to the real estate agent. It is the responsibility of the home owner to keep track of who has access to the property. Providing your property keys to a home inspector so that he/she may visit the property unsupervised is not recommended. This will leave you exposed to the risk that the home inspector may himself/herself cause damage to the property. The inspector must be requested to show documentation and qualifications before visiting a property.

Seller disclosure agreements

If the state in which your property is located requires you to provide a seller disclosure agreement when selling a property, it is the responsibility of the buyer to comprehensively outline what he/she is looking for. A seller disclosure agreement is a report that details the nature of the property. In many cases, serious discrepancies between a home inspector’s report and the seller disclosure agreement may exist.

Refer buyer questions to professionals

In several cases, buyers will require property owners to update them regarding certain aspects of a property. A property owner is highly advised to refer all buyer-related structural questions to a professional home inspector. If a seller vouches for the safety of a property, without the backing of a home inspection, they may be exposing themselves to increased legal risk. The reality is that at least one problem on a property may be related to one or more other problems. Home inspectors will be able to determine whether problems like stains on walls, are one-off issues, or whether they are symptoms of other problems like plumbing leakages.

Only licensed professionals

In some cases, buyers themselves may be able to spot deficiencies on a property, when they visit it. If this is the case, a buyer must insist that all repair work must be conducted by a professional and licensed home repair and maintenance service, rather than the seller himself/herself. The buyer may request documentation that proves that the seller has contracted a licensed third party to undertake repairs. This will help protect the buyer from risks that the same problems will not arise once the property has been purchased.

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