Several years ago I
had a client who wanted to buy a home before he moved to my city. He was in a
hurry as he had to get back home. He put very few conditions in his offer to
purchase but he did have a financing condition and an home inspection. A few days later he called me to say the
inspector found 10 things that showed him that this house was a former grow op.
If he had not had the inspection and found out after he had removed conditions
he could have been unable to get financing, home insurance and been stuck with
a hefty remediation bill.
One thing I
always encourage my clients to do is get a home inspection. It’s $500 well
spent.
You may not be buying a former grow op but there can be
costly repairs that you may have missed
while inspecting the home yourself. If you have watched even one home
renovation program you know that once the work starts they usually find a
surprise or two.
Here’s a list of the
most common faults in homes
Foundation Cracks -
the biggest and a very costly item is a cracked foundation. While some cracks
in the basement floor are acceptable cracks in the foundation walls need to be
excavated and filled which is expensive.
Roof Problems – did
you go up on the roof and check the shingles , the pointing around the chimney,
etc? Probably not. Did you check the tresses
in the attic? This can be another big repair cost that could be difficult to
pay after purchasing a home.
Loading Bearing Walls
Removed - 1950’s homes converted to
open plan are popular but do you know if a support wall was removed and the
roof could end up in your new open concept living area?
Encroachments – are
any building, retaining wall ,fence or driveway that extends into a neighbour
‘s property or the City Right of Way. . It was 2 weeks after I moved into my
first home that I found out that my retaining wall behind my home was falling
into my backyard neighbours’ yard.
Another unexpected repair that I had to handle.
Electrical or
Plumbing Issues – while heritage homes close to the city centre have character,
they also have old wiring that uses fibre insulation. All you need is for a
mouse to chew on it and you could have a fire.
Find out how much it will cost to re-wire your home and save yourself
headaches down the road.
The same goes for plumbing . It’s old. There’s a chance it
could have a slow leak.
As I said before,
it’s always wise to get a house inspection and include this in your offer to
purchase. The anguish that you can avoid by doing this is well worth the time
and expense.
Checkout my website here.
