New home purchase walk-through

srken

Buying a new home cautions.

Pre-sale hype.
"Luxury Condo - You Deserve the Best." Maybe you do but this is not a promise to deliver. Slick ads and fast talk can give the wrong impression.
"Minutes from the Beach" could be 55 minutes. That handsome couple on the sand might be miles away.
"Top Brand Name Appliances" may turn out to be just that, but they can be the very bottom of the popular manufacturer's product line.

The Walk-Through and occupancy.
The walk-through is when the buyer tours the premises with the contractor and is asked to approve and sign off acceptance. Many people aren't prepared for this and the 30 minute walk-through can easily result in missing very costly discoveries until after possession.

If safe and permitted make several critical pre-walk-through tours.
Take along a pad, pen and checklist to note concerns and questions to ask.
Have a knowledgeable friend tag along to help find deficiencies.
Carefully look for flaws, inferior work or product, and omissions.


Photos can come in handy for work that will be covered up. For example pictures of all walls with the wiring and plumbing completed, but before drywall application, can be very useful. You may later wish to drill holes, attach objects or resolve a structural problem. It is a permanent record of what lies hidden.

Giles

Very good information. I might add that if the home is in a rural setting, some areas don't require a building inspection. This, with an older home, means a permit is not required for work to be done and I have run into unbelievable problems.
If the home falls in this category, take extra time to inspect!

BellaJames

Great advice. I would make sure and check everything.

srken

Another caution to watch for is the unlicensed inspector. They have only recently required certification in my area. If the real estate agent supplies the inspector he may be biased towards a sale for the agent. When I sold my house this was the case, and the inspection was quick, he only dropped into the crawl space and looked around without moving. Ok for me the seller!

Brik

You can hire a home inspector of your choosing, many recommend it for new construction too, write it into your contract. When I built my house I did walk throughs several times a week.

I did a checklist for an annual DIY home inspection, the idea is to head off issues before they become costly repairs. Check it out at
http://www.handyguyspodcast.com/353/...use-inspection

cellophane

This is great!

toeey1

I am a home inspector and I would never deliberatly omit possible defects to help push a house thru. In most cases, I represent the buyer and its my responsibility to do a fair and accurate report based on the house in its current condition. My inspection times wont change based on who their agent is. However, if you do take way too long to do inspections and you are too picky in mentioning every little minor thing, you may have a hard time getting another referral from that realtor.

Im sure they may be some unscrupulous inspectors out there as is the case in any industry. In fact, id be more concerned with inspectors that didnt know what they were doing rather than ones that were biased or shady!

srken

Well stated Toeey. The bad should not taint the rest of the industry. People are generally fair and then there are the few . . .