| Trademark Home Inspections | ||
Buying a home is exciting no matter how many times you have experienced it before. It gives us a chance to move to the next level of our lives be it scaling up or down. Regardless of the size of the new investment it will be expensive and the last thing one needs is to a find out that there is more money to be spent on repairs after purchase How can one overcome this possibility? I cannot emphasize enough the value and necessity of a home inspection. Many home purchasers either in the desire to save between R2,000-R4,000 which is the price of an inspection, or due to simple ignorance, have spent enormous sums of money repairing items that any good home inspection would have isolated. Any offer to purchase you make should be subject to a home inspection with a satisfactory report. Do not let anyone--not the agent, not your family or friends, and especially not the seller--dissuade you from having the property thoroughly inspected! If the contract is written subject to favorable results from an inspection, any defects in the home must be either repaired or financially compensated for before signature. If you are not happy you will then have the option to cancel the contract. Inspections are designed to disclose defects in the property that could materially affect its safety, livability, or resale value. They are not designed to disclose cosmetic deficiencies (for example, an interior wall that needs a paint touch up An inspection is not a “pass or fail” situation merely an insight to possible hidden problems. Residential inspection is a relatively new concept in South Africa. In some American states it has become mandatory and one can understand why. It is known fact that houses are bought mostly on emotion (falling in love with a new home) Unless you are buying a “fixer upper”, your new home should be relatively problem free but very seldom is. One can expect small irritations like a dripping tap or a door that sticks but finding the ceiling collapsing after the first rains or the paint peeling off the walls is just too much. Already paying a bond and then having to come up with more money for essential repairs is not on! Unfortunately it is a tendency for some sellers to hide latent defects to increase the possibility of a sale and to get the highest possible price. There are many products on the market that will allow camouflaging of problem areas such as painting over damp areas which will last for a few months. It is unheard of to buy a vehicle without making sure that it conforms to some standards including the roadworthy certificate. I am sure that the average purchaser would think twice about buying a vehicle that has a hole in the door or oil dripping out of the engine, yet they purchase a home with a much, much higher value in good faith that all is well. What you see is not always what you get! Repair costs can be huge. As an example, a leaking balcony that is allowing water entry into the room below; There are no shortcuts to repair this type of problem, the tiles have to be hacked off and the balcony re-screeded, re- waterproofed and re- tiled. Let us assume that the balcony is small, 2 meters wide by 5 meters long. That is twenty square meters which will cost you approximately R7000 to re-instate. This could have been avoided if you knew that there were problems during the negotiating period whereby allowance could have been made for the cost of repairs.
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How are these problems located? It is really a dual method, the first is experience. Regardless of what some companies say about not needing experience you need to have a feel for what you are looking for. There is definite pattern why buildings fail, secondly the wonders of science. By using electronic equipment it is possible to pick up what is not visible to the eye. The intention of an inspection is not to be petty regarding faults but at the same time it will give you an accurate unbiased indication of the condition of the residence. Ultimately the choice will be yours as to go ahead and purchase, walk away or simply negotiate some form of settlement. Hopefully you will have no surprises a few months down the line. Below is an extract from an American publication regarding the successful purchasing of a home? “Never buy a home without getting it inspected. Most of the time, with the exception when it is owned by the bank; you can get the current owner to either fix a problem, or negotiate the price of fixing it right into your offer.This makes having a home inspection crucial” Inspections take approximately 3-4 hours and cover the following:
Exclusions of inspections
What you get
What you don’t get
What qualifies me to give you this report? Before entering the building industry, I spent 28 years in Engineering and was trained at fault finding, specializing in preventative maintenance. Since then my company has been operating in the building industry in both the domestic and commercial fields, as waterproofing specialist and consultants for 15 years. Cost Cost range between R2 150.00 to R4 500.00 depending on the square area of the home to be examined. PLEASE ALLOW 2-3 DAYS LEAD TIME FOR AN INSPECTION AND A FURTHER 24 HOURS FOR THE REPORT Conditions of payment 50% on request of an inspection and balance on day of forwarding of report |
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