Sunday, February 21, 2010

Home Buyer Cautioned To Seek Expert Advice

Short sales and foreclosures present special risks to home buyers are detailed in recently issued Home Inspection Guide, a tip sheet for consumers. Many or most homes are being sold to home buyers under duress. Few home buyers know what to look for or realize the potential cost in curing years of neglected maintenance.

Woodland Park, NJ (PRWEB) February 22, 2010 -- Recently newly issued Home Inspection Guide is being provided free to home buying consumers. The guide provides information to home buyers about home inspections and about the home buying process. It is available on line at Home Inspection Information. Written by a home inspector with almost 17 years of home inspection experience and prior experience as a construction project manager. As President of Accurate Inspections, Del Greco is considered by many to be the consummate expert; since he has conducted thousands of home inspections and has taught all ten elements of the New Jersey Home Inspector Licensing Classes While many new inspectors rush through as little as one month of training Del Greco has the experience to know where to look to uncover potential property problems. It is unfortunate many home buyers find out after they purchase the home and have to pay for repairs the time spent finding a qualified home inspector would have been well spent.

"Unfortunately most home buyers and many home inspectors have been deceived into believing a home inspection takes only a few hours. Home buyers and many home inspectors do not realize quality home inspection by a trained and experienced individual usually takes six hours or so for a 2,000 sq. ft. newer home. One must allow for the inspectors travel to the home. Experienced home inspectors usually arrive a early anxious to determine what exterior problems may be causing interior problems. Usually a few hours are spent at the home with the home buyer. Commuting time back to the office as well as an hour or so to type the report, print copy and post the report to the web site so it can be read by the buyer and the buyers representative that night. When radon testing is performed there is travel time to and from the home as well as time to complete the radon paperwork.

"There may appear to be a surplus of properties on the market, however many of the homes have so many years of deferred maintenance, intentional damages and amateur workmanship that will cost a small fortune to correct."
"It is unrealistic for home buyers to expect to hiring a real professional to inspect a home and spend hours doing so for less than I charged in 1993," said Del Greco, president of the Woodland Park. "There may appear to be a surplus of properties on the market, however many of the homes have so many years of deferred maintenance, intentional damages and amateur workmanship that will cost a small fortune to correct." Home buyers seldom realize distressed properties have not been properly maintained and if buyers do not hire competent, professional and experienced home inspectors, they will end up purchasing a home with more problems than they ever thought possible.

Del Greco took the time to assemble a home inspection checklist, a short list of essential items to assess before purchasing a new home home inspection checklist "Buyers must realize should the problems listed in the check list show up after they buy the home the expense or repair will be theirs to pay for." Small problems that occur in a property put up for a short sale are often neglected until they become huge expensive problems that cost many times what they could have cost to repair.

In order to make the checklist easy to follow it is divided into separate areas covering interiors, exteriors, heating and cooling, plumbing, electrical, and kitchens.

Uncovering problems before a home purchase gives buyers a key upper hand - they can either walk away from the transaction or can attempt to factor repair costs into a discount on the asking price. Either way, an inspection is a vital ingredient for an informed decision. Today's market is full of foreclosures, short sales and homes people just could not afford. When paying a mortgage gets difficult one of the first things to get postponed is home maintenance.

Often I perform home inspections for Architects, Professional Engineers, Realtors and home improvement contractors. Although they may indeed be competent within their area of expertise few are ready for the problems and hazards uncovered during a through home inspection. Del Greco recommends using a qualified and experienced home inspector to conduct a thorough property evaluation. But buyers should be realistic about the amount they pay. Saving a few dollars on a home inspection may appear prudent today, however may be much less of a value when problems and hazards show up after closing. Home Inspectors are professionals and home buyers are paying for both their services and their expertise.

"In all industry there are excellent home inspectors and some very bad ones," Del Greco cautions, "Those spending their live savings on a home have an obligation to themselves to seek out referrals from friends, relatives and their attorney in order to select a qualified and experienced home inspector. Selection of a home inspector should be from a source free from all conflicts of interest. Qualified New Jersey Real Estate Attornies are more likely to provide referrals to home inspectors who can be candid about what they find wrong with the home and to provide repair suggestions."

"If you buying a $500,000 home you owe it to your self and to your family to spend a an hour checking into the credentials of the home inspector you are entrusting to inspect your potential new home. The cost of a quality home inspection is a bargain," Del Greco said.

A home inspection is a vital ingredient for an informed decision. After all uncovering problems before a home purchase gives buyers a key upper hand - they can either walk away from the transaction or can attempt to factor repair costs into a discount on the asking price. Either way,

About Accurate Inspections and Michael Del Greco
Michael Del Greco is President of Accurate Inspections, Inc. The New Jersey home inspection firm has performed thousands of NJ Home Inspections since 1993, taught the New Jersey Home Inspector Licensing classes and New Jersey Home Inspector CEU classes as well as participated in developing questions for the National Home Inspector Exam.

For a listing of home inspectors consumers may go to home inspector directory or to NJ Mold Inspection and NJ Mold Testing information.

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