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Is there any good reason to do your own home inspection? How about to get a better deal. Every flaw you can find is a negotiating point. You don’t have to learn building codes, and you probably should use a professional inspector in any case. The point of learning what to look for is to protect yourself and get a better deal.

Home Inspection - Use A Checklist

A good home inspection checklist, keeps you from forgetting things. I have more than a hundred items on my own list. Think you could keep all these items in mind as you walk through a property? For tht matter, did you remember to look for water stains on the basement walls the last time you looked at a house? Bring a list!

Good lists are organized by area of the house, usually starting outside. Walk around and then through the home, checking each item on the list. Take notes. If a gutter is coming loose on the side of the house, write it down, along with notes about rotting wood or anything else you notice.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t know the difference between 12-gauge and 14-gauge wiring. You don’t have to become an expert on all the building trades, as useful as this would be. You just have to use what you do know. Make a note if something looks “odd” or “smells funny.” Afterwards, you can have a professional inspector take a closer look.

Home Inspection As A Negotiating Tool

many buyers make an offer on a home with an inspection contingency clause. After an inspector goes in, the buyer can re-negotiate the price based on his findings, or at least know that nothing is wrong. This isn’t a bad way to go, but lowering your offer too much can often offend a seller, and blow the deal. How would you feel if somebody dropped their offer by $10,000 after they already put it in writing?

A better way is to find as many problems with the property as you can, BEFORE making the offer. A list of these problems presented with an offer is a good impersonal (therefore non-offensive) way to present a low first offer. It’s a good idea to keep the inspection contingency in the offer, but you probably won’t have to lower your offer this way.

There is no need to be a carpenter to note that a railing is loose. Most of us can see if a home needs new paint. Home inspection can start with simple things like these, and end with a better price for you.

Steve Gillman has invested in real estate for years. For a complete home inspection checklist, and to see a photo of a beautiful house he and his wife bought for $17,500, visit http://www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com

[tags]home inspection,home inspection checklist,real estate[/tags]

As a former real estate agent I have attended more home inspections than I can remember. During all of these inspections I encountered the same home inspector over and over again. Why him? Because I reccomended him.

This home inspector did at least 20 inspections for my buyers.

WHY him? For one reason - I was comfortable with him. He was the path of least resistance.

He happened to be the first inspector I ever used. As a rookie agent, buyers would ask me who do you recommend? I would always refer him. It’s all I knew and he did a decent job like most would.

So my point is this… If I were a home inspector I would concentrate my efforts on building relationships with new realtors. The last year I practiced real estate was 2004 and we had, on average, one new agent starting a week. Each one of these agents could equal 20 inspections like I did to my inspector.

As a realtor we would get tons of flyers and newsletters from inspectors and we would throw them all out. New agents are eager to learn. I would offer to come in and give new agents a starter course on the home inspection process. Build relationships with them, and they can be a huge source of revenue. And it won’t cost you a penny…

Kerry Mann runs a Milwaukee Home Inspector directory http://www.himilwaukee.com. He offers free listings for home inspectors…

http://www.himilwaukee.com

[tags]home inspector, home inspection, home business, real estate, house, home, home inspection business[/tags]

1. Make yourself an informed educated buyer. There is so much information at our fingertips. Use the Internet to research neighborhoods, prices and the home buying process in general. Checkout the website of the city your researching.

2. Find a realtor. Feel free to research online, but use a realtor. They will provide you with an invaluable insight to the process. If you are buying a home the seller ends up paying your realtor. You pay them nothing.

3. Get pre-approved for your home loan. The biggest mistake buyers make is starting to look for a home before their financing is in place. Its free to get pre-approved and it will allow you to plan better ahead of time.

4. Budget. Now you are preapproved, which is great, you know what price range to search in. But this means nothing if you dont have a budget in place. Plan out ahead of time what your mortgage will be, living expenses etc. to determine for yourself if you are looking in your right price range.

5. Determine your housing needs and wants. Determine the functionality required in your new home. There are plenty of “cute” homes in Milwaukee were I am from- but if its not close to work, or too small it means nothing.

6. Determine your ideal location. Verify proximity to work, shopping and schools. And search within this range.

7. Don’t make quick uninformed decisions. it’s easy to do, especialy if you have looked at a ton of homes and are ready to move. If you are unsure about an aspect of buying your house don’t be pushed until you are clear.

8. Do a pre-inspection home inspection. There is a great article about this at my website http://www.himilwaukee.com/
in the forum section.

9. Now that you found your home, sit down and review all aspects before writing an offer. Pros and cons, and items listed above.

10. Meet with your realtor and write an offer. Be sure to get a home inspection preferably by a reccomended certified home inspector.

Kerry Mann is a former real estate agent from Milwaukee Wisconsin. He also runs home inspection Milwaukee website. It is a direcotry of local home inspectors from Milwaukee and Wisconsin. http://www.himilwaukee.com

[tags]House, Home, Real Estate, home inspection, home inspector, buying a house, realtor, writing an offer[/tags]