Saw a great Inman News article by Barry Stone who recommended home inspections for new homes.
The article points out the common mistake of new home buyers in foregoing inspections prior to contract. The foolish assumption is that a new home is defect free. As many have learned after the fact, new homes may look great on the surface but may be hiding costly defects within.
The home inspection is a regular feature of a resale. It is either done before contract signing (better) or after contract as a condition to going forward with the sale. If done prior to contract signing, defects found by the home inspection may be leveraged to garner price reductions or create conditions requiring repair prior to closing. In addition, home inspections provide piece of mind insurance that your dream house does not become a money-pit nightmare.
Now there are those who will be tempted to forego the home inspection and rely on the standard one year new home warranty provided by the builder and the usually longer new home warranty provided by state law (around 4 years -but have an experieinced real estate attorney give you the details of your state’s law).
Do not be lured into this false sense of warranty security. While useful, a home warranty is usually ENFORCED post-closing after you have lived in the house and found the defects- either by nagging the builder, agent or various contractors you are passed off to OR worst case (but common) scenario–going to court. Need I say more.
When choosing a home inspector make sure they are licensed, a requirement in most states.
