Quote:
Originally Posted by twdenman
Would you buy a used "brick and stick", without an inspection? I would spend a couple bucks and have MH independently inspected.
|
With qualifications. Having owned campers for nearly my whole adult life, I would trust my instincts as well as that of DW's. We have also built, bought and sold several bricks and sticks by owner. Having retired from a long term career, I became a Realtor.
We did our own inspection on one prospective home and found a failed roof truss. This material defect was under the insulation and I doubt a home inspector would have found it. The contractor that built the home had to have known the webbing plates were torn loose and the webbing was off of the truss. The owners and their agent offered a $250 escrow to do the repair. It would require a structural engineering inspection/recommendation, a building permit, a licensed building contractor to do the repair and another engineer's inspection to certify the repair. Well, not for us and goodbye. The agent still tried to force us to close, but we filed a complaint with the state real estate commission and won. The broker was require to take and pass the broker's course and was put on probation.
On another occasion, working as a realtor representing a buyer, a professional home inspection was ordered. This inspector was widely used and respected.
I had used him several times for other transactions. When the buyers took possession, they called me to complain of noises in the attic. Going to the crawl space access, they could see trails through the insulation. They were novices. It was not hard to detect that there was a rat infestation in the attic.
It was embarrassing to me. The inspector was in the attic on the inspection. But it was a building inspection, not termites and rodents. It would have been common sense to mention it verbally or in the report. The state licensing agency agreed and he was reprimanded.
So, the point is, if you have the knowledge and feel qualified to do your own inspection and make a mistake, you live and learn by it. When I was showing properties and noted material defects, I pointed them out to the buyers. It was then up to them if they wanted to consider that home. Most often, it never got to a professional inspection. And if it did, it was a price negotiating tool. When working the seller's end, I brought up any material defects and made sure they were either fixed or noted in the listing reports. Many agents, depending on the company they were associated with, played dumb and buyer beware.
If a professional makes a mistake, there is not a whole lot of recourse unless you want to take them to court. You may not necessarily get what you paid for.
Linear Mode
