turnkey companies that provide inspection up front?

Question

Does anyone know of any turnkey companies that provide a professional independent home inspection report up front on all properties they are offering to investors?

Curt Davis · Answer

Wanted to clarify one thing regarding my post above,  when we get the home inspections done right when we start the renovations, they were never meant to be offered to the investors. I do tell clients that we have done an inspection for our own purpose and if they want to look at it or use it great but also encourage them to get their own.  We simply wanted to have them done so we can make sure our contractors are repairing what is found.  The idea is so that when the actual buyer comes along, their inspector will not have too many issues with the home and having a cleaner report.  We have found that when clients would get the initial report done once the home was finished we would find a lot of items so if we can address them sooner then our contractors will have fewer items to do later with fewer items needing attention.

David Faulkner · Answer

"independant" ... LOL ... so you are looking for the fox in chicken's clothing that guards the hen house? And take a guess who the "hen" is in the transaction ... Don't buy turnkey, but if you must, you insist upon choosing your own lender, appraiser, and inspector ... best of luck ...

Alex Craig · Answer

Inspection reports on vacant homes are not conclusive. A inspector may test one outlet at a time or test the faucet for a few minutes.  When tenants are in the home, cycling on and off electrical systems, have multiple items plugged in and in use simultaneously all while the sink, shower, outdoor sprinkler, dishwasher and washing machine are on, other issues could come up that would never show up on a inspection report while the home is vacant.  A warranty period after the tenant moves into a TK home is appropriate.

@Gabriel Miller Spending $350 for a inspection by an inspector you choose is minimal and the cost of doing business with any real estate purchase. This is one area I would not try to pass the cost on to someone else. Ask your seller to pay for some closing cost before you save money on using someone elses inspection. If you recall the scene from Tommy Boy, don't take Tom Callahan's word, you want to stick your head up the bulls......

That being said, I like Curt's inspector a lot. His reports are easy to read.

Gabriel Miller · Answer

@Alex Craig,  The difference for me is that I can evaluate a number of opportunities without having to shell out the inspection costs.

Ali Boone · Answer

A couple of them over the last couple of years have started offering to provide one, in addition to you getting one on your own or you can just use theirs by itself, but more so as a way to confirm whatever may be left to be done on the property. So when you get your own inspection, it's less...full. But the consistency of them doing it hasn't totally panned out because of their workloads.

More than all of that....most investors buying turnkeys want to have their own professional inspection done (it's usually only $300-500, so not a huge chunk of cash) so they can use a 3rd party from the turnkey company so there is no potential for bias.

Any reason specifically you're asking?

Stephen Akindona · Answer

@Gabriel Miller, just my two cents here, I think you should evaluate companies that provide the service you are looking for, then after honing in on a specific company, hone in on a deal, run the numbers look at all the financial data and then get your own inspection done. You shouldn't pay for an inspection until you are certain that you want to move forward with the deal. I think that as you dig deeper into companies a lot of potential deals will weed themselves out. It is more important to find a company or boots on the ground that you can trust, I use the word trust very loosely, always trust but verify!

Dean Letfus · Answer

Well I can only talk about Memphis. I don't know if other markets may be more or less honest. I would never accept one in any market, but Memphis I know first hand of this being abused by sellers.

Curt Davis · Answer

@Dean Letfus

Do you not mean never trust an inspection report offered by a supplier in general regardless of the market?

Dean Letfus · Answer

In Memphis you would NEVER trust an inspection supplied by the company.  You have no way to ensure it is independent or accurate. I have bought properties with inspections supplied and been doing major repairs a week later.  NEVER EVER trust a report from a seller IMHO.

Gabriel Miller · Answer

Curt Davis,  Thank you for your reply.  yes, I would like to take a look at one of your reports.   What do you provide to the investor after the renovations to show the work was done sufficiently?  For me, I am most interested in the inspection report after the renovations are completed. This is especially true for "Option 1" as described below and this is my current preference for buying my first turnkey deal.

• Source:  https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/08/1...
• Option 1:  Investor purchases a property that is fully rehabbed, tenants are in the property already paying rent, and property managers are standing by to manage the property the minute you own it.  
• Option 2. Investor buys a distressed property and provides the funds to the company to do the full rehab to the property, and they then find the tenants for the property and then hook you up with property management as well.

turnkey companies that provide inspection up front?

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