Would you ever buy a property without an inspection?

Rochester, MN · Member since 2018 · 79 posts · 36 votes

I’m about to purchase a property where everything has been replaced in the last 4 yrs (roof, furnace, AC, siding, windows, kitchen, floors, plumbing, ect.) the previous owner did all the work himself since he is a carpenter. I know an inspection is always the smart thing to do, but I am debating on foregoing the inspection so that the deal can get done. I told the seller I want an inspection and he is totally cool with it and does not believe anything is wrong with the place since it is so new. What are your thoughts?

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Russell BrazilBusiness Member

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Real Estate Agent · Washington, D.C. · Member since 2012 · 17k+ posts · 30k+ votes

My branch manager last week said something interesting. He has gone to over 4,000 inspections in his career. And not a single time did an inspector find anything of signifigance that everyone else involved couldnt clearly see with their own eyes.

You can either clearly see the problem....or you cant, and if you cant see it, its not like the inspector has xray vision.

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Todd Dexheimer
Rental Property Investor · St. Paul, MN · Member since 2016 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
8y
@Alec McGinn for you purposes, I would highly suggest an inspection. The chances are small, but what if you find something very costly after you buy the house, that could have been caught during inspection. A lot can go wrong in 4 years and it sounds like ab older house, so a lot could have been wrong previously that wasn't fixed.
I have purchased many houses without inspections, but...
1. I am a general contractor
2. I was buying houses that needed a lot of work, so I would budget to do almost everything.
3. I would bring my main job supervisor through as well
1 Reply
Mike Nelson
Investor · Oak Park, IL · Member since 2014 · 316 posts · 150 votes
8y
I am a licensed architect, and may get an inspection just to get a second set of eyes. However, the benefit would have to exceed to the inspection cost. I have bought cheap fixer-upper properties without an inspection because I got great deals and didn't want to nitpick on getting the seller to pay for repairs. I have seen inspections used as a basis for getting the price reduced to pay for things like furnace repairs, roof repairs, etc.
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Milton RiveraPro Member
Professional · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2017 · 116 posts · 67 votes
8y
Your processes should be standardized including your due diligence. There are a number of reasons you should get this particular inspection including:
There might be things the seller is simply not aware of.
If he is a carpenter, then he is not an electrician or HVAC expert. How do you know that work was done correctly? Remember to trust but verify.
If you forego the inspection, have you included a large enough allowance and/or a contingency to address the unknown issues?
2 Reply
Max T.
Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
8y
I would skip it if the project is gonna be a tear down and new build. Anything else, I get the inspection.
1 Reply
Kenny Dahill
Investor · Tempe, AZ · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 731 votes
8y
Inspections are based off your level of expertise. I've renovated 3 of my units and come from a commercial construction background. I typically skip but I will still pay $75 to a HVAC and pool maintenance vendor to get a review on the units. I also know I'm going into houses will be renovated, so I budget extra for any maintenance items.
I recommend to all my friends to spend the extra $400 on your $10-20k invest. It could also save them money in negotiations and pay for itself depending on what they find.
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Chris May
Rental Property Investor · Durham, NC · Member since 2016 · 354 posts · 288 votes
8y
Definitely get an inspection! In my experience, DIY homes, even if done by someone with "experience" are horror shows.

We recently renovated a high end rental unit, that was previously owner occupied by a cabinet maker and wood worker. The extra expense of cleaning up his poor plumbing, electrical, mechanical, drywall, finishes was substantial. After opening up the walls we discovered the upstairs tankless water heater plumbing and electrical were done wrong, the downstairs water heater vented directly into a wall cavity, DIY electrical with too many code violations to list, shower was tiled without any waterproofing... I could go on and on.

For whatever reason, DIYers seem to cut corners even when they supposedly know how to do it correctly. Of course, I also DIY, but I do it right or hire a professional. He might have done good work, but you really just never know.
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Jennifer T.Pro Member
Investor · New Orleans, LA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 944 votes
8y
Originally posted by @Fred Heller:

90%+ of issues that come up in an inspection will be ignored by the buyer. HOWEVER, the inspection can uncover some pretty important issues that could cost you a lot of money.

I have a guy who does investor "consultations" instead of inspections. He covers all the big ticket items like the roof, foundation, electrical, HVAC, etc.

There was one home we had under contract, and his consultation discovered that the breaker box was one of those Federal Pacific breaker boxes, which is a known fire hazard. He also noted that the wiring was aluminum, which is another known fire hazard. And by the way, my client was not convinced about the value of an inspection. I had to talk him into it. If we had not done that "consultation" we would not have known about the fire hazrds.

The cost to replace the breaker box and rewire the house would have been something like $20,000. I tried to renegotiate the price, but the seller wouldn't budge. So I blew up the deal. I was not going to have my client buy this firetrap.
This is exactly the type of inspection I get done when buying a property. My inspector charges for $350 for the "typical", super thorough home inspection. However, I'm experienced enough that I don't need all that. I just want to know about "big ticket" items like the roof, foundation, HVAC and electrical systems. He charges me $125 for that type of inspection. He can also give me ballpark numbers for repair/replace, when he does find an issue.
$125 is a BARGAIN, to have a good picture of what I'm facing for major systems. For one property, he found a major issue with the foundation not being supported well enough. It hadn't failed yet, but would within a couple years without a $4K fix. The seller agreed to take the entire $4K off the price.
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Randy E.
Rental Property Investor · Durham, NC · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
8y
Originally posted by @Alec McGinn:
I’m about to purchase a property where everything has been replaced in the last 4 yrs (roof, furnace, AC, siding, windows, kitchen, floors, plumbing, ect.) the previous owner did all the work himself since he is a carpenter. I know an inspection is always the smart thing to do, but I am debating on foregoing the inspection so that the deal can get done. I told the seller I want an inspection and he is totally cool with it and does not believe anything is wrong with the place since it is so new. What are your thoughts?
I buy without inspections, but I buy knowing beforehand that a lot of rehab is necessary. Also, I probably have a more experienced eye than you do, and I can discern whats acceptable to me and what appears to be too expensive for my budget.
If you don't have a good idea of what you're looking at, I say you should get an inspection. Better safe than sorry.
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Paul Thompson
Investor · Little Rock, AR · Member since 2015 · 130 posts · 119 votes
8y
If you are new I strongly recommend getting an inspection. If you are experienced and know what you're looking for then it might make sense for you to forgo an inspection. But this would only apply if you're a builder, contractor, inspector or otherwise experienced and in the trade. As an investor who never does work on houses myself I do not consider myself in "the trade" and rely on the experience of professionals who are in the trade and have proven to me are competent.
It's probably $500 or less. Inspectors have found big glaring issues I've completely missed. It was money well spent in those cases. Other times they confirmed what I already thought and was still money well spent.
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Jennifer Delmore
Rental Property Investor · Littleton, CO · Member since 2017 · 61 posts · 18 votes
8y
Unless I was gutting the whole place I'd pay for the inspection. When we bought our current (primary) home we didn't see any surprises in the inspection report, but did manage to negotiate for a new hot water tank/heater - which we knew was at the end of its usable life when we saw the house in the first place. The seller left the new hot water tank in a box in the basement (which - Who DOES that?) so two weeks after we moved in my husband had to spend half a day taking the old one out and putting the new one in, but that's a different problem.
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Jared W SmithBusiness Member
Architect · Westchester County, NY · Member since 2018 · 684 posts · 476 votes
8y
Originally posted by @Russell Brazil:

My branch manager last week said something interesting. He has gone to over 4,000 inspections in his career. And not a single time did an inspector find anything of signifigance that everyone else involved couldnt clearly see with their own eyes.
You can either clearly see the problem....or you cant, and if you cant see it, its not like the inspector has xray vision.
Strongly disagree with this. If you are unfamiliar with construction and a home's systems, then something wrong could be staring you in the face and you not know. Having 4,000 inspections under your belt is a totally different realm than someone without this level of experience.
Get the inspection.
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John Woodrich
Flipper/Rehabber · Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
8y
If he is fine with you getting an inspection just do it.
I personally do not pay for an inspection as I can pretty much perform it on my own and it is usually part of what makes my offer better. Most properties I get need a lot of work so an outlet wired backwards or a sticking window is not going to make or break the deal.
If he did a lot of work I would also recommend verifying if permits were pulled as it could be an issue when you go to sell.
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Steve B.
Engineer · Portland, OR · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
8y
Depends on size and cost of house. Also your experience eyeballing potential money pits
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Alec McGinn
OP
Rochester, MN · Member since 2018 · 79 posts · 36 votes
8y
Thanks for the wisdom! I will be setting up the inspection, but I was curious what others thought.
2 Reply
Jerry Murphy
Investor · Culver City, CA · Member since 2017 · 76 posts · 40 votes
8y
I am planning on buying a condo at an auction in three weeks. It is in the building in which I live. No one has lived in the condo for at least 8 years. So I know the building is OK but the unit might be a mess.
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Ryan Wasserman
Member since 2018 · 1 post · 0 votes
8y
No.
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Albert Ng
Rental Property Investor · San Jose, CA · Member since 2015 · 401 posts · 221 votes
8y
On one hand, the inspection is only a few hundreds bucks. On the other hand, I have watched one of those inspection, and nothing the inspector see that I can’t see for myself.
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Eric V.
Rental Property Investor · Red Bank, NJ · Member since 2018 · 20 posts · 8 votes
8y
ok so you are not a builder or renovator and won't be able to see some things that many others here with experience can see or anticipate. You want an inspector to pick up things you probably won't see or know to look for.
Like
plumbing not up to code - improper venting, wrong pipes or sizes used, galvanized pipe, copper pipe in slab etc.
undersized framing, spans to long, dry rot, termite damage
foundation cracks, settlement, sill plates rotting
asbestos in tiles, plaster, popcorn ceilings, pipe wraps, vent wraps, old furnace insulation.
electrical grounds missing or improper, overloaded circuits, old panel, undersized panel, outlets not to code, aluminum wire, nob and tube wire
mold in crawlspaces, basement, attic
bad drainage in yard, water intrusion spots on house and foundation.
oil tank in ground, radon test
These are just a very few things that you may not pick up if you don't know what to look for.
And as previous said any findings are used to negotiate on price and/or save you from a big ticket item like asbestos removal, structure, water problems etc.
2 Reply
Account Closed
New to Real Estate · Teaneck, NJ · Member since 2018 · 167 posts · 60 votes
8y
Get the inspection. It can save you money later. @Alec McGinn
1 Reply
Marcus Johnson
Investor · Saint Paul, MN · Member since 2015 · 663 posts · 512 votes
8y
Permits are public information, so anybody can find this information out, you don’t need an inspector.
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Sean T.
Rental Property Investor · MA · Member since 2014 · 420 posts · 213 votes
8y
What if we changed the word "inspection" to "education". If you are new and have not been through many homes and/or don't really understand HVAC/Electrical systems and foundations(etc) an inspection will give you some inexpensive hands on real estate education.
Your first deals are your education deals. Learn what you can so you can be better. I doubt anyone will tell you a thorough walk through and report is a waste for long term personal and business growth.
1 Reply
Ian Whiteman
Ft. Lauderdale, FL · Member since 2017 · 64 posts · 22 votes
8y
I cannot offer a lot of experience but just a little wisdom. In my lifetime Ive owned 4 homes personally and my 1st investment under a year ago, making 5 total. During the inspection, 4 things came up.
1. There was wood in the attic that was starting to go bad from a roof leak. The roof leak wasnt properly fixed so he caught that and allowed us to get a sealer on the roof to slow the problem.
2. A lot of the electric has been replaced. This is not an area I know much about. There were some badly corroded parts in the box outside that actually were a potential fire hazard. Internally there were a few bad connections in the panel. Again, cheap to fix but could have been a disaster.
3. Some genius had wired an actual wall light switch in line for the water heater to turn it on and off. It was just loosely hanging behind the water heater but out of sight. One of the wires wasn't capped. It just made a connection and was fully exposed.
4. Due to the age of the home, I had the plumbing scoped to see how bad it looked. To our surprise, it had all been replaced with brand new PVC less than a year ago. A win for us.
I believe the inspection for the main house and guest house, plus plumbing scope, ran about $700. Well worth the offset of a long-term electrical fire IMO.
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Brian R.
Property Manager · Dublin, OH · Member since 2013 · 66 posts · 10 votes
8y
We often buy our properties without formal inspections. In Ohio there is no licensure for property inspectors and we have found there is a wide variation in the things they catch. We made a list of things we look at and take pictures of when we walk through. So far we have not had any problems in our purchasing the the few hundred we have done. Good luck.
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Melissa Gittens
Real Estate Broker · Windsor, CT · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 268 votes
8y
I've purchased a property with an inspection. Would I do that again? Probably not. Get the inspection, I definitely think it is worth it. @Alec McGinn
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Megan Ivy
Member since 2018 · 2 posts · 0 votes
8y
Even if I waive my inspection contingency, I always get an inspection. It's worth the cost to me to simply know everything I need to know about the property. With the acquired info I can budget in order to fix deferred maintainence or any problems immediately as well as know what may be around the bend. Best of luck!
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