I have been going back-n-forth in my head about whether to do an inspection on House #2 at all. For peace of mind, I want to do one. I know HUD uses a qualified inspector to inspect each house beforehand, but I'm not sure the depth of the inspection they do. One of the other concerns I had about waving an inspection is that Texas is known for termites more-so than in a lot of northern areas. This is always an addition to a normal inspection (at least, down here).
Well, I got an email from my agent earlier in which she attached three documents: the contract, HUD's inspection report, and HUD's termite inspection report. I already had the contract and HUD's inpection report, but getting th termite report was a shock. HUD never did a termite inspection for House #1, so I took it for granted I'd have to do my own. Now that I have HUD's inspection (which was done at the end of June), I am REALLY weighing the decision of whether to do a formal inspection or not.
BTW, my agent also said they need to still get the okay from HUD's office before we can do an inspection. I told her it's no wonder they are falling behind - I found out I won two weeks ago this Friday and they STILL don't have all the paperwork they need for me to do anything yet.
Update: Well, going against my better judgement, I have decided not to have an inspections performed on House #2. Although I will be saving about $330 by going this route, financial savings was not the reason I opted to not have an inspection done. Time was one of the reasons as it takes time to line up people for the inspection (inspectors, utilities, agent, myself), but the main reason was HUD's own inspections. They are pretty detailed in their findings, and there was nothing wrong with the house per their inspections. Again, it might come back to bite me, but I firmly believe it would be a waste of time and money for me. I look back at House #1 and see now that that inspection was a waste as well. The inspector found a few small things I didn't catch, but they were nothing that would have caused havoc later.
So, I called the water company and told them I would come by and pick up my check. I almost called the electric company, but hung up the phone as it was going through the electronic menu system. What I might do is just leave the electric on, so I don't have to disconnect and then reconnect it later in order to do any cleaning/repairs. There are probably a couple of outdoor outlets in which someone brave/stupid/ballsy enough may try to hijack some electric, but I seriously doubt it. The jury is still out on this one.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Hello. Congrats on your latest investment.
It is ALWAYS a bad idea to skip an sort of inspection. A termite company will come out for free...or at least they do down here in Corpus Christi.
I can get a inspector out within a day or two under normal circumstances. $300 for piece of mind is a pretty good price. I know for a fact that HUD does not do that thorough of a job in their inspections. Good luck to you and keep us posted!
-Cheryl in Corpus
Thanks, Cheryl. While I agree with you that HUD's inspections are probably not on par with "regular" inspections, they do tend to flush out any major discrepencies from what I've noticed. As far as it ALWAYS being a bad idea to skip an inspection, I have to disagree slightly. For older houses, I would definately get one, but for newer houses such as this one (built in 2003), I tend to believe the foundation, roof, frame, appliances, etc., are in still in excellent order. My real concern was with termites, and their individual termite report showed no active infestation. Now previous owners - especially those getting foreclosed upon - could very well damage the place, but I'm sure I would have saw more signs of physical destruction. As it is, the only thing I saw were two holes in the master bedroom door, which could have been caused by just about anything. Thanks again!
Hi Steve. I had a client who wanted a home inspection on a brand new house. While in the attic, the inspector discovered that a main brace had been cut by whoever installed the A/C. If the inspection had not been done, it probably would have gone undetected until the roof started to cave...ended up being well worth the $250.
That is when I decided to always have an inspection preformed on my personal property (no matter how old or new) and I always highly suggest them to my clients. You are probably right and nothing will come back to bite you...keep us posted on your progress! Cheers!
Thanks everyone for your comments. I think at this point, I am beyond the point of getting an inspection within HUD's allowed 7 day window. I think I'll still get an inspection done, but I'm on the cuff now of not getting my earnest money back if I back out due to a problem during the inspection. I guess I can way the pros & cons after the inspection regarding whether or not losingthe $1k EMD is worth it (if it would even come to that, which I doubt).
Thanks again!
Post a Comment