So last Monday my brother Darwin had a bunch of inspections on the home he wanted to buy. In attendance was Lindsay, his agent--though now Darwin is only speaking with Irving, the broker. My brother wanted several inspections done on this 30 year old house. These were inspections above and beyond a home inspector. Last week, Lindsay had argued with him, telling him his inspections were "needless" and just a "waste of money." So, instead of actually setting up the requested inspections she blew it off and thought Darwin would just comply. He didn't.
The home inspector said the house was in great shape. And wow! What a beautiful bargain Darwin was getting.
Lindsay was beaming. She knew this and why wouldn't Darwin listen to her all along?
The roofer agreed. The roof has another 5 to 10 years. He also told Darwin how smart he was to get a roof inspection. He praised Lindsay for having the presence of mind to recommend such a such a thing for her clients, and he wished more buyers took this extra step.
The home inspector said the AC blows cold. No worries there.
The HVAC inspector took of the AC's casing to find out the coils were completely rusted through. "Let me snap a picture of that!" The Home Inspector said, adding this to his findings. The AC is also running 17 amps on a 20 amp circuit. It should be running 10. The HVAC inspector was surprised it was still running. The home inspector, after looking over the HVAC inspector's shoulder agreed. "Yep, this thing is shot."
Lindsay was quiet.
Home inspector said the pool looked great. The hot tub pump wasn't working, but that "could be anything."
The Pool Inspector removed the exterior casing to discover there had been an electrical fire and the entire motor, electrical and part of the interior of the hot tub had fused together. The seller must have forgotten there had been a fire. "You may want to ask the seller if they have anything else they forgot to disclose," I said.
"Indeed," Darwin replied.
The pool inspector also discovered the pool also doesn't exactly hold water. There may be a leak. Plus, The buried propane heater--used for the pool and hot tub--are in unreasonable shape and need some sort of love/maintenance/replacement.
The plumber found a few interesting tid-bits the home inspector didn't find either. Who knew that keeping a cookie sheet under a dishwasher would be a substitute for a drain pipe?
I didn't even hear how the sewer scope went. But I know Lindsay has probably changed her tune and at the very least started looking for a different home inspector to recommend to her clients.
As of Monday night (I'm writing this Tuesday morning) Darwin and his wife hadn't decided what they were going to do. They had a bit of time left in their inspections. I offered my big sister advice of don't make a financial decision based on fear--fear of losing out, fear of lack of inventory, fear of being homeless. Darwin agreed, but he said he wasn't going to buy the home in the condition it was in now.
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