Home failed inspection.. miserably

[merolpn]

I am sorry to hear you lost out on what appears to be a really nice house.

I understand how you feel. I have had my Electrical Contractor's license for over ten years and have been in the trade over 25 years. I have seen every slimeball landlord, house flipper, renovator, general contractor.........etc in my state. I was looking at homes for a while. I had three homes inspected. All had problems. Some major ones like collapsed septic systems and mold....etc. Since I was getting a low enough price and I was renovating the house myself, I accepted these issues. The one major problem was that I was trying to by Short Sales and Foreclosures which are more difficult than paying top dollar to an owner occupant. Three banks could not close their side of the deal. I had all of my paperwork complete but the selling banks just could not get their act together. That was three "home" inspections, Threes "septic" inspections, Three lab fees for well water tests AND the kicker......another $600 for my loan application because my time ran out. I was SICK of paying. By the time I made the offer on my current house, I could write an airtight contract myself (and I did). I just flatly tell the seller...."If the home fails for HEALTH or ENVIRONMENTAL reasons, contaminated well water, failed septic system, MOLD or leaking oil lines.........YOU PAY the inspection fee, PERIOD!" I take pictures of mold and damage. I would never cheat anyone out of their money. I just want to recover my money inspecting their home or get the price low enough that the deal works for me.


Oh, also even though I am a licensed contractor I always pay for someone with "Home Inspector" on their letterhead because town/county/city building departments generally know these guys well. I know what you are thinking "Why do you care about that"? When the seller of a really bad house can't close the deal at the price I want, I become a public servant and "Donate" ALL of the horrible inspection reports right to the local building department inspectors. I've sent a few things to the local Health departments too when mold is present. I call the local building official advising them that I found a major health or structural problem, then email the inspection report to them. Now there is a phone call logged and email trace. I NEVER do this through any real estate agents. I don't trust people to pass along critical information. Agents may not want to pass along damaging info to towns because they are afraid someone will do it to them in retaliation on their listing.

Here is the Dupage County link: DuPage County IL Official Website - Building Permitting - Home

Don't ever be shy about it!! You may be saving someone from health problems.

Also, if you have the time, go to the town assessors office yourself before you look at a house and tell them you are purchasing a specific address. Just march right into the town clerk like you own the county and ask who has all of the building files. Willingly pay for whole files to be copied. You can find some really good information. Most towns will hand you the whole file (owners name, assessment, permits) Sometimes real estate agents accidentally (on purpose) put in a much higher "Assessed Value" on the MLS sheet. That is because most homes assess at 70-80% of fair market value. The higher that number is the more attractive a lower asking APPEARS. Trust me, it is very intimidating to sellers and selling agents if you walk into the showing holding all of their information and start asking questions before you look at "pretty" things. Agents always want to show the woman the kitchen and how pretty the tile is in the bath (That's why your listing did not have pictures of the bathroom) and show the man the garage and shed. I look at houses alone. I go in and act like I have to rip out every faucet, bathtub and toilet anyway, so I don't care what it looks like. Every kitchen I see, is "just acceptable" when they ask me how I feel about it.

I try to make offers on Sundays. I give the selling agent LESS than a day to have my answer. Usually I will try to make the offer around noon on a Sunday and tell them that this is a one time offer and I want a yes or no by 9 am the next day. If they ignore me, I know they weren't going to work on price. If they counter offer after my deadline, I give it two days before I respond. I generally know what property in my area is worth and I am not a lowballer. I don't go in at 60% of asking and demand an answer in 10 hours. I make the offer just on the edge of attractive. I can always beat them up a little later after my inspection.

Yes, I have learned almost every slimeball trick in the book.

I hope I gave you some good information to think about and maybe a different point of view.

Good luck on the next deal!

Paul