This week's initiator Hanoch Dombek
Property or property? What will be revealed in the examiner's report
Good Tuesday morning, fun for us to get up in the morning and see the comments and likes. It makes you want to keep writing to yourself. Thank you all. And now for the daily topic:
When we purchase a used vehicle in Israel, we take it to a testing institute and receive a detailed report on the condition of the vehicle. In the United States, it is common to do a check when buying a home. Whether you are buying or selling a property, the examiner is almost always an integral part of the process.
The inspector is hired by the buyers and at the end of the inspection, which lasts 3-5 hours, depending on the size of the house, a detailed report will be received on the systems inspected and defects discovered, including construction additions and work done according to the accepted construction standard in the area. The examiner does not detect any hidden defects and does not open walls. He will check everything he can see and reach including:
Roof and gutters - visual observation and assessment of the condition and expected life of the roof (done using binoculars or skimmer)
Foundations, cladding and skeleton - will look for cracks, defects and fractures. Check the condition of the outdoor balconies (DECK)
Interior of the house - will check the integrity of the walls, the condition of the doors and windows and the condition of the floor.
Appliances - will check the integrity of existing appliances in the house (oven, microwave, dishwasher, refrigerator, cooker hood, garbage grinder)
Plumbing - will check the water pressure, the integrity of all the taps and drains, the heating boiler discovered and its condition
Electricity - will check every socket, every circuit breaker, every lamp, smoke detector, main board and fuses, integrity of sockets against electric shock, vent in bathrooms and ceiling fans in rooms
Air conditioning - will check heating / cooling and life expectancy of the unit
Insulation - in attic and / or unfinished basement ceilings,
Rodents will report if it sees rodent secretions in the attic
Usually, within about 24 hours of the end of the test, a thick report will arrive on the condition of the house. Do not panic, part of the report contains notices of test limitations and disclaimer from the examiner if he has not discovered a hidden defect. Some inspectors dramatize the repairs. For example, in one of the houses we sold to a young couple we received a red note about life-threatening… It turned out that there was no plastic socket cover that cost pennies. Without underestimating and underestimating the results of the report, one should read it carefully and know how to distinguish between the main and the trivial.
Remember post number 2 about the structure of the American house? Obviously ,,, so there I mentioned what the essential things might be in your report. The following is a quick reminder for high-cost repairs:
• Basics
• Skeleton
• Roof replacement
• Replacement of air conditioner
The test must be performed within the due diligence period in Kenya. Due diligence Remember that the examiner on your behalf is part of your team and it is desirable that you or your representative be present during the test. This is a great time to ask questions, find out details on topics that are not clear to you and in general, in a personal conversation he will expand much more than he will write. This will help you get a more accurate picture about the condition of the house and an opportunity to get back to the seller to ask for repairs or lower the price. The seller will not always agree to all the requirements, but it is likely that some compromise can be reached.
If the property is intended for a flip you will prefer a price reduction because the house will be renovated anyway. In a rental property, you will prefer to repair the defect so that the seller will deal with it and not you. It is mandatory to correct and document all the defects indicated as life-threatening so that if something happens to the tenant, God forbid, you will not be charged with negligence.
Please note, when you want to sell the property, in 95% of cases the buyer will bring an examiner on his behalf, so it is advisable to fix any defects that your examiner found that they will arise again and this time the problem is yours. Do not worry, the buyer's examiner will find additional defects but it is better that these are negligible things. Keep in mind that the buyer does not always understand the construction and can come under pressure from a long list or life-threatening warnings and cancel the deal. There will be times when the examiner writes on a particular topic - recommends consulting an expert professional - it basically means, I have not examined in depth… it is not my job… I am not an expert in this field and do not take responsibility. Indeed, the average examiner often encounters things he does not know or is not supposed to express a professional opinion on, and yet, he is the almost exclusive expert that your buyer will bring and according to which he will rule anything. Our recommendation, do not argue with the buyer's examiner even if you are sure he was wrong in his interpretation of a particular subject. You will find creative ways to resolve the matter because the solution to blow up the deal and return to the market is not necessarily the best.
Sometimes even the bank lending to the buyer of the mortgage requires repairing additional defects even if not stated in the report. For example, one of the houses we sold was in an area that was not connected to a central sewer and each house had a septic tank. Our buyer was a veteran and received a loan from veterans (VA Loan) who are known for their lack of sense of humor and demands for repairs without the possibility of negotiation. The lender's demand was to empty and treat the septic tank at a cost of $ 1500 or cancel the deal. Since the house had been in our possession for 8 years, rented and yielded and the sale was at a handsome profit, we agreed to the terms and proceeded with the buyer. If you did not demand treatment or payment for such treatment at the time of purchase, then the unexpected $ 1500 is an unpleasant surprise.
Before sale we usually go through all the systems in the house again, discover defects and repair before the buyer's inspector arrives. This method saved us a lot of money and helped to make smooth closures.
If any of you are reading an examiner report right now, we hope this post helped make it clearer and to others we wish you would read a lot of examiner reports.
We will be happy to meet you in the comments and answer questions, implied tomorrow.
Joins Eyal - really fun to read what you write
Thank you very much for sharing and information. See that you have many years of experience in the field ????????
Honestly great power I ask you to stay well next week