Bruce Breedlove
01-14-2010, 09:13 AM
We've all been there. You do a home inspection for a client who later thinks that $300 inspection fee bought them an unlimited home warranty. They think that you - the home inspector - should pay to repair that defect that was hidden inside a wall. They think that you - the home inspector - should have forseen the water heater or the A/C condensing unit would go out a month or two after the inspection and you should pay to replace it.
I cringed when I read the following paragraphs in this WSJ article about how many sellers are not being 100% truthful when selling their house:
What Home Sellers Don't Tell Buyers (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703535104574646600132632292.html?m od=WSJ_HomeAndGarden_sections_RealEstate)
JANUARY 14, 2010
. . .
"This place never floods." Even arid states such as Arizona and New Mexico have occasional flash floods, and water and drainage problems aren't always obvious. June Walbert, 52, a certified financial planner at USAA, a financial-services company, says her San Antonio house received a clean bill of health from a home inspector before she bought it six years ago. But 10 days after she moved in, the sewer backed up, flooding the house, and she had to fork over $2,800 for repairs. "It was a rude surprise," says Ms. Walbert, who adds she asked her home inspector and the seller for compensation, but didn't get it.
Bill Richardson, outgoing president of the American Society of Home Inspectors, says a general home inspection wouldn't catch that unless the sewer line was visible from the basement or water backed up into sinks and tubs or toilets.
. . .
I cringed when I read the following paragraphs in this WSJ article about how many sellers are not being 100% truthful when selling their house:
What Home Sellers Don't Tell Buyers (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703535104574646600132632292.html?m od=WSJ_HomeAndGarden_sections_RealEstate)
JANUARY 14, 2010
. . .
"This place never floods." Even arid states such as Arizona and New Mexico have occasional flash floods, and water and drainage problems aren't always obvious. June Walbert, 52, a certified financial planner at USAA, a financial-services company, says her San Antonio house received a clean bill of health from a home inspector before she bought it six years ago. But 10 days after she moved in, the sewer backed up, flooding the house, and she had to fork over $2,800 for repairs. "It was a rude surprise," says Ms. Walbert, who adds she asked her home inspector and the seller for compensation, but didn't get it.
Bill Richardson, outgoing president of the American Society of Home Inspectors, says a general home inspection wouldn't catch that unless the sewer line was visible from the basement or water backed up into sinks and tubs or toilets.
. . .