Hiring Quality Professionals for your New Jersey Home Purchase

THE HOUSE has been decided on and even better, the offer has been accepted!

What comes next?

One of the next important steps in the home buying process is to get the home professionally inspected. This independent, third party evaluation gives valuable insight about the homes structure, systems and even the life expectancy of heating and cooling fixtures as well as roof and exterior materials.

You might be tempted to skip this step to save a few hundred dollars, but you absolutely shouldn’t and here’s why it’s really worth the cost:

• It provides you detailed information about the overall “health” of the house that really can’t be assessed by visual inspection alone.
• It can be a very useful negotiation tool. For instance, if you discover some hidden flaw or costly repair issue, you have the option of renegotiating the sale price or having those repairs done prior to closing at the sellers’ expense.
• It provides an excellent opportunity to get to know your new home intimately. It’s a good idea to attend your inspection, ask all the questions you have and those that will come up during the inspection and learn everything you can about taking care of your new home.

Designed to protect you and the investment you are making in your new home, the choice of inspector deserves careful consideration.  With a little gut instinct and following a few guidelines, you’ll soon be confidently watching your inspector climb on the roof, crawl through the attic and any spaces under the home in the effort to provide a detailed report of the condition of the home.

1. Qualifications – find out what’s included in your inspection & if the age or location of your home may warrant specific certifications or specialties
2. References – do your homework – ask for phone numbers and names of past clients that you can call to ask about their experience
3. Memberships – Not all inspectors belong to a national or state association of home inspectors, and membership in one of these groups should not be the only way to evaluate your choice. However, oftentimes membership in one of these organizations means that there is continued training and education provided
4. Errors & Omission Insurance – Find out what the liability of the inspector or inspection company is once the inspection is over. Do they stand behind the recommendations they make?

To protect your interests, your local marketing specialist will have made the completion of your contract to purchase contingent on the results and your acceptance of this report. This contingency allows any desired renegotiation that may now be necessary, such as:

• the price you will pay for the home
• what repairs, if any, the seller will complete prior to closing and who will pay for those repairs
• or even, in some cases, allow you to walk away from the deal altogether without penalty, such as the loss of your Earnest Money. Your agent can advise you on the best course of action once the report is filed.

Ignorance may be bliss in some things, but NOT when investing your hard-earned money in a home of your own.  It definitely pays you dividends in the long run to work with professionals you can trust throughout the buying process.  Armed with as much information as possible about the house you choose to buy means you can be confident of the educated decisions you’re making without fear of regret later.