{"id":2306,"date":"2012-03-01T12:59:12","date_gmt":"2012-03-01T12:59:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.anthonydidonato.net\/wordpress\/?p=2306"},"modified":"2012-03-01T12:59:12","modified_gmt":"2012-03-01T12:59:12","slug":"home-inspections-understanding-your-legal-protections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.anthonydidonato.net\/wordpress\/home-inspections-understanding-your-legal-protections\/","title":{"rendered":"Home Inspections: Understanding Your Legal Protections"},"content":{"rendered":"

Home Inspections: Understanding Your Legal Protections.<\/h2>\n
\"Home<\/a>

Home Inspections: Understanding Your Legal Protections<\/p><\/div>\n

Home inspection reports are a summary of the health of a home on the day the inspection is made, but many buyers move through the home-buying process as if it is some type of guarantee. Home inspectors do a visual inspection of the home and will identify major defects and items that are at the end of their service lives; however, if something breaks, floods or leaks after the date of that inspection, the buyer is responsible for finding it and notifying the seller. In other words, Buyer Beware. An inspection report has very few legal teeth and the home buyer must exercise due diligence before buying the home. For more on this continue reading the following article from JDSupra.<\/p>\n

Home Buyer Beware \u2013 Your Home Inspection Report Does Not Come With a Lifetime Guarantee<\/p>\n

I have never represented a home buyer who did not get the property inspected before the closing (even during the days of the real estate bubble when sellers were not agreeing to any repairs).\u00a0But, I find that the expectations of my buyers clients seem to be higher than they should be in terms of what the home inspection report is designed to do.A home inspector will go through the house and check out the conditions of the structure, the systems (heating, air conditioning (if the temperature permits), hot water, plumbing, and electrical) and the appliances.\u00a0The better home inspectors will go into crawl spaces, up on the roof (but most just use binoculars while on the ground) but they are limited by what is visible.\u00a0If there are bookcases or other furniture in a room or boxes in the basement or attic, the home inspector will not move anything to see what is behind them.\u00a0\u00a0 The home inspector will also look for termites or damage from termite infestation.<\/p>\n

A home inspection report is a snapshot of what condition the property is in on that particular day.\u00a0Unfortunately, I have had calls from clients who were upset that things broke down soon after closing or systems that could not be tested due to temperature were not working optimally or a basement that was disclosed as dry was now flooded.\u00a0They wanted to know if they could get compensation from the home inspector, the seller or the seller\u2019s real estate agent.<\/p>\n

There are limitations to what you get from the home inspection.\u00a0It is always possible that the seller lied on the disclosure form but you would have to prove that the seller had knowledge of the condition and lied about it.\u00a0Or things do break down more quickly than predicted (most home inspectors will mention if something is at the end of its useful life but the seller is not obligated to replace it if it still working at the final walk-through.\u00a0Or the law could change and what was an acceptable practice when you closed is now unacceptable to buyers and you have to spend money you were not expecting to spend.\u00a0With flooding issues, we have had 100-year floods and 200-year floods recently, so in most cases, if a basement didn\u2019t flood from Hurricane Irene or the other storms we\u2019ve had, chances are you will be getting the dry basement you are expecting.\u00a0But, there is no guarantee that we won\u2019t experience a 500-year flood soon.<\/p>\n

Also remember that if you want to sue someone, you have to pay your legal fees.\u00a0If the costs of hiring a lawyer, missing work to appear at depositions and in court, and feeling the stress from having an ongoing lawsuit in your life won\u2019t outweigh the damages you have suffered (and don\u2019t expect to get millions for emotional distress or pain and suffering), it won\u2019t be worth it to sue.\u00a0There is a reason that the expression \u201cCaveat Emptor\u201d is still used when buying a house \u2013 the buyer must beware.\u00a0You must diligently check out all possible issues, ask your home-buying team about the ramifications of what was found in the home inspection report, ask the seller to repair the items that need repair, but understand that no one can insulate you from all of the risks of buying a home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Home Inspections: Understanding Your Legal Protections. Home inspection reports are a summary of the health of a home on the day the inspection is made, but many buyers move through the home-buying process as if it is some type of guarantee. Home inspectors do a visual inspection of the home and will identify major defects … <\/p>\n

Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,8],"tags":[5,32,4,9],"class_list":["post-2306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-real-estate-tips","tag-anthony-didonato","tag-news","tag-real-estate","tag-tips","item-wrap"],"yoast_head":"\nHome Inspections: Understanding Your Legal Protections - Real Estate Agent and Sales in PA - Anthony DiDonato Broomall, Media, Delaware County and surrounding areas in Pennsylvania<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Home Inspections: Understanding Your Legal Protections. 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