Protect yourself; get a home inspection. But beware.

Home inspectors are not required to be licensed in Colorado. Anyone, can go into business tomorrow, and call himself a home inspector, whether or not he has any qualifications. He can even fool you into believing he is qualified, by presenting a "certification" from some bogus organization with an official sounding name, which sells certifications. As a Realtor with over 20 years experience, I have seen a lot of very worthless home inspections, and hope you will use your head when hiring an inspector. I personally would not use anyone not certified by The American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI). You can find their members by looking for the ASHI logo in their ads. Also, always insist that the inspector be insured and bonded and that he carries Errors and Omissions insurance.

At the same time, remember that if you are buying an older home, that it is bound to have some flaws. The purpose of an inspection is to discover hidden flaws that are significant in nature. Obviously, you don't want to find out, after you have bought a home, that it has serious issues, which you did not know about. An inspection should not be seen as a device to "renegotiate" after the fact. It is really crude and dishonorable to get sellers to take their home off the market for a few weeks, while you get an inspection, and then turn around and renegotiate on the basis of minor flaws or things that you could have easily known about going into the negotiations.

As a Seller, it is a very good idea to have a pre-inspection so you have a good idea as to what buyers will find when they have their inspection. Why not have a chance to correct defects ahead of time or at least be able to address them. There is nothing worse than losing a deal at the last minute, because of a few defects.

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Terry Shattuck

Re/Max Properties Inc. - Colorado Springs
Terry@ColoSpgsHomes.com
719-632-6806
http://www.ColoradoSpringsHomesOnline.net

http://www.ColoSpgsHome.com

20 years local Real Estate Experience

Area Native