Richard Silver

Toronto Real Estate: The Reality of Home Inspections Part 2

After the Home Inspection 

The home inspector will give you a “blow-by-blow” of what they feel needs to done on the house…many times when I visit clients 3 or 4 years later, none have been done. Not good, if you are planning on selling…however it does point to the urgency of some of the suggestions from the Home Inspector.

The reality is that house problems do not get better on their own. You house will not heal itself and a lot of times when left alone the final bill will only get larger. If you are selling at any point 95% of buyers if not more will insist on a Home Inspection and I doubt that what was an issue when you bought would have evaporated.

Create you own “hit list”!

Create you own “hit list” and either do it all at once or prioritize and attack each issue one at a time. My tendency has been to do as much as possible at once or group things so that there is as little disruption as possible.

Some things like: grading the land away from the house, new furnace and air conditioning, even termites (depending on the level of damage) would not frighten me.

New furnaces and Air Conditioning rate much higher efficiency today and you can earn back their costs in a few years…It never ceases to amaze me that a Client or Realtor would bring an $600,000 to $800,000 to the market that needs a new $5,000 furnace, but they do.

Termites in Toronto  are a fact of life.

Don’t expect your teeth never to get cavities. If you live in an area with sandy soil you must be careful. Termites are not the problem…it is their eating habits…know that you must check for them often, have treatment (if they are found) and buy Termite Insurance. Be constantly vigilant as you would with any health issue.

Roofing is the biggest issue that arises during Toronto Home Inspections.

It is our own fault. We seldom go on our roofs to see what is happening and most of us are at the mercy of Roofing contractors. We will pay a huge amount of money for the latest and greatest kitchen appliances but negotiate till we are “blue in the face” to get the cheapest roofing job possible. Roofs are just not sexy!

Foundations:

Foundations are just that! They are really important…don’t throw good money after bad by renovating and upgrading a property that does not have a solid foundation. Houses with older brick foundations were never really meant to have finished basements. Don’t expect to put a finished basement in a home with a Brick foundation unless it is above the water table. Make sure that you have done all your homework and dealt with professionals if you choose this path. It may be much more costly than you think.

Windows, Doors and skylights are mostly decorative…but in our climate they are important. They have a shelf-life, need maintenance and the more recent ones have higher “R” factor.

Know however, that the latest and greatest windows, doors, skylights, furnaces, air conditioners and roofing materials etc. will be outdated at the time you install them.

Contact Me: 

Please feel free to contact me for some good names of trades in the Toronto area. They are hard to come by and always, always ask them for the phone numbers or email addresses of their last three clients. Lastly, make sure that the warranty that you get for the work done, stays with the property and does not become null and void if you sell the property. Sometimes Sellers tell me they have a ten year warranty but when they read the fine print…it is only good as long as they are still the owners.

For more information:

Earth Day and The Green Energy Act: When the Best of Good Intentions Go Wrong.

Toronto Real Estate: The Reality of Home Inspections Part 1

Toronto Real Estate: Home Inspections Part 3

Toronto Real Estate: A Home Inspection Story Part 4

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 at 1:15 pm and is filed under Buying in Toronto, Downtown Toronto, Real Estate, Selling in Toronto, Toronto. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1. marco kyris said at December 30th, 2009 at 5:25 am

   Hi Richard,

   Hope you’re well and safe. One day I’ll do it-that trip.
   Love the info and updaates. Keep them coming. I may have to tweek some things when you get back to sell.

2. Richard Silver said at December 30th, 2009 at 6:49 am

   Thanks Marco,

   Sounds like a good plan. I think we will have a strong market in Jan/Feb/Mar so keep that house shining as I know you do!

   I am seeing some great sites here. Penguins, Whales, Huge mountains, and loads of snow! Antarctica is glorious!

   Be well!

   Richard

3. Jeffrey said at January 16th, 2010 at 10:11 pm

   Keep posting and I’ll keep coming back, thanks

4. Richard Silver said at January 17th, 2010 at 4:28 am

   Thanks Jeffrey. Let me know if there are subjects that you think should be covered…

5. houston pest service said at December 10th, 2011 at 8:23 am

   houston pest service…

   [...]Toronto Real Estate: The Reality of Home Inspections Part 2 | Richard Silver’s Downtown Toronto Blog[...]…

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