Richard Silver

Toronto Real Estate: The Reality of Home Inspections Part 1

After years of attending Home Inspections, some of them my own, I have learned a few lessons that I thought would be good to share with you:

No Home Inspection is perfect:

Even if you were to buy a brand new Home today, the Home Inspector would find some issues that need to be dealt with. That is their job.

Manage your expectations:

In reality, Houses are ongoing projects, costly and full of surprises. The job of the Home Inspector is to minimize some of those surprises and to educate you in helping to recognize issues where they may be or may appear.

If you are buying a Victorian Home (built in the late 1800′s), don’t expect that all the wiring, plumbing, insulation etc. will be of a 2009 standard. Building codes change constantly; what was “building code” five years ago, no longer is, what was great insulation 30 years ago, no longer is…that is reality.

Before you shop for a home, set out what your “deal-breakers” are. If you want new construction don’t look at renovated properties…if you want Victorian Communities you must accept that few will have parking or garages

Home Inspectors are People:

People make mistakes. They will miss things that may be costly. Again, manage your expectations.

Can you live with the Faults?

There are some issues that are routine maintenance and should not be feared, they are just a part of owning a home and of course, there are others that are “deal-breakers”. Those depend on your level of acceptance…there is nothing that cannot be fixed or dealt with…the big question to ask your self is this “at the end of the day will I get what I wanted and paid for”.

Fore More:

Toronto Real Estate: The Reality of Home Inspections Part 2

Toronto Real Estate: Home Inspections Part 3

Toronto Real Estate: A Home Inspection Story Part 4

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

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 at 11:21 am and is filed under Buying in Toronto, Listings, 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. R.J. said at December 29th, 2009 at 2:04 pm

   Richard, glad you have posted about home inspections and expectations. Especially now with those in television making their careers critiquing home inspectors and inspections. Television is certainly making for more informed buyers but sometimes buyers with unrealistic expectations. All the best of the season.

2. Richard Silver said at December 30th, 2009 at 4:42 am

   Thanks for the comment. Managing expectations is always a challenge when it comes to reality and not helped when someone’s agenda is a good TV show and it’s ratings. Happy Holidays!!

   Cheers

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