Walk through or inspection ?

Question

Larry Fried · Answer

@Seth Mosley I have bought property sight unseen, but only when I am familiar with the work of the turnkey provider, and have a trust level of the kind of rehab work that they do. I think there is nothing that can replace a visit to the area and viewing the sellers work, office, and team (staff).  Viewing the actual property being purchased would be a nice bonus but I don't consider absolutely necessary and is not always practical for me.

Michele Fischer · Answer

We have made offers on two properties where we had not yet been inside due to existing tenants.  One we walked away from at inspection, one we bought but in hindsight should have walked from.  Our reasoning is that we didn't need to see inside early, we would just disturb the tenants once.  Reality is that the inside can be way worse than you can imagine.  Either in maintenance, care by occupants, or general poor floor plan.  I like shopping empty houses and bringing in the inspector if first pass works out.  If you do go the other route, be aware that you can probably negotiate  a lower rate on the inspection if you decide to walk; if the inspector can leave early and not need to write a report, that is potentially money back in your pocket.

William Yeh · Answer

I echo the other posters here and recommend doing both, ideally your walkthru first then a home inspection. A home inspection won't tell you if the fit and finish of the property is to your expectation and a walk through won't reveal any major issues. Both are really necessary to ascertain whether a property meets your expectations.

Be sure to get a licensed independent home inspector not associated with the seller to do the inspection.

Paul Ewing · Answer

I would never normally buy a place I haven't done a pretty through walk through of because I have a fair amount of building experience and can spot most major issues.  If I am worried about something specific I will have a specialist check that out since home inspectors are really pretty much generalists.  As someone mentioned above they are also looking for function where I will be looking for what I need to update / refurb as well as repair.  That said I am looking at sub $50k homes and deals that will leave room for me to replace systems if needed.  That said I just bought a place after a rushed 15 minute walk through between lunch and a conference call.  The price was exceptional and I almost expected to have to replace the HVAC, but since there was no electric an inspector couldn't normally check it without a generator which I haven't seen many use.  I lucked out and it works great and I still manged to spot most of what I needed to fix.  I am actually thinking about starting to take a generator with me to do some checking in the future.

Garth Kukla · Answer

Seth,

One of my best friends is a home inspector so I feel I have a unique perspective and I agree with others who have posted on this thread, one shouldn't exclude the other.  Here is my take.

Do the walk thru because you shouldn't purchase property sight unseen.  Also I personally incorporate this phase into my part of the analysis.  If you have a friend who is a contractor or inspector, have them walk thru with you and offer to buy them dinner for their troubles.  This should only take them 15 minutes or so.

If you decide to proceed, always get a home inspection for several reasons

1.You know what your buying and can create a punchlist of items to address from the inspection report.

2. You can use the report to negotiate a better price if the inspection report finds many issues.

3.  If the inspection report is too scary, you can walk away, as long as you put in your contract "contingent on inspecitons".  I have walked away from many properties with major roof issues, foundation etc?

Hope this helps,

Garth

Barry Cohen · Answer

A walk through and inspection are two different processes. I strongly believe in having a home inspected as this will reveal facets of the home that many buyers would not normally consider, and help to determine any unforessen costs. I also think a walk through should be done prior to close as many things can happen from the time of going to contact and closing.

Kimberly T. · Answer

I personally would never buy sight unseen. But, we do not buy turn key. We buy stuff that has a little deferred maintenance, so we want to see what kind work it needs. We don't buy stuff that needs major rehab, so want to make sure we are not getting a money pit.

We still get an inspection, and that is to have someone check the hvac, plumbing, electrical, etc.