Should I have Property Insp. done on this particular property?

[Paul K. McCoy]

Good Afternoon BP Members!

My Wife and I have completed 3 fix and flip houses and have been around building construction industry for a while. So, I have some basic knowledge of what goes into a home but am certainly learning each day.  The electric and gas meters are both pulled as well as the water being off, so no utilities.

We do plan to make this our primary residence.

I know most of these properties are sold AS-IS but my question is should I get a home Inspection on a recent HUD Foreclosure that we have under contract, Would there be any advantage to having this done ?

All the best!

Paul

[Greg H.]

With this being a HUD property, inspections can be difficult at best and not feasible in some cases

-Check the PCR and the property listing disclosure to see if the utilities are even allowed to be turned on. Your agent can access these within their Hudhomestore account and provide them to you. If the property failed the pressure test by the Field Service Manager, you will not be able to active the water(could be as simple as a bad shut off valve). In the north, HUD in areas may not allow the water activate due to freeze issues. Electricity may not be activated if any issues were observed by the FSM

-If the FSM allows the utilities,  there will be a charge to dewinterize and then to winterize again $150-250.  You can only have the utilities on for 72 hours so schedule accordingly

-If you have made it this far, be advised that you are responsible for all the costs to initiate service including meter fees . If the municipality requires an inspection and finds any issue that needs to be addressed you are out of luck. HUD forbids and it actually is a federal crime to alter a HUD property prior to closing

-Do I ever do an inspection on a HUD ? Never in the hundreds I have purchased. The costs could easily exceed $1000 with all the costs. With my contractor, I can get a lot of repairs done for less than $1000

I rely on my 27+ years of experience and only buy at the price where I budget for the unknown