Under Contract! Do I call a contractor or home inspector first?

[Brian Huber]

Hi! I'm under contract on a home that I plan to hold as a rental. My agent was told it needed about $6K for HVAC work, paint and new laminate flooring.

Should I contact a home inspector first? Or a contractor to price out the fixes? Thanks!

[Jay LeSueur]

Agree, but I would add since you plan on holding the property, have the HVAC contractor do a professional inspection/evaluation in addition to a quote for the items from the inspector. Sometimes a contractor can catch things and give you a more specialized opinion rather than the sometimes superficial or general/basic report the inspection might provide. Then you can also get an idea of what kind of shape the system is in when you purchase and what to plan for in the future in addition to getting the current problems fixed.