Home inspections on Apartment/ Condo Buy and Hold properties

[Richard Davis]

Hi All, New to BP and doing my Due Diligence/ Research before pulling the trigger to buy my first investment property. My question is....does anyone have any input on the importance of having a home inspection done on an apartment/Condo buy and hold? Also, does anyone have any good suggestionsfor Home Inspectors in the Orlando Area with experience in this Niche of property?

[Troy Fisher]

With Condo's you need to make sure that the Inspector does not just inspect the Condo itself, but does do an exterior examination also.  A great inspector is going to let you know the life-cycle of the siding, and potentially scope out the roof to give you an idea about how long before the next special assessment should be coming...

And while in condo's in general you own what is between the faces of your drywall, if the HI finds moisture or leaks in your plumbing you could be facing a bigger headache than if you just owned the whole building.

Also have you made sure the condo is financeable as an investment property?  Most Condo's/Banks have strict buying/lending requirements on condo's.