Home inspection question

[Yashar Fred]

The home inspection report shows some defects in the Electrical, heating system, and AC duct defect.

What is next step?

[Andy Sabisch]

OK, this is what I referred to.  For electrical inspections, pick up a plug in tester for under $10.  Check every outlet in the property which takes 10 minutes and it will show you if the outlet is good, not grounded, dead or some other problem.  At that point you will know if you have an isolated issue or a larger one.  We did this on a property we were looking at that had been rewired per the seller but every outlet was not grounded and several were non functional.  Again, fits in your pocket and can uncover a lot in a very short period of time.

The A/C ducting . . .if it is soft ducts under the house, rodents chewing into it is not uncommon and a reason most HVAC contractors in areas where that is an issue run metal ducts.  If you have access to the ducts, replacing them is relatively easy or get an estimate from an HVAC contractor and factor that into your counter offer.  Again, a flashlight when you did your walk through would have seen that and you could have contacted an HVAC guy initially rather than using a home inspection report to tell you that.  But repairing that is not that expensive.

The heating element I assume is in the HVAC unit . . . this is where I would have an HVAC guy check out the entire system and give you an estimate to repair it all . . . that will be your negotiating chip.

Are you flipping or holding this property?  What do the numbers look like?