On house flip TV shows, why do none of the investors get inspections??

[Melissa Searing]

Do any of you risk flipping a house without an inspection?

[Account Closed]

In the flips I have done I have never purchased an inspection. I have viewed the inspection report from the buyers when they buy the property. I have also seen a few inspection reports from a friend, and a family member, when they purchased their house. The reason I do not pay for an inspection is I think the reports are largely worthless. When I buy a house that is totally trashed and I know I will be gutting the bathroom out, and the kitchen, and updating everything, I don't need some namby-pamby report with arrows pointing out that there is some dry rot on the front door, that I'm going to rip out anyway etc. here are some things that have been noted i n inspection reports from my buyers.

some insulation in the ceiling was not touching a furnace duct so there would be heat loss. Now instead of just moving a piece of insulation a little to the right, this joker took a picture, printed in color, had a computer arrow put in, and then warned the buyer about it. Another put in his report that there was no garage door opener. Duh. One noted that the sidewalk out front was cracked, which anybody could see without paying for an inspection. One said that there needed to be a gas cap over a dryer gas line, which was a reasonable observation, but the fix was $.59. So instead of asking for a new water heater, which I probably would have given, this buyer asked for a gas line cap and a few other ridiculous items. By the way this was only a secondary hazard because there was a valve up line and the buyer was going to put in the dryer first thing

I have also seen these guys miss numbers of things. So yes there are times when an inspection would be reasonable and practical. But in reality, the inspections are geared towards retail buyers who are looking at nitpick flaws. If you are in the business of flipping and you cannot notice these things yourself you are in big trouble. I think it is much better for an investor to have a contractor come through. I am all for having two or three sets of eyes check out a property. My realtor will even help me find things. But I do not need to pay for a prima donna report to to tell me the gutters leak or that the bushes should be trimmed back, or that there is a slight leak in a vanity that is coming out anyway.  It's the same reason that dealers, when buying a car auction, don't test drive the cars, don't worry about whether they are vacuumed, and the the little scratch in the paint.  A buyer on the lot worries about that, sure, but the dealer focuses of price and big issues knowing the little stuff can be fixed.  When I buy a primary home, I will get an inspection.  But if I'm paying half price, my focus is, how do I get this under contract, and are there big ticket disasters lurking.