Recommendations for home buyers:

1. If you plan to have a home inspection performed. Have an inspection clause added to the purchase agreement. This gives you the option to have a home inspection performed. You may be able to negotiate with the seller to make needed repairs, and you are not bound to purchase the property, the price may be adjusted to allow the buyer to have repairs made by their preferred contractors.

2. Before making the written offer, check the address of the property on the internet at www.floodsmart.gov, and other local resources to determine whether or not the property is in a flood plain. The seller may not know, or disclose this information. The home inspectors standards of practices excludes determining whether a property is in a flood plain, and this can be hard to determine without knowing the true topography of the area. If it is later discovered that the property is located within a possible flood plain, lenders may require flood insurance that can be very expensive.

3. Try to obtain a copy of the utility bills from the previous owner. This may give you a heads up about the energy efficiency of the home. But keep in mind that the lifestyle, and the # of occupants can have a large impact on energy usage. Example; a single person will use significantly less energy than a large family.

4. Have the disclosure statements present at the inspection. This will allow the buyer to ask questions about disclosed items. Providing disclosure statements for the home inspector during the inspection may save time and allow them to investigate the disclosed items to determine possible causes and recommend corrective actions.

5. Many times home inspectors will recommend that items be evaluated further by licensed contractors. This will pertain to certain areas of the home, such as having the wiring checked by a licensed electrician. Home inspectors may be licensed in certain fields; they are rarely licensed in all fields of residential construction. So they will recommend further evaluation of items when they suspect problems. When this type of recommendation is made, arrangements should be made to have this followed up before closing. And estimates should be obtained to determine the best way to address the situation. Once you have closed on the property your options are limited as far as working with the seller to correct any problems.

6. Arrange for a final walk through of the property just before closing. This will allow you to verify that no damage was done during the moving process. Be sure to verify that the items included in the transaction are accounted for. It is a good idea to cycle the appliances to make sure they still work. It is possible for appliances to break down in the period between the inspection and the closing date. I recently completed an insurance inspection on a home where the buyer did not go to the home until the evening after she closed on the property; she walked into the house and found the kitchen ceiling tiles on the floor and water everywhere. The home had been vacant and the water shut off, the water had been turned on a week before closing, and a water leak from the upstairs bathroom ruined the kitchen ceiling and floors and was not discovered until the night after she closed on the property. The seller was only willing to pay a few hundred dollars towards the repairs.

7. It is always a good idea to thoroughly clean the home before moving in, allergens may still exist, left from the previous occupants. Shampoo the carpets and change the furnace filter. Many home buyers suffer from allergies, and a new home and the allergens present can contribute to this.

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