Welcome to my first ever ASK THE LOCAL EXPERT! Have questions about anything real estate related? Let me connect you with a local expert that I know and trust!

This week I want to share with you some expert information about home inspections. I had the pleasure of interviewing one of London's best known and most trusted home inspectors, Gregg Cook, of Cook Property Inspections.

Here is what Gregg had to say: 

Q. What is a home inspection and what does it include?

A. I can’t put it better than Wikipedia!

“A home inspection is a limited, non-invasive, examination of the condition of a home, often in connection with the sale of that home.

Home inspections are usually conducted by a home inspector who has the training and certification to perform such inspections. The home inspector describes the condition of the home at the time of inspection but does not guarantee future condition, efficiency, or life expectancy of systems or components.

The inspector prepares and delivers to the client a written report of the findings. The client then uses the knowledge gained to make informed decisions about their pending real estate purchase. 

Q. Why do buyers need a home inspection?

A. It’s an absolute necessity! I’ll answer this by asking some questions of my own;

- Do you feel comfortable taking a half million dollar loan on a forty-year-old house without knowing what’s in there?

- Has anyone even looked inside the attic?

- Would it trouble you if you knew the attic had asbestos or mould inside?

- Would it bother you if that “underpriced” house was actually priced low because the sellers estimated the galvanized water pipes all had to be replaced in the next year?

- Do you know the sellers don’t have to tell you they even have galvanized pipes?

If a property is purchased without conditions and issues are later found that were not “apparent” to the buyers and legal action proceeds, judges are often guided by the contract law principal of Caveat emptor, quia ignorare non debuit quod jus alienum emit ("Let a purchaser beware, for he ought not to be ignorant of the nature of the property which he is buying from another party.") Or in other words, it’s up to the buyer to perform their due diligence. People have discovered that going after the sellers for the cost of repairs and upgrades after the deal is sealed is not an easy task.

Remember, this is where you and your family will sleep every night. Spending $500 on having an independent assessment on a $500,000 investment really could make the difference in the amount of stress coming your way in the next few years.

Q. What if the inspection report reveals problems?

A. I’ve never been in a perfect house! Every home will have some sort of issues, and I include my own in that! Often it’s simply small suggestions for improvement, sometimes it’s major life-threatening deficiencies. 

For example: I once found a capped gas line, still connected to the main line inside a wood burning fireplace with no valve shut off! The current owners had no idea it was there and were using it for wood fires, completely oblivious to the fact the previous owners had removed a gas insert, but left the gas line inside the firebox. The consequences could have been very serious! The sellers were extremely grateful when it was raised with them and paid for a technician to review and remove the line. That saved a headache and expense for my clients.

Whilst it is true that negotiations may not always work out like this due to the varying positions of both parties, you can rest assured that the buyer who does have the home inspection goes into it fully informed, aware of potential future costs and has a better ability to negotiate than those that have no conditions.

To get in touch with Gregg you can go to  www.cookpropertyinspections.ca

And as always, if you have any questions about anything real estate related, I'm always available for quick chat! Think it's something that might be a touch over my pay grade? Reach out anyway, I've almost always "got a guy for that.."! 😊

Did you find this edition of ASK THE LOCAL EXPERT helpful? Let me know in the comments!