Home inspectors see a home the way no one else does. They don’t care how the kitchen will feel for entertaining or whether the bathroom tiles will impress guests. Their judgment is not clouded by emotion. Nor do they have any interest in whether the home sells, as long as they’re not pals with the seller’s real estate agent. To the contrary, they are financially motivated to find flaws — to avoid liability should something go wrong. Always seek a reputable home inspector.
Just because you’re dry doesn’t mean the roof isn’t leaking. More than once, a home inspector has crawled through the rafters in an unfinished attic — the eager homebuyers waiting below — only to find a child’s wading pool strategically placed to catch drips from the roof.
The owners would have painted over water stains in the rooms below, and neglected to tell anyone the roof needed to be replaced.
“There’s supposed to be disclosure, but people have this phenomenon called, ‘Oh, I forgot.’ It happens every day,” says Michael Matthews, broker/ owner of Orange Key Realty.
Most roof leaks don’t leave clues and it’s not always easy to crawl over insulation and find water-discoloration marks via flashlight. “That’s the dirty work of a home inspector,” Ofir Hillel, broker/owner of Orange Key Realty states, “and it’s a trained eye, versus an untrained eye.”
Just because the floor is level doesn’t mean it hasn’t sunk half a foot. Noting the slightly soft feel, however, a skilled inspector eyed the baseboards. They should have been level with the floor, but here the floor sat 4 inches lower. Crawling around in the basement, the inspector found mold had deteriorated the supports. This house was literally hanging from its rafters, like a parachute.
“One of these days, a couple of people would be standing in the middle of the floor and they’d go down through the floor,” the inspector said. “It’s a scary thing.”
Orange Key Realty’s staff of sales and broker associates can be reached at either: 863 Georges Road, Monmouth Junction (732-297-6969) serving Middlesex County, and 60 E. Main St., Freehold (732-863-6969) serving Monmouth County, or visit www.orangekeyrealty.com .