Pennywise, Dollar Foolish

angie'slist.com

Whoops! It happened again. A buyer decided to save some money by declining the opportunity to have a whole house inspection and got stuck with a wheezing, broken furnace. "The seller must have known," may be a true statement, but prove it and then try to get them to pay for repairs. That is an expensive endeavor often involving courts and lawyers. I don't recommend it.

What I do recommend is doing everything you can to know what you are buying. Buying a home is the most expensive financial investment that most people will make. If you don't have enough money to have the home properly inspected, you probably aren't financially ready to purchase a home.

The home is only five years old, you might say. What could possibly be wrong? Why bother with an inspection? Unless you can see through walls, are versed in how a breaker box should be wired, and are willing to crawl into the crawl space to verify that the property has no termites or standing water around the foundation, you need an inspection.

Wiring issues, termite damage, and water penetration concerns are the items that we see the most. Indiana is a state in which mold thrives. A window that is sealed improperly can leak moisture into the walls. Moisture can create mold, mold spreads. Toxic homes exist. I have known folks that have purchased homes that they can't live in due to mold. The remediation of mold is an expensive proposition-much more expensive than that inspection you chose to skip.

Another potential health hazard is radon. Radon is an odorless gas that is naturally occurring in Tippecanoe County. There are areas of the county where it is more prevalent than other areas. Radon has been linked to instances of lung cancer. Particularly with the more energy efficient windows and doors of new homes or a basement that will be used as living space it is probably a good idea to consider radon testing as well. Adding additional tests for mold, radon, well, and septic could increase the cost of your inspection by several hundred dollars. But...if it keeps you from buying a home that you have to make thousands of dollars in repairs it is well worth the expense.