CAUTION: You Can’t Afford NOT to Have a Home Inspection!

My Promise to You

Choosing the right home inspector can be difficult. Unlike most professionals, you probably will not get to meet me until after you hire me. Furthermore, different inspectors have varying qualifications, equipment, experience, reporting methods, and yes, different pricing. One thing for sure is that a home inspection requires work, a lot of work. Ultimately a thorough inspection depends heavily on the individual inspector's own effort. If you honor me by permitting me to inspect your new home, I guarantee that I will give you my very best effort.

This I promise you.

Nick J Alati

Inspecting the physical condition of a house is an important part of the home-buying process and should be included in your purchase contract as a condition of closing the sale. One or more professional inspectors should look for defects or malfunctions in the building's structure, such as the roof, plumbing, or foundation, and detect pest infestations or dry rot and similar damage. Even if the seller provides you an inspection report, it's best not to rely on this alone -- the seller may have chosen an inspector who's not known for rooting out problems.

Is the appraisal the same as a Home Inspection?

A home appraisal reveals the value of a home. Appraisals are usually ordered by lenders to make sure that a home is actually worth the amount of money it is being purchased for. Lenders want to make sure that they are not lending more than the home is actually worth because this will result in a negative equity situation, which is not something that residential mortgage lenders generally do unless they specialize in subprime lending. An appraisal does not reveal problems with the home that need to be repaired. Appraisals are also conducted by county governments in order to estimate the value of a home for the purposes of charging real estate taxes. A tax appraisal is not the same as a regular appraisal since tax appraisals rarely match the amount of money a home can actually sell for.

Ask for a copy of the Sellers Property Disclosure Statement (SPDS)

Arizona State Real Estate law requires a sellers to disclose considerable information about the condition of the house itself and potential hazards to the property. But not all sellers know about problems with the house or honestly disclose them. (Sometimes they've lived with a problem for so long that they literally forget it's there!)

When to Have the Property Inspected

Most buyers get professional inspections only after they're in contract to buy the property. The deal is commonly made contingent on the buyers' approving the results of one or more inspections. The buyer arranges and schedules the inspections.

Before paying for a professional inspection, you can conduct your own informal inspection. The best time to do this is before you make an offer, so that you can save yourself the trouble should you find serious problems. Request a FREE checklist and further instructions

Another, less commonly used possibility is to ask the seller to let you do a "pre-inspection" before submitting your offer. Why, given the cost of these inspections, would you do this? Because if you're in a situation where you're competing against other buyers (which can happen in any market, if a house is particularly desirable), this can help you set your offer apart. You'd most likely be able to submit an offer without an inspection contingency, thus reassuring the seller that your offer price is firm, not something you're likely to whittle away at after you're in contract, based on whatever a later inspection reveals. (On the other hand, you risk coming in with an offer price that's lower than others', having taken the house's problems -- which only you know about at that point -- into account.) Some sellers will refuse to allow pre-inspections in any case.

Hire a Professional Inspector

Hire a general contractor or home inspector to inspect all major house systems, from top to bottom, including the roof, plumbing, electrical and heating systems, foundation, and drainage. This will take about three or four hours and cost you from $275 to $500, depending on the location, size, age and type of home. Accompany the inspector after the examination, so that you can learn more about the maintenance and preservation of the house, ask questions, and get a real sense of which problems are serious and which are relatively minor.

Tips on Choosing a Home Inspector

As the buyer, you want someone who will be thorough and tough. This may or may not be the inspector your real estate agent recommends -- the agent has a financial interest in your deal going through and may recommend an inspector who is not overly persnickety. Ask home-owning friends for recommendations or Request a FREE copy of "7 things to ask your Home Inspector".

Get a Wood Destroying Organism (WDO) Inspection

In addition to the general home inspector, it's wise to hire a licensed structural pest control inspector, who will create a special pest report on the property (unless the seller has already commissioned one --a pest inspectors, unlike general inspectors, traditionally accept work on properties they've inspected, so they have every interest in finding problems). The pest inspector will look for infestation by wood-boring insects such as termites and flying beetles, as well as evidence of dry rot and other fungal conditions. Be sure you get a written report of all inspections. Alati's Inspection Service we can provide you with an independent (3^rd party) WDO Inspection for an additional charge. Order your WDO today with your Home Inspection!

Consider Special Inspections

Depending on the property and your personal sensitivities, you may want to arrange specialized inspections for hazards from floods and other natural disasters. The same goes for environmental health hazards such as mold, Radon, asbestos, and lead. And, if the general inspection revealed problems with the roof, foundation, or other areas that are hard to access or potentially expensive to repair, you may also want to hire a specialized inspector. Alati's Inspection Service we can provide you with

After the Inspections Are Completed

If the inspection reports show that the house is in good shape, you can proceed with the purchase, knowing that you're getting what you paid for.

If the inspections bring problems to light -- such as an antiquated plumbing system or major termite damage -- you can negotiate to have the seller pay for necessary repairs or to lower the purchase price, or you can back out of the deal, assuming your contract is written to allow you to do so.

Have a Question you need answered now!

Polybutylene Piping isn’t something you’d want to be bothered with after moving into your new home

Polybutylene Piping RECALL

Polybutylene Piping

During this recent home inspection, polybutylene piping was discovered in the attic and walls. Polybutylene is part of a 100% RECALL by the Manufacturer. Estimated replacement costs for the plumbing was at $3,700.00 plus the cost of drywall repair, texture and paint and cleaning time!

No One Told Us About the Fire in the Attic…

Fire Damage in the Attic

Wouldn’t you want to know there was evidence of fire damage in the Attic before you finalized on the purchase of the house? Upon closer examination, we found moisture damage and lack of insulation to most all of the Exterior walls.

Can You Imagine Going Two Days Without Power after Moving into Your New Home?

Circuit Breaker Could Have You in the Dark

During this inspection, the electrical power center looks great to the un-trained eye! On-Going education classes trained us that this manufacture had a problem with their circuit breakers. The circuit breaker had a tenancy of not tripping and causing an overheating condition, possible fire and definite down time without power in the home. The estimated replacement cost was $1,700.00, plus a city permit and two days without electrical power.

It’s YOUR Responsibility to be an Informed Buyer!

And as your home inspector, it’s my responsibility to provide you with detailed information about the overall condition of the home prior to you purchasing it.

My name is Nick Alati and when you use our home inspection firm, we’ll take an in-depth and unbiased look at your potential home to:

Evaluate the physical condition: structure, construction, and mechanical systems;
Identify items that need to be repaired or replaced; and
Estimate the remaining useful life of the major systems, equipment, structure, and finishes.

In addition to that, we encourage you to accompany us during the home inspection. This is a valuable educational opportunity, and you shouldn’t pass it up to see your prospective home through the eyes of an expert. Any inspector’s refusal to allow this should raise a red flag.

We’ll provide you with the information you need to ensure that the home you buy is satisfactory in every respect.

Click here to download our Free PDF Report, 10 Important Questions to Ask Your Home Inspector… If you have any additional questions after reading the report, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Alati's Inspection Service wants to be your Inspection Company for life!

Please call us at 480-507-2775 for the best price available on your home inspection.
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