Home Improvement Contractor - Licensed Contractors - I am looking for an older, mid century home, Do I need to pay for a contractor to inspect the home ?

I am looking for an older, mid century home, Do I need to pay for a contractor to inspect the home ?

I am starting to look for a home in Eugene,OR. I am interested in a mid century ranch that has mature landscaping and a bigger yard then what is offered by the new tracts. Since I haven't done this before, should I pay to have an inspection when I find a house I want, or trust the realtor?

Public Comments

think about it this way. Your going to spend more money than you ever have in your life on a building and you want to know if spending $300 for an inspection is a good idea. If the inspection finds only one thing that's a problem it will have paid for itself. If the RE Agent tells you not to have an inspection then find a new agent.
If it were me I would definitely hire someone to inspect the home. A person who does not have a personal stake in the outcome of the home inspection will give you the most honest information regarding the safety of the home you are interested in buying.
It doesn’t matter if the builder nailed the last nail yesterday, you should ALWAYS get a professional home inspector. A few hundred dollars is a small price to pay to know about any issues your home might have. And they give you an out if the problems are too big, so long as your offer was contingent on an inspection. A real estate agent will and should never try to tell you about a home’s condition! The are only allowed to discuss things that fall into the scope of their expertise. To be clear though, there should be a listing agent and your own personal buyer’s agent involved here. In most cases, your buyer’s agent’s commission will be paid by the seller. If you don’t have a buyer’s agent (someone working for, representing and advising YOU rather than the seller), the money that would have paid your agent ends up in the seller’s agent’s pocket.
If it were 5-6 years ago this would have been a question that you have had to actually think about. Please by all means get an inspection done on this place... you have options.. too many to rush into any property at this point in time. The market is for the buyer right now. All the best of luck Mike http://www.regularguyrealestateradio.com "Its NOT your average real estate show."
always get an inspection - what if the roof needs replacing in 2 yrs - are you ready to handle that cost? or the furnace only has a year of life left in it? or there is extensive termite damage?
You should absolutely have a home inspection done on any home you are considering. If you had the opportunity to have a chat with a home inspector, you would hear some unsettling stories, even about new construction. A good home inspector is worth every penny you pay them. I don't know about Eugene, but in my slice of Oregon heaven, a home inspection is about $400.
YES. Yes, I wish I had done exactly that when I bought an 19th century home. I got it at such a low bargain price that I didn`t think I needed anything. I was absolutely wrong. Trying to restore it was a disaster. Looking back on it, I would have been money ahead bulldozing it and building a replica instead. A contractor I hired told me to do just that, and I thought he was trying to be smart with me. Turned out HE was smarter than me. Since then I have become the smrt1.
Get an inspection done ... please! Its not an issue of trust as far as your realtor goes b/c they are not trained to be an inspector. They are only trained to notice "obvious" defects. An inspector will cover every square inch of the home. The report you get back will probaly contain 101 things. Don't be discouraged when you see the list. They will uncover everything from a broken light switch to the major stuff. What you are looking for are "major, costly problems". Goodluck.
You can find a local home inspector at this website: http://www.findaninspector.us/ Just type in the city and state, or zip code, of the home you are considering buying, and it will give you a list of the local inspectors. Your Realtor may have some suggestions for local inspectors, but it might be better if you interview a few others just to be sure you are getting someone you trust. I have used this site quite a bit when I recently worked for a company that outsourced inspection services for their national clients, and have always had good results. I would recommend you select an inspector that has either the NACHI or ASHI certification to assure they have a good background and/or training in the field. Good luck!