If you are looking to buy your next house in a Cape Coral neighborhood, you will likely be searching for any strong selling point to recommend a home. Some buyers are attracted by prelisting inspections since they lessen the chances that something wrong will turn up with the house after the sale. Still, not all Florida buyers automatically accept a prelisting inspection on its face.
While a prelisting inspection may pass a home with flying colors, the fact remains that the inspector was hired by the seller. It is like buying a boat that was checked out by the mechanic of the seller. You would probably still want your own mechanic to look at the boat before you buy. Similarly, according to U.S. News and World Report, some home buyers prefer to ask an inspector they know and trust to look at the house before committing to a sale.
Time can also be a factor. If the inspection was conducted too far into the past, you might wonder if new problems with the house have developed since then. Sometimes the environmental conditions during the inspection might have changed. A house inspected in summer might not turn up problems brought on by the winter months.
Some home inspectors provide some added assurance to their work by including a warranty along with the result of their inspection. Such warranties can be passed from the seller of the house to the buyer and can cover repairs and replacements to household items that the inspector had checked and found to be in good condition. Even though a warranty looks attractive, you should still be aware that the terms of warranties can differ and may not cover everything that you want.
The U.S. News and World Report article found that about 50% of buyers accept a prelisting inspection report, so many people do place a vote of confidence in a prelisting inspection. Ultimately, whether you accept a prelisting home inspection is up to you. Think carefully about whether you want to hire your own inspector to look at a house on the market.
Because real estate transactions take many forms, this article is only written for the educational benefit of the reader. Do not interpret it as legal counsel for your specific situation.
