Follow him around, take notes, & ask a lot of questions.
After you have done this a few times, try one on your own, and then get the inspection done and see what you missed.
Some other basic things include: Age & condition of furnace & water heater, plumbing, electrical, roof, foundation/slab, evidence of leaking water, mold, dry rot, etc. There are a million other possibilities as well.
See if your local community or city college offers a course in home inspections. Tuition is cheap and the info is often worthwhile.
On some properties that I have bought "As Is" I have gotten a contractor in to give me an estimate of what it will take to do identified repairs. I get them itemized so I can cherry pick what I want done. This also gives my an idea of what total I will be facing after repairs. I do this as a purchase contingency.
I have also used property inspectors. They will give you a very thorough report, however, I usually follow with a contractor to get cost estimates.
Does really not mean that it is not up to standards. Just means what it says. A bank foreclosed and does not know the condition and will not fix it and what you see is what you get. If you do not know what you are ldoing I would for sure follow the advice above of hiring an inspector and or a contractor. Money can surely be made with these because they are generally priced below market, but be carefull.
So far, I have sold all my rental properties with "no disclosure". Because I have never lived in them, I am usually not in a position to know about any hidden defects that may materially affect the value of the property. Sometimes I am even selling a property I have never seen. "No disclosure" has never impeded a sale.
I would sell "as is" only if the sale price is already below market or I am willing to accept well below market offers to offset the buyer's risk in an "as is" property. I don't do this because the cost of any repairs I might need to make are surely less costly than the discount I would have to give a buyer.
Because I am asking FMV, I will work with a seller with an inspector's repair list by either offering a repair concession, or by making the requested repairs. In my last four sales, three of the buyers did not request an inspection contingency in their contract. Two of these three were my tenants who had been living in the property for some time, so maybe they felt good enough about the property to waive the inspection.
"As is" does not mean that you can't have the property professionally inspected. It just means that the seller will not make any repairs to the property, nor contribute a repair concession to the deal. Your inspection report should also include a cost to correct all the deficiencies noted by the inspector. When making an offer on an "As is" property, at least double the inspector's suggested cost to repair and reduce your offer price accordingly.
On the other end of this you can also find a perfect property that might end up being sold as is. My realtor recently sold a 5 year old condo as is after the buyer had negotiated a really great price, the realtor told him that at that price the seller was selling it as is, meaning that no matter what the inspector came up with the seller would not be open to any further price negotiations. The buyer could take it as it was or walk away.
I have had the city inspector mysteriously show up at a property where work was being done. It has not happened often and the inspectors demands have been very minor.
A good property inspector!
Follow him around, take notes, & ask a lot of questions.
After you have done this a few times, try one on your own, and then get the inspection done and see what you missed.
Some other basic things include: Age & condition of furnace & water heater, plumbing, electrical, roof, foundation/slab, evidence of leaking water, mold, dry rot, etc. There are a million other possibilities as well.
See if your local community or city college offers a course in home inspections. Tuition is cheap and the info is often worthwhile.
Look for the MONEY!!! Those as is properties are the money makers for you!
On some properties that I have bought "As Is" I have gotten a contractor in to give me an estimate of what it will take to do identified repairs. I get them itemized so I can cherry pick what I want done. This also gives my an idea of what total I will be facing after repairs. I do this as a purchase contingency.
I have also used property inspectors. They will give you a very thorough report, however, I usually follow with a contractor to get cost estimates.
Does it also generally mean that the house will need to be brought up to code or has not past the city inspection?
Does really not mean that it is not up to standards. Just means what it says. A bank foreclosed and does not know the condition and will not fix it and what you see is what you get. If you do not know what you are ldoing I would for sure follow the advice above of hiring an inspector and or a contractor. Money can surely be made with these because they are generally priced below market, but be carefull.
Hope this helps some
Ted Jr
So far, I have sold all my rental properties with "no disclosure". Because I have never lived in them, I am usually not in a position to know about any hidden defects that may materially affect the value of the property. Sometimes I am even selling a property I have never seen. "No disclosure" has never impeded a sale.
I would sell "as is" only if the sale price is already below market or I am willing to accept well below market offers to offset the buyer's risk in an "as is" property. I don't do this because the cost of any repairs I might need to make are surely less costly than the discount I would have to give a buyer.
Because I am asking FMV, I will work with a seller with an inspector's repair list by either offering a repair concession, or by making the requested repairs. In my last four sales, three of the buyers did not request an inspection contingency in their contract. Two of these three were my tenants who had been living in the property for some time, so maybe they felt good enough about the property to waive the inspection.
"As is" does not mean that you can't have the property professionally inspected. It just means that the seller will not make any repairs to the property, nor contribute a repair concession to the deal. Your inspection report should also include a cost to correct all the deficiencies noted by the inspector. When making an offer on an "As is" property, at least double the inspector's suggested cost to repair and reduce your offer price accordingly.
On the other end of this you can also find a perfect property that might end up being sold as is. My realtor recently sold a 5 year old condo as is after the buyer had negotiated a really great price, the realtor told him that at that price the seller was selling it as is, meaning that no matter what the inspector came up with the seller would not be open to any further price negotiations. The buyer could take it as it was or walk away.
I have had the city inspector mysteriously show up at a property where work was being done. It has not happened often and the inspectors demands have been very minor.