Buying A Home
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Inspections
We are putting an offer in on a house. Would you buy a house without a mold and/or foundation inspection? How much do these typically cost? TIA!
Re: Inspections
You should always get an independent, qualified third-party inspector to inspect the home you are putting under contract. In my area, a thorough inspection will run $300-$500. It will cover mold, but only note its presence, where it was found, etc. It will not tell you what type of mold it is. A good inspector will go through a rubric of issues and will give you a report card-type list of the various major parts of the home and what he/she found. It is highly unusual to come out of an inspection with nothing being marked as "get this checked out further by a specialist" or whatnot. Usually there is something found--so don't freak out.
If you are concerned about mold or any type of bug infestation, like termites, I'd have a separate, qualified inspector come out and give a report. In my area, termite letters are usually $75 to $100. I don't know about mold.
A foundation inspection can usually be done by a foundation repair company. This is typically only an issue when a basement or crawlspace is part of the property (if you are looking at a home built on a slab, and the property is level, there's probably not a need for a separate foundation inspection). It may be free, since the company could possibly get a sale out of it. Or, you can hire a structural engineer to make a report. It really depends on your area. In my area, there are very reputable foundation repair companies that I'd have no problem with giving me a report (vs. hiring an engineer).
My husband is a professional contractor who does foundation work primarily and I would not buy a house without a hired pro to inspect the house.
Besides, I think some mortgage companies may require it.
I would be careful about having a foundation repair company come out unless you know of a respected one in the area. A lot of them will find all kinds of things "wrong" just to make a sale. If you know one personally that is fine. Otherwise I would hire a third party that doesn't gain anything from the inspection.