We blog this morning due to yet another incidence of poor workmanship on a new construction home that would have been detected had a home inspection been performed prior to closing.
Many people think, as we did prior to uncovering so many issues, that a new construction home doesn't need to go through the additional scrutiny of a home inspection. Why of course, everything is brand new AND there are county inspectors in place to verify that the home is built to current safety codes, right? Wrong--dead wrong!
We'll give you two very recent examples that will hopefully explain our position and save future headaches for homeowners down the road:
1. On all town homes built there should be firewalls in between the interior walls to protect against fire spreading from one unit to the next in a specific amount of time. The fire could eventually spread if not extinguished however, having the proper firewalls in place greatly lengthens the time before the fire spreads to an adjacent unit. A home inspector recently uncovered a missing firewall in a town home in Dorchester County. The town home is only a few years old and, the homeowner did not have a home inspection performed prior to purchasing. The first time they were learning of this was when a prospective Buyer had a home inspection done on the property. This could have turned out to be a fatal mistake had fire ever broken out during the time that the home owner owned this unit.
2. Water heaters must be equipped with expansion tanks in order to prevent leaking or, a possible explosion of the tank. Recently, a water heater on a home seven year old home had started to leak. The homeowner called on the services of a plumber and, much to their surprise, the water heater did not have an expansion valve! One was never installed on the water heater. Now how, tell us how, could that have ever passed by a county inspector?
Important Information to Know if You are Purchasing a New Construction Home
Always, always have a home inspection done on the home prior to closing on it. New construction builders will down play the need for a home inspector, some will even tell you all about their "quality assurance program" where they bring in an independent third part to check behind their work.
While that may be true, wouldn't you rather have the peace of mind that it was your third party person who gave a detailed look at the home to be sure all code standards had been met and there weren't any deficiencies with the home. Those deficiencies could potentially cost you money down the road either when you go to sell or when a problem arises that needs to be corrected while you're still living in the home. Or, worse yet, the deficiency could be a potential safety violation that could cause harm to you and your family.
Many builders, will agree to let you hire a home inspector however, you have to choose from a list of their "preferred inspectors". Centex Homes, one of the nations largest home builders, follows this practice, as do many other builders. Seek counsel from your Realtor on this and be sure that you and your Realtor are both confident that the inspection report is comprehensive. If you still have doubts but, want to move forward with the purchase, perhaps consider hiring your own independent home inspector soon after closing. At least this way, you'll be uncovering any potential deficiencies during the builder's warranty period.
If you are selling your new construction home several years down the road and, perhaps you never had a home inspection prior to purchase, you might consider having a "pre-listing inspection" done so that you can handle any deficiencies prior to accepting an offer on your property. Stay tuned for a future blog about this.
Another very important factor to consider is that you need representation from a real estate agent--your own Buyer's Agent--when purchasing a new construction home. Many people who are considering purchasing a new construction home miss this important fact. They show up to a sales office or model home and think that they don't need their own agent because the sales agent there is so helpful and friendly. And while they are, that's true, keep in mind that the sales agent works for the builder (seller) and is certainly not looking out for your best interests. Your own Buyer's agent is there to assure that you are protected from whatever issues may arise during and after the purchase.
We have worked with many clients on the purchase of new construction homes and, we attend every construction meeting (from pre-construction to the final walk through). We make suggestions and recommendations based on our experience and what will help on an eventual resale down the road. We also strongly advise that our clients have home inspections performed and, we facilitate the repair process associated with any deficiencies.
We hope this information is helpful and that we've shed light on something that has seemed to be a bit unclear. If we can help just one person to have a better buying experience, we've done our job!
For more information, please feel free to contact us at 843-343-7640 or, teamdehaven@century21properties.com
Best,
Melanie & Jed DeHaven, Century 21 Properties Plus, Inc.