Illinois Home Inspector

  Buying a home? The process can be stressful. A home inspection is supposed to give you peace of mind, but often has the opposite effect. You will be asked to absorb a lot of information in a short time. This often includes a written report, checklist, photographs, environmental reports and what the inspector himself says during the inspection. All this combined with the seller's disclosure and what you notice yourself makes the experience even more overwhelming. What should you do?

Relax. Most of your inspection will be maintenance recommendations, life expectancies and minor imperfections. These are nice to know about. However, the issues that really matter will fall into four categories:

1. Major defects. An example of this would be a structural failure.

2. Things that lead to major defects. A small roof-flashing leak, for example.

3. Things that may hinder your ability to finance, legally occupy or insure the home.

4. Safety hazards, such as an exposed, live buss bar at the electric panel.

Anything in these categories should be addressed. Often a serious problem can be corrected inexpensively to protect both life and property (especially in categories 2 and 4). Most sellers are honest and are often surprised to learn of defects uncovered during an inspection.

Realize that sellers are under no obligation to repair everything mentioned in the report. No home is perfect. Keep things in perspective. Do not kill your deal over things that do not matter. It is inappropriate to demand that a seller address deferred maintenance, conditions already listed on the seller's disclosure or nit-picky items.

Deadly Mistake #1: Thinking you can't afford it.

Today, buying the home of your dreams is easier than ever before. Many people who thought that buying the home they wanted was simply out of their reach are now enjoying a new lifestyle in their very own new home.

Buying a home is the smartest financial decision you will ever make. In fact, most American and Canadian home owners would be financially broke at retirement if it weren't for one saving grace - the equity in their home. Furthermore, mortgage rates are more flexible today than ever and taxallowances favor home ownership.

Real estate values have always risen steadily. Of course there are peaks and valleys, but the long term the trend is a consistent increase. This means that every month when you make a mortgage payment the amount that you owe on the home goes down and the value typically increases. This owe less-worth more situation is called equity build-up and isthe reason you can't afford not to buy.

Even if you have little money for a down payment or credit problems, chances are that you can still buy that new home. It just comes down to knowing the right strategies, and working with the right people. See below.

Deadly Mistake #2: Not hiring a buyer's agent to represent you.

Buying property is a complex and stressful task. In fact, it is often the biggest single investment you will make in your lifetime. At the same time, real estate transactions have become increasingly complicated. New technology, laws, procedures and competition from other buyers require buyer agents to perform at an ever-increasing level of professionalism. For many homebuyers, the process turns into a terrible, stressful ordeal. In addition, making the wrong decisions can end up costing you thousands of dollars. It does not have to be this way!

Work with a buyer's agent who has a keen understanding of the real estate business and who is on your side. Buyer's agents have a fiduciary duty to you. That means they are loyal to only you and are obligated to look out for your best interests. Buyer's agents can help you find the best home, the best lender and the best inspector. Best of all, in most cases, the buyer's agent is paid out of the seller's commission, even though he/she works for you. Trying to buy a home without an agent at all is, well...unthinkable.

Deadly Mistake #3: Getting a cheap inspection.

Buying a home is probably the most expensive purchase you will ever make. This is no time to shop for a cheap inspection. The cost of a home inspection is very small relative to the home being inspected. The additional cost of hiring a certified inspector is almost insignificant. As a homebuyer, you have recently been crunching the numbers, negotiating offers, adding up closing costs, shopping for mortgages and trying to get the best deals. Do not stop now. Do not let your real estate agent, a patty-cake inspector or anyone else talk you into skimping here.

Certified inspectors perform the best inspections by far. Certified inspectors earn their fees many times over. They do more, they deserve more, and yes they generally charge a little more. Do yourself a favor...and pay a little more for the quality inspection you deserve.

Know What You are Doing

Interstate land sales promotions often are conducted in a high-pressure atmosphere that sweeps unsophisticated buyers along. Before they are aware that they have made a commitment, these buyers may have signed a sales contract and started to make payments on a lot. They may be delighted with the selection made but, if not, it may be too late for a change of mind.

Nine Dishonest Sales Practices

Here are some of the practices avoided by reliable sales operations. Watch out for them and exercise sales resistance if you suspect they are occurring.

1. Concealing or misrepresenting facts about current and resale value. Sales agents may present general facts about the areas population growth, industrial or residential development, and real estate price levels as if they apply to your specific lot. You may be encouraged to believe that your piece of land represents an investment which will increase in value as regional development occurs. A sales agent may tell you that the developer will resell the lot if you request. This promise may not be kept. Future resale is difficult or impossible in many promotional developments because much of your purchase price -sometimes as much as 40 percent- has gone for an intensive advertising campaign and commissions for sales agents. You are already paying a top price and it is unlikely that anyone else would pay you more than you are paying the developer. You may even have to sell for less than the price you paid for the lot originally. Sales promotions often are conducted in a high-pressure atmosphere. Furthermore, when you attempt to sell your lot, you are in competition with the developer, who probably holds extensive, unsold acreage in the same subdivision. In most areas real estate brokers find it impractical to undertake the sale of lots in subdivisions and will not accept such listings. It is unlikely that the lot you purchase through interstate land sales represents an investment in the view of professional land investors. Remember, the elements of value in a piece of land are its usefulness, the supply, the demand, and the buyer's ability to resell it. The Urban Land Institute estimates that land must double in value every five years to justify holding it as an investment. In some areas the cost of holding the land, such as taxes and other assessments, can run as high as 11 percent a year.
2. Failure to honor refund promises or agreements. Some sales promotions conducted by mail or long distance telephone include the offer of a refund if the property has been misrepresented, or if the customer inspects the land within a certain period of time and decides not to buy. When the customers request the refund, they may encounter arguments about the terms of the agreement. The company may even accuse its own agent of having made a money-back guarantee without the consent or knowledge of the developer. Sometimes the promised refund is made but only after a long delay.
3. Misrepresentation of facts about the subdivision. This is where the property report offers an added measure of protection. A sales agent may offer false or incomplete information relating to either a distant subdivision or one which you visit. Misrepresentations often relate to matters such as the legal title, claims against it, latent dangers such as swamps or cliffs, unusual physical features such as poor drainage, restrictions on use, or lack of necessary facilities and utilities. Read the property report carefully with an eye to omissions, generalizations, or
   unproved statements that may tend to mislead you. If you are concerned about overlooking something important, discuss the report and the contract with a lawyer who understands real estate matters. The developer also may use advertisements that imply that certain facilities and amenities are currently available when they are not. Read the property report to determine whether these facilities and amenities are actually completed or proposed to be completed in the future. If the company advertises sales on credit terms, the Truth in Lending Act requires the sales contract to set forth fully all terms of financing. This information must include total cost, simple annual interest, and total finance charges.
4. Failure to develop the subdivision as planned. Many buyers rely upon the developer's contractual agreement or an oral promise to develop the subdivision in a certain way. The promised attractions that influenced your purchase -golf course, marina, swimming pool- may never materialize after you become an owner. If they are provided, it may be only after a long delay. If you are planning on immediate vacation use of the property or are working toward a specific retirement date, you may find that promised special features of the development are not available when you need them.
5. Failure to deliver deeds, title insurance policies. Documents relating to the sales transaction may not be delivered as promised. Some sales in the promotional land development industry are made by contract for a deed to be delivered when the purchaser makes the last payment under the terms of the contract. A dishonest developer may fail to deliver the deed or deliver it only after a long delay. A sales agent may offer false or incomplete information.
6. Abusive treatment and high-pressure sales tactics. Some sales agents drive prospective customers around a subdivision in automobiles equipped with citizen band radios which provide a running commentary on lot sales in progress. The customer may be misled by this and other sales techniques to believe that desirable lots are selling rapidly and that a hurried choice must be made. Hurrying the buyers into a purchase they may later regret is only one ploy of high-pressure sales agents. More offensive is abusive language used to embarrass customers who delay an immediate decision to buy. In some instances hesitant buyers have been isolated in remote or unfamiliar places where transportation is controlled by the sales agent or the agent's organization.
7. Failure to make good on sales inducements. Free vacations, gifts, savings bonds, trading stamps, and other promised inducements are used to lure people to sales presentations or to development sites. These promised treats may never materialize. Sometimes special conditions are attached to the lure or a customer is advised that gifts go only to lot purchasers. A "free vacation" may be the means of delivering the prospective buyer to a battery of high-pressure sales agents in a distant place. The promised attractions may never materialize.
8. "Bait and switch" tactics. Lots are frequently advertised at extremely low prices. When prospective buyers appear, they are told that the low-priced lots are all sold and then are pressured to buy one that is much more expensive. If the cheaper lot is available, it may be located on the side of a cliff or in another inaccessible location. If accessible, it may be much too small for a building lot or have other undesirable features. The buyers may be lured to the property with a certificate entitling them to a "free" lot. Often the certificate bears a face value of $500 to $1,000. If the buyers attempt to cash it in, the amount is simply included in the regular price (often inflated) of the lot they choose. Often this so-called "bait and switch" technique has a delayed fuse. Buyers who purchase an unseen lot for later retirement may be unpleasantly surprised when they visit the development. The lot they have paid for may be remote from other homes, shopping, and medical facilities. It may be insufficiently developed for use. When the buyers complain, sales personnel attempt to switch them to a more expensive lot, applying the money paid for the original lot to an inflated price for the new one and tacking on additional financing charges. If the unhappy purchasers lack sufficient funds to accept this alternative, they are left with an unusable, unmarketable first choice. Some sales agents provide a running commentary on lot sales in progress.
9. Failure to grant rights under the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act. Purchasers may not be given copies of the property report before they sign a sales contract. Some sales agents withhold this detailed statement until customers choose a specific lot. Sometimes the buyers receive the report in a mass of promotional materials and legal documents. Unaware that the report is in their possession, they fail to read and understand it before signing a sales contract.