Property before You Buy an Option to Purchase

Last, the following pages contain my pre-buy property inspection checklists. My inspection checklists are unique because they all contain a repair cost column to allow the inspector to use the same form to do a rough repair cost estimate. My downloadable inspection forms allow for a fast, but thorough, inspection of any property.

The Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act requires that all sale agreements to sell residential property built before 1978 contain a Seller ’s Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Statement that discloses whether the property has been inspected for lead-based paint hazards and whether lead-based paint hazards have been found on the property.

To avoid buying a potential toxic waste dump, have suspicious properties inspected for various types of environmental contamination that could make a property uninhabitable and render it worthless. A suspicious property is a property that has been used to house businesses such as gas stations, dry cleaners, automobile repair shops, and other businesses that use [...]

The EPA has published an excellent guide on how to prevent and clean up indoor mold growth, A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your Home, which is available online at the following web page: http://www.epa.gov/mold/moldguide.html.

The following web sites have information on indoor mold: EPA Mold Resources: www.epa.gov/mold/moldresources.html EPA Sick Building Syndrome: www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/sbs.html Mold and Fungi Assessment and Remediation: www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/epi/moldrpt1.html

Today, the public perception surrounding indoor mold is such that even the suspicion that a building has just a smidgen of indoor mold is enough to strike fear into the hearts of most prospective buyers and stop them from pursuing the property. The fact of the matter is that probably every residential property in the [...]

Unlike most real estate investors, I am a journeyman carpenter, with over 30 years of hands-on experience inspecting various types of residential and commercial properties. So, when I conduct an inspection, I show up at the property in my old coveralls with my clipboard and inspection checklists, searchlight, high-powered binoculars, mini-tape recorder, digital camera, and [...]

If you lack the construction knowledge and experience needed to conduct a thorough property inspection, I highly recommend you hire a licensed professional building inspector to snoop around and inspect potential option properties for you. A word of caution: The home and building inspection profession has more than its fair share of phonies, fakes, frauds, [...]