Never buy a house without a home inspection
February 17, 2012
Mark Weisleder
In Ontario's hot housing market buyers are being advised by agents to make 'clean' offers without home inspections. Don't do it.
Ontario’s hot housing market continues to spark bidding wars and, in many cases, buyers are being advised by agents to make “clean” offers to get the house they want.
By “clean”, the agent means an offer without any conditions in order to make it more acceptable to the seller. Big mistake. I constantly hear stories from ‘successful’ home buyers, who bought without an inspection. They later uncovered major problems, many of which could have been identified with a proper inspection. This meant large repair bills and unfortunate lawsuits involving unhappy buyers, sellers and real estate agents.
In a column last September, I wrote about the issue and offered a simple 20-item home inspection checklist for buyers. The home inspection system is far from perfect, but it is the best way to safeguard your interest.
Related: 20 things to look for in a home inspection
Inspections are imperfect because in most cases the inspector is not permitted to look behind walls or under floors which means many potential problems are hidden. But Andrew Radomski of Pillar to Post, a professional home inspection company, tells me that inspection firms can identify plenty of potential trouble spots. These include:
• Obsolete knob and tube wiring. This is found in homes built prior to the 1950s in most of the original City of Toronto. It is hard to get insurance if your home has knob and tube wiring.
• A 60-amp electrical service when the norm today is either 100 or 200. Again this will lead to higher insurance premiums.
• Old galvanized plumbing. It rusts, can leak and plug up, slowing water flow. Old lead pipes are a health risk.
• Any roof over 20 years old should probably be partially or completely replaced.
• Old foundations will gradually deteriorate, causing leaks, and are expensive to repair.
• Windows can be expensive to replace, if in poor condition.
Some firms use thermal imaging technology and, for an additional fee, can identify problems with the structure, moisture leakage or air leakage in a home. They can also better identify when there is insufficient insulation, plumbing leaks or poor construction, which can lead to problems down the road.
In some cases the seller will conduct a pre-listing inspection and make a summary of the results available to any interested buyer. A good idea, but as a buyer, you cannot rely just on this and should still conduct your own inspection. You do not know how thorough the inspection was and, more important, what qualifications the inspector had.
Some sellers try and create the atmosphere for bidding wars by saying that they will not accept any offers for a four- or five-day period. They hope that buyers will come in early, pay for a home inspection in advance and then be in a position to make an offer without any conditions. While this is better than doing no inspection at all, the disadvantage is that you may pay for this inspection but still not win the bidding war.
Related: 17 things to know about closing your house deal
And if you try and buy a home by yourself, without an agent, you had better find a home inspection company first and determine how much time they might need to do an inspection for you. Real estate agents work with many home inspection firms, so they can normally arrange for an inspection for buyers within forty-eight hours.
In Ontario, the home inspection industry needs to be licensed, as there are many inspectors today who do not have insurance in the event they make errors. British Columbia and Alberta have licensed inspectors.
Sellers, consider getting your home inspected before putting it up for sale and fix any problems that are identified. Don’t cover them up or you will face a lawsuit after closing.
Buyers, do not get pressured into making an offer without a home inspection condition, especially for older homes. I know the process can be frustrating, but it is better to be frustrated and lose a bidding war than to win a bidding war and pay more for it after closing.
More real estate columns by Mark Weisleder
Mark Weisleder is a real estate lawyer. mark@markweisleder.com.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
New Building Awards Will Benefit Toronto
Richard Silver TREB President
President's Newspaper/Magazine Columns
Toronto SUN Column (as it appears each Friday in the Toronto Sun)
New Building Awards Will Benefit Our City
February 10, 2012 -- In recent months Canada has received high marks in a number of studies conducted by various international consulting firms including Forbes, FutureBrand and Reputation Institute. When it comes to doing business, branding, and reputation, our country has been rated number one in the world. As Torontonians, we should be proud of our contribution to such rankings. In fact, in an April 2011 study conducted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Toronto placed second only to New York as the world’s most successful city.
One key element that contributes to Toronto’s outstanding international reputation is development. We have for example, more condominium buildings currently under construction in Toronto than in any other city in North America. Trends like this one demonstrate the confidence that developers and consumers have in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
To recognize innovative Commercial buildings that contribute to our city, Greater Toronto REALTORS® have established the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) Commercial Building Awards, and to tell you more about them, I have invited the Chair of our Association’s Commercial Division Larry Purchase to share this column.
Throughout the next five months developers, architects and Greater Toronto REALTORS® will have the opportunity to nominate projects as part of the TREB Commercial Building Awards. Projects can be nominated in various categories as follows: Green, Industrial, Commercial Office, Commercial Residential, Multi-Residential and/or Institutional.
Nominated buildings, which must be located in the GTA and have been completed between January 2009 and November 2011, will be evaluated based on various criteria. These include the project’s sensitivity to the environment, its design and innovation, and its success in answering a specific developmental need in the community.
A panel of five judges will visit each of the nominated projects to assess overall exterior design and determine how each fits into its surrounding area. Once each of the sites has been visited, the judges will meet to select one new and one retrofit building for a TREB Commercial Building Award.
The selected projects will be announced at a special awards ceremony that will take place at the Toronto Real Estate Board offices on October 30, 2012.
By recognizing outstanding accomplishments in new and retrofit Commercial buildings, we hope to inspire others to continue to strive for excellence, as doing so contributes to the quality of life throughout the GTA and to our city’s strong international reputation. When we work together to make ours a better city, and take the time to recognize such efforts, we all win.
All completed entries for the TREB Commercial Building Awards must be received at the Toronto Real Estate Board no later than Friday, May 31, 2012 at 4:30 pm.
To download a nomination form please visit TREBCommercial.com
Richard Silver is President of the Toronto Real Estate Board, a professional association that represents 32,000 REALTORS® in the Greater Toronto Area.
Follow TREB on www.twitter.com/TREBhome, www.Facebook.com/TorontoRealEstateBoard and www.youtube.com/TREBChannel
President's Newspaper/Magazine Columns
Toronto SUN Column (as it appears each Friday in the Toronto Sun)
New Building Awards Will Benefit Our City
February 10, 2012 -- In recent months Canada has received high marks in a number of studies conducted by various international consulting firms including Forbes, FutureBrand and Reputation Institute. When it comes to doing business, branding, and reputation, our country has been rated number one in the world. As Torontonians, we should be proud of our contribution to such rankings. In fact, in an April 2011 study conducted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Toronto placed second only to New York as the world’s most successful city.
One key element that contributes to Toronto’s outstanding international reputation is development. We have for example, more condominium buildings currently under construction in Toronto than in any other city in North America. Trends like this one demonstrate the confidence that developers and consumers have in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
To recognize innovative Commercial buildings that contribute to our city, Greater Toronto REALTORS® have established the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) Commercial Building Awards, and to tell you more about them, I have invited the Chair of our Association’s Commercial Division Larry Purchase to share this column.
Throughout the next five months developers, architects and Greater Toronto REALTORS® will have the opportunity to nominate projects as part of the TREB Commercial Building Awards. Projects can be nominated in various categories as follows: Green, Industrial, Commercial Office, Commercial Residential, Multi-Residential and/or Institutional.
Nominated buildings, which must be located in the GTA and have been completed between January 2009 and November 2011, will be evaluated based on various criteria. These include the project’s sensitivity to the environment, its design and innovation, and its success in answering a specific developmental need in the community.
A panel of five judges will visit each of the nominated projects to assess overall exterior design and determine how each fits into its surrounding area. Once each of the sites has been visited, the judges will meet to select one new and one retrofit building for a TREB Commercial Building Award.
The selected projects will be announced at a special awards ceremony that will take place at the Toronto Real Estate Board offices on October 30, 2012.
By recognizing outstanding accomplishments in new and retrofit Commercial buildings, we hope to inspire others to continue to strive for excellence, as doing so contributes to the quality of life throughout the GTA and to our city’s strong international reputation. When we work together to make ours a better city, and take the time to recognize such efforts, we all win.
All completed entries for the TREB Commercial Building Awards must be received at the Toronto Real Estate Board no later than Friday, May 31, 2012 at 4:30 pm.
To download a nomination form please visit TREBCommercial.com
Richard Silver is President of the Toronto Real Estate Board, a professional association that represents 32,000 REALTORS® in the Greater Toronto Area.
Follow TREB on www.twitter.com/TREBhome, www.Facebook.com/TorontoRealEstateBoard and www.youtube.com/TREBChannel
Monday, February 6, 2012
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)