Is Your New Home Good Enough for You?
Buying a home is like having a new boyfriend. You are emotionally involved and have a tendency to look through rose-coloured glasses.
How do you know if this new house — or this new guy — is really good enough for you?
The answer: Call in the professionals!
In the case of a new boyfriend, you call in the ones who love you most for their opinions.
In the case of a new house, you call in the home inspector.
What will your friends, family and home inspector tell you?
Impartial is good:
Just as your family and friends examine your new love interest from an objective standpoint with your best interests at heart, a home inspector is that impartial third party who will examine every detail of the home you think you love.
You may have a tendency to overlook obvious shortcomings in your mate and in your new home, but your friends and your home inspector will not! In both cases, brutal honesty is best.
Checklists are Better:
Those rose-coloured glasses often overlook the details. Your friends and family are analyzing all the finest of details of your new love interest to compare to their internal “perfect man” checklist.
The home inspector has the same type of checklists for your home in true paper format. He analyzes each home the same way every single time, and that is how you, and he, can know he won’t miss even the smallest detail.
The only way to find out if the house, or the boyfriend, is good enough for you is to have enough positive check marks at the end of the visual inspection.
Visual Cues:
The inspection is all about looking for visual cues of something wrong beneath the surface. It takes a trained eye to notice something is haywire behind the walls or in the foundation or between the ears.
If there are visual warning signs, it merits an even more in depth analysis.
In both situations, if the home or the new guy don’t pass the test of the impartial third parties, it’s time to exercise your right to say next because you deserve the best man to spend your time with, and the best house to live your life in.
This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.