Inspections

The inspection is for the person buying the house to give you a non bias opinion of the shape of the property. If your buyer wants an inspection then they would have to pay for it. If you are buying the property then you would pay for an inspection if you want one. In Indiana Illinois area we pay $200 for an inspection. Here in California we pay $400 for an inspection. It is good to have an inspection they can find a lot more wrong with a property than I can find . Most houses I buy I have never seen for myself.

Hope this helps.

Does the same inspector do the septic system or the well. The inspectors here, at least the ones I know get $150-$300. I did have one building inspected because it was from 1847, but another property on a lake needs lots of work, and I am concerned about the septic.
Thanks

I believe inspections are key.

If my end buyer is an investor, he/she knows what they need to do a deal. If my end buyer is an owner occupant, I'd urge them to get an inspection. If I am doing a sandwich lease option, I am getting an inspection and urging the tenant/buyer to get an inspection.

If the contract has opposing clauses at to who will pay for the inspection, I might ask the seller to split the cost or suggest that the end buyer do so, unless the contract states that one or the other clause supercedes the other.

just my thoughts ~ not legal advice

peace,

So on the lease option, you get an inspection, but then tell the tenants to get another before they purchase?
Splitting the cost sounds like an excellent idea.
Sandi

The problem with you paying for inspections is the volume of houses you must offer on in order to get some good deals accepted. It would be VERY prohibitive to pay even $100 for an inspection on all of the houses you deal with or even get under contract. The other problem, is that any investor will probably not trust your inspection anyway. They will pay for their own, and will be absorbing that cost themselves.

With that being said, it is important for you to have as much information to give to the investor as possible without actually paying for the inspections. You could do this by getting free bids from contractors, or just using your own knowledge you are gaining each time you go look at a property. You'll be surprised at how well you will be able to see problems in a house on your own without a contractor or inspector. Part of the key to this process is for you to be heavily involved in the process ANY TIME you have a contractor or inspector at a property. Ask a lot of questions, and do the walk through with them to see what they look for and ask about any issues they are seeing. You will very quickly be able to make great assessments of property without any paid, official inspections. It just takes a little time.

that is good advice, I have only had one inspection done on the old building, but had a couple contractors go through it and I went with them.
The inspector I hired wanted $300 and I told him I could get someone else for half of that. He then agreed to do it cheaper!
Thanks
Sandi