Buying or Selling a Home/home inspection

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Expert: - 8/14/2011


Question
my son and daughter in law recently purchased a house and were not made aware that their central air was manufactured in 1983. Isn't home inspector responsible for this? needless to say it doesn't work. Sellers gave them insurance to get things fixed for one year at $60 a transaction. they had to be aware of this. do they as buyers have any recourse ?

Answer
Hey, Maryellen.

Determining the manufacture date of appliances and equipment is not part of a normal home inspection. There are many of us who do try to determine the date of manufacture, but it's not always possible because of missing manufacturer plates, interesting coded serial numbers, etc.

They key is whether or not the central air worked at the time of the inspection. That should be noted in the home inspection report. Either it did, it didn't, or for some reason it wasn't able to be tested.

Read through the home inspection report, but if you need help getting through the typical disclaimers, as well as the legal and insurance clutter, let me know. I'll be happy to read through it for you and see what you might be able to do.

Hope that helps.

Russel

Buying or Selling a Home

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Russel Ray

Expertise

Through home inspections, I provide an education about real estate. I'm one of those rare home inspectors who has been involved in real estate in many different capacities: as a Realtor (in Texas), as a property investor/flipper, as a teacher, and as a marketing expert (for Realtors and home inspectors). I believe that my experience as a Realtor and property investor provides me with a different viewpoint about home inspections in that I work for my Clients, but when there are other people involved in helping my Clients, then I firmly believe in helping them, too. That includes Realtors (both the seller's and the buyer's), repair professionals (e.g., plumbers, electricians, etc.). If I can get all the players (seller, seller's Realtor, buyer, buyer's Realtor, and repair professionals) playing in the same sandbox together to accomplish goals as a TEAM (Together Everyone Accomplishes More), then I believe I have succeeded in my job as a home inspector. My profession is, in my opinion, much more than simply documenting the condition of a property and then take the money and run. I am also a rare breed in that I don't believe that one inspection fits the needs of all Clients, and I have led the industry in understanding that fact. For example, the goals of a property investor are far different than the goals of someone buying a property to live in. The goals of a seller (a pre-listing inspection) are far different than the goals of a buyer (a pre-purchase inspection). To that end, I offer 14 different types of inspections, e.g., STANDARD, LIST, RENTER, BASIC, MAINTENANCE, SPOT, and more. I believe in giving the benefit of the doubt to all professionals in whatever industry they represent until they prove me wrong.

Experience

Over 42 years in all aspects of real estate--building homes, renovating homes, inspecting homes, Realtor.

Organizations
National Association of Certified Home Inspector, Better Business Bureau of San Diego

Education/Credentials
Graduate of Texas A&M University; College Station, Texas

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