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Hiring a Kansas City Real Estate Agent
When you're buying a house, or even selling a home your best friend can be the home inspector.
A Kansas City home inspector can let you know if you're about to buy a lemon of a house or warn you about potential problems. At best, you can move into the house confident that it's in good shape; at worst, the inspector's report can let you back out of the deal if the house has major, unexpected problems.. Click here to get direct access to the areas top Kansas City Home Inspectors!
What inspectors look for
What a home inspector does is provide an independent review of the property, not influenced by any of the other professions in the transaction, which means that the inspector doesn't have a stake in the outcome of the transaction or the inspection.
Inspectors get paid whether or not the sale goes through. In contrast, lenders and real estate agents make a profit when the sale closes.
More than three-quarters of buyers hire inspectors. Most of those buyers have a clause in the purchase contract that makes the sale contingent on acceptable results of an inspection. The buyer can void the purchase or renegotiate the offer if serious problems are found.
The cost of a home inspection varies by inspector, region and size of house. A common price is $200 to $250 -- about 40 percent of buyers pay in that range. A typical home inspection includes an assessment of:
- exterior features such as outside walls, soffits, decks, the roof, chimneys and drainage conditions;
- interior items, such as the condition of windows, doors, plumbing fixtures and electrical outlets and switches;
- heating and cooling systems;
- the attic and crawl space and whether they have adequate insulation and ventilation.
What
they don't look for
You usually have to hire specialists to assess the conditions of swimming
pools, septic systems, underground storage tanks for heating oil and the health
of trees and shrubs (don't blame the inspector for not detecting a dead tree in
the winter). There are exceptions: some general inspectors are qualified to examine
swimming pools and septic systems.
Not all inspectors assess appliances, such as washers, dryers, dishwashers, refrigerators and stoves.
Inspectors who are members of ASHI are forbidden to have a professional interest in the sale, repair or maintenance of a property they inspect. They're not supposed to use their inspection business as a way to find customers for a handyman service that they happen to own.
Hiring a Kansas City Home InspectorThe most common way to find and hire a Kansas City home inspector is through a real estate agent's referral. If you would rather find the inspector yourself, you can ask friends and relatives who they have hired, look in the Yellow Pages under "Building inspectors" or "Home inspectors," check the Better Business Bureau or utilize the GoodGuyList.com for direct access. You can even call or visit the ASHI Web site, to get a list of all the Kansas City Certified Home Inspectors.
