I am currently shopping for an investment real estate property.
I have located a short sale, about to be foreclosed property that I like. Its relatively new structure(1995) and it goes for relatively cheap price.
However, it has some damage to the ceiling sheet rock and plumbing was also damaged. Someone broke inside two of the units and clipped off copper pipes and some wiring while knocking down couple ceilings.
Like I said the price is bargain, but I want to have a “no kidding” accessment how much all the repairs are going to cost.
To me it seems that I need a house inspector who will be responsible to give me a ball park estimate of everything that needs to be fixed. I also want him/her to be liable for this estimate. That way if he/she fails to mention something to me, I will able to go after them in order to offset my new repair cost.
When you get the house under contract get the house inspected. The inspection tells you what has to be fixed. List all the things that have to be fixed and the things you “want” to fix. Go over to the house one more time with a contractor with that list and get an estimate. Take that estimate add it to the sales price for the house plus fees. That is what the house costs. By the way a short sale is a house that has no agreement to sell price. Short sales don’t close frequently enough to warrant making a business out of it. They only close around 20% of the time.
Sounds like you are looking for a home warranty! Homepath mortgages come with one, and you can write it into your sales contract, but as Bluemoon states the best way is to make sure you investigate the property with someone(s) you trust, and buy at the right price instead of trying to protect yourself with warranties.
Any Home Inspector not being the professional contractor bid to do the repair work should not be writing any form of cost repair estimates. Also remember that a home inspection is a visual non destructive examination of the home at the time of inspection. One is simply unable to see hidden damage or defects.