Hey guys, I really have no knowledge of home inspection and was wondering how I could go about finding an inspector or general contractor to come to a property and make a repair list while I’m talking to the homeowners.
For you guys who do short sales, who do you have inspect the property? I’m looking to work some short sales and get rid of them wholesale so I’d hate to ill-inform buyers of the actual condition of the property, and miss something huge that could persuade the lender into accepting a bigger discount while working the SS.
Thanks.
I would walk through the property with the home owner and ask questions like…How are the systems in the house ie furnaces, hot water heater and so forth. Ask about the roof and that sort of thing. As you walk around take pictures and look for things like water damage. Also it is easier to Short Sale a property if it needs work. Then after you secure the property how every you do that :deal. I would get a 2-3 handy man contractor to come out and give you quotes on the work that needs to be done.
Ideally you want a general contractor to look at it and give you a bid for ALL repairs prior to submitting SS offer. The more repairs the lower the SS. Being a GC I do this on occasion and always on my own purchases. You need to be up front with the GC if you are going to flip it. You may get them to do it once for free but not twice. Let them know that you just want a bid, I generally charge $300 for this service. Option 2 is get a home inspection. (which cost about the same)Check yellow pages or call some Realtors and get a referral. However going this route you still need to get bid(s). To get a GC, again ask people you know for a referral or call your local home builder/remodelers association. Bottom line is it depends on your knowledge of home repairs. The $300 or so could save you thousands off the offer. :beer
THanks Jeff! In your experience as a GC, would it be sufficient to say that all GCs are going to be qualified to do an inspection and give a bid? When you go through a property, do you make a detailed list of things needing to be fixed along with a bid next to it showing cost of repair for that single issue?
Also, if one hires an inspector, will they detail repair costs or just merely tell you what is needing attention?
I’d like to find a GC myself, so do you have any ideas about how to approach contractors without them looking at me like I’m stupid? I mean, would it not be pretty random just to work through the yellow pages and ask if somebody could come inspect a property I’m wishing to short sale? Do you think I’d need to do a lot of explaining or most will understand what is going on?
Thanks again