Does ANYONE bother to pay a home inspector anymore? Just curious. Oh I know first-time buyers should, but do you?

I don't - haven't for the last few. They don't look for anything I don't look at.

If I'm worried, I might hire a roofer to walk the roof. $50 - $75 and he'll tell me his opinion after a few minutes of looking.

I look at the circuit breaker box. I may take a couple of outlets from the wall and see if they have good wire behind them. I look at the plumbing to see if galvanized, quest, or what. I look at the windows, furnace.

I MIGHT pay a termite inspection, but haven't the last few.

I know what most things cost these days, how to judge age/life left and what to expect.

No...I'm already offering "as is/where is"...so seller isn't going to do any repairs anyway.

My handyman comes along with me once we get close to presenting the offer and gives it a look over. He's been in the biz of home repair for almost 30 years...knows more than most inspector. As long as I don't abuse the privilege, he doesn't charge me, knowing he's getting more business by helping me make a wise purchase.

We once got a real deal on a house after a Buyer backed out because of the Home Inspection. We called the buyer and bought the inspection from HIM for half price, why not, he was out the money! He had backed out because there was "live wire" in the attic, not shielded or anything - a fire hazard.

DH went over and looked and it was a pile of wire left over from another job sitting in the attic. Not connected to anything. Just a pile of wire.

Furnaces, only.

Complete Operation / Safety / Code Compliant.

Not any more. I figure I'm better off putting the money toward repairs. With the houses we buy, I already know that I'm going to have to replace all the plumbing, I know how much of the knob and tube has been replaced, and I can tell if there are basement issues.

We DID pay for an inspection on our last personal residence purchase. It came up almost clean, but we got a radon system installed and the chimney tuckpointed for free.

No.I don't need to pay someone hundreds of dollars to write up a 12-page report telling me the stove works, the light switches work, the tub drains properly, how well the doors & windows operate, etc.(that's really all they do!) I can see all that for myself.

W,

Nope. I buy them cheap enough to fix whatever. Much of what inspectors find is inconsequential to a rental.

My growth was thru buying the rough ones no one wanted. Offer cash, as is, close now. I’ll deal with the problems.

If I were buying my residence I would. It’s normal and expected here, and the buyers’ realtor beat on the sellers for every item on the report.

When I sell a flip I have the inspector give us a list, we fix everything on the list which is a HUGE advantage when selling. The inspector returns, checks just those items, and prints out a perfectly clean report to show prospects.

The buyers still get their own report which always shows a few more items but they are incidental.

I do, and then use it to negotiate the price. I decided to start doing inspections after buyers were having me do repairs on my flips.

1st house the seller knocked off $2700.00 for me. 2nd house seller reduced price by $1500.00

Both sellers told me, they would accept my offer but wouldn't do any repairs.

I don't use inspectors. I use contractors to give me a written report on the roof, H/A, and foundation.

I stopped using them quite a few houses ago when the guy said the dishwasher motor was burned out; turns out he never turned on the water to the dishwasher.

I have my electrician check out the breaker box.

My partner is a structural engineer. He's depressing enough when looking at a place.

Gail

We are doing inspection every time.

Once decided not to proceed because he, as a structural engineer pointed that one of the walls was almost separated from the house.

We have septics inspected, yes. And might ask our roofer to check out suspect roofs. Maybe have our carpenter check out some things. That's different from paying a "Home Inspector." We've just found them to be pretty useless overall.