Over the last several years I’ve heard buyers of newly constructed homes repeat the same three reasons over and over again as to why they didn’t get a Home Inspection and the truth of the matter is they regretted it.  Here’s what they think:

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Reason #1:  “I Trust My Builder” 

The reality today is that most home builders don’t even have tools and equipment.  The fact is most new home builders are financiers and occasionally job site managers. Who actually builds your new home are the subcontractors that the builder hires to do the work.  So whether your new home is built correctly and complies with the current building code strictly depends on the knowledge and skill of the sub- contractors.   And speaking candidly, the quality of the sub-contractors varies greatly.  And most subcontractors are unlicensed and unregulated, so who’s looking over their shoulder?

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Reason #2:  “The House Is New. What Could Be Wrong?” 

Even though all of the parts of the house you come in contact with each and every day appear fine, there’s a lot more to your house than meets the layman’s eye. Here’s the real issue: Were the mechanical and structural components of the house put together properly?  And truthfully, most homeowners don’t have the knowledge or skill set to judge that aspect of a new home. So here’s what happens in many cases.  You go to sell your new home sometime in the future.  The buyer hires a home inspector to evaluate the property for them.  And low and behold the buyer’s home inspector finds lots of things that were done improperly by the sub-contractors and now the buyer wants you to pay for the necessary repairs. So I’ll ask you again, why should you pay for someone else’s mistakes?

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Reason # 3:  “The Municipal Building Inspector Inspected The Home!” Here is a True Consumer Safeguard that has sadly gone bad! Because of the housing boom in the last decade, many Municipal Building Code Compliance Inspectors are forced to conduct too many inspections in a day. These inspections have been reduced from quality checks to “drive by” glances. Many code compliance inspectors don’t even carry a ladder! One of the other things many municipalities have done to keep their costs down is to sub contract code compliance inspections.  These subcontractors are much less thorough than a city or county employee.