"Door County Real Estate" by: Kevin Nordahl, REALTOR®

Home Inspections - Part II

It’s report card time. Will your house make the grade? Any good education requires a qualified teacher. Home inspections called for in a standard WB-11 Residential Offer to Purchase are performed by Wisconsin , licensed home inspectors. They are typically paid for by the Buyer prior to closing and may, in some instances, be furnished by a seller prior to signing a listing (see the March 5 th Peninsula Pulse article available online).

A typical syllabus to any inspector’s report will cover items such as: electrical, kitchen, appliances, laundry, bathrooms, interior, garage interior/exterior, attics, foundations, crawl spaces, HVAC systems, etc. A call to any number of licensed home inspectors will reveal what they cover and the costs associated with an inspection.

When a problem is encountered via an inspector’s report the buyer usually has a certain number of days to notify the seller of the defect in writing, including copies of the report as reference. Sellers will typically have what is referred to as a “right to cure.” If a defect is a broken seal around a laundry drain for instance, the seller may decide to buy the 99 cent part and fix (cure) the defect themselves. Sometimes defects can be huge “deal killers” with major costs. These defects are best left up to legal interpretation. Here is why:

The definition of a defect is based off the standard language in an offer that says: “..a defect is defined as a structural, mechanical or other condition that would have a significant adverse effect on the value of the Property; that would significantly impair the health or safety of future occupants of the Property; or that if not repaired, removed or replaced would significantly shorten or have significant adverse effect on the expected normal life of the Property.” All hail to legal counsel to figure this out.

Fortunately, ninety-nine percent of all transactions don’t get mired into interpretive instances of impunity. Most instances of defect are simple matters where parties to transactions make amends and move forward peacefully.

Finally, a home inspection is not a testing contingency. If you want to test the chemical make-up of a specific part of a structure such as lead paint or soil borings around the well, a separate contingency is necessary and it may be necessary to hire another expert to complete such tests. Your REALTOR will know more about who to call for such necessities. Isn’t the real world where other people take tests a nice place?

Kevin Nordahl is a life-long resident of Door County, a REALTORŪ and a member of the Door County MLS. He is a Past President of the Door County Board of REALTORS® and a Senior Sales Consultant at Coldwell Banker Door County Horizons in Fish Creek. He may be reached online at knordahl@doorcountyrealestate.com or by phone at (920) 493-4004.

Archived Newsletters