Home Inspections

One of the first things to be considered, when purchasing a property is a Home Inspection, often referred to as an Engineers Inspection.
Effective December 31, 2005, New York State required Home Inspectors to be licensed in NY State. More information on this is available at www.dos.state.ny.us/LCNS/homeinspector.htm
This was a long-overdue step in improving and standardizing the quality of Home Inspectors in NY upon whom the typical purchaser relies heavily.
While its axiomatic that a purchaser of a one, two or three family home will do a Home Inspection, it becomes less clear with the purchase of a Coop or Condo. It is my understanding that less than 10% of apartment purchasers opt for an Inspection.
At a time when fuel, taxes, insurance and other increasing costs place upward pressure on coop maintenance and condo common charges, it becomes more important for a purchaser, in an effort to estimate future increases, to try to have an idea about the physical status of the building in which the coop or condo is located.
Major repairs will impact on the reserve (if there is one) and directly or indirectly on the monthly carrying costs for the unit owner.
While it is true that most well managed larger buildings have substantial reserve funds from which funds can be utilized to pay for repairs and improvements, it is still in the purchasers interest to know what to expect.
Clearly, the smaller the building, the less owners there are to share expenses with and, more often than not, the smaller the reserve fund.
Therefore, I advise my clients, especially on smaller buildings to use the services of a licensed Home Inspector. Even on larger buildings, I do not discourage the inspections if there is time.
What must be kept in mind is the time pressures involved in these deals. It may be considered a luxury to spend a week or so arranging for the inspection. It is very possible that a deal might be lost while waiting for the inspection, so if one is to be considered, it should be prioritized. As soon as an offer has been accepted, the inspection must be arranged.
Since anyone who knows me also knows I have strong opinions regarding Inspectors, my Inspector of choice (clear choice) is Richard Perri of Professional Home Inspections Co. He can be reached at 718-828-9116

CLIENT NEWS:

This week's news is about my client, Cat Greenleaf, one of the rising stars at NBC, particularly TODAY IN NEW YORK where she is a features reporter gaining more and more air time with each passing week.
Tonight, Cat is the emcee for a fundraiser for The Children Of Bellevue and Toast to the Children. I predict great things for Cat, as others recognise her talents. Someday we'll all be able to look back to this blog entry and say "we knew her when"...