Don’t Look For Shortcuts

By: Anessa Cohen

The first time I saw the movie “The Money Pit” with Tom Hanks and Shelly Long, I laughed so hard my sides hurt. For anyone who has bought or nearly bought a house that looked perfect at face value, or for those who have done any extensive renovations, this movie is a must see.

Since I first saw the movie in 1988, I must have seen it at least 20 times, and each time I see it, I laugh as much as the first time, even though I know what’s going to happen. For those of you who haven’t seen it, in a nutshell, it starts off with a couple coming to view and possibly buy a beautiful, classic house with old-world features and details. The owner takes them through the house using a candelabra, giving the explanation that she’s trying to save money on electric bills. The husband, thinking he’s being savvy, uses the bathroom, checks the water, and decides the house is sound and makes a deal.

After purchasing the house, they come back to a bucolic scene of the beautiful house and picturesque landscaping, only to find that once they start trying to use things like the lights, the water, etc., they encounter one disaster after another.

I’m basically giving you this in a synopsis since I don’t want to spoil the movie for those who have not seen it. Suffice it to say that this movie could be a promo for “Buyer Beware” since one of the basic rules in the “to dos” of buying a house is to bring in an engineer or home inspector to check out the condition of the house and its structural soundness as well as all the utilities and their functionality.

Although, as I said, this movie is very funny and very extreme, no one should ever consider buying a house under any circumstances without first having it inspected by a home inspector or engineer before making a final decision and going ahead with the deal. A home inspection can save you the grief of dealing with maintenance issues you never considered, find problems that should be dealt with, and find any possible problems with the construction that may not be up to code, things that only a professional would notice.

That being said, even when one follows all the rules and brings in a home inspector, there are situations that come up that fall through the cracks even when bringing in the most cracker jack of home inspectors.

What many buyers many not realize is a home inspector or engineer for that matter, can only physically inspect what can be seen visually. There are still some areas of the home that are not open to the eye and therefore can hide problems not seen between walls or joists or other places that are closed off. This is not typical and usually a home inspector can spot most problems or the hint of problems even if certain things might not be fully visual.

Unless a home is physically taken apart and put back together to examine every inch of what you are getting, there will always be areas in the home that will just have to be taken on luck of the draw. Meaning, when you buy a home, have a home inspector or engineer inspect it to the best of their ability. This does not mean there’s no chance that something that is hidden to the eye might not come up in the future. It just means that by having the inspection done, you have lowered the chances of there being any surprises or problems for the most part, and you’ve lowered the odds of finding new problems to a tiny percentage.

Nothing is foolproof, not even new construction, but by having a thorough home inspection by a good inspector, the likelihood of coming across surprises will be lessened, and this will give you more security in whatever home you choose to buy. n

Anessa Cohen lives in Cedarhurst and is a Licensed Real Estate Broker (Anessa V Cohen Realty) with over 20 years of experience offering full service residential, management and commercial real estate services in the Five Towns of Long Island as well as the tri-state area. She can be reached at 516-569-5007. Readers are encouraged to send any questions or scenarios by email to [email protected].