PROPERTY NEWS Buying a house without a professional home inspection is very risky Not only do you risk paying too much for the property, but you also open the door to the possibility of destructive, frustrating, time-consuming conflict with the seller, the estate agent and the seller’s attorney once you have taken possession of the house and only then discover unacceptable damage. Although estate agents are liable under the new Consumer Protection Act for the information about the house which they provide to prospective buyers, private sellers are not. This means that many sellers will continue to rely on a “voetstoots” (as is) clause as a means to try and protect themselves from comebacks from angry buyers, who only discover after they move into a house that there are problems which were not disclosed to them. Of course, buyers who feel that they have been swindled by sellers can sue the seller. But legal action is very expensive, time-consuming and incredibly stressful. It makes much more sense for buyers to discover everything possible about the house BEFORE agreeing to buy it. Buyers can do this by: • Insisting on professional home inspection services as a condition of purchase. • Refusing to sign any offer to purchase which contains a “voetstoots” clause, unless the offer is also made conditional on a satisfactory home inspection report (with the buyer to be the sole judge as to what is "satisfactory".) If a seller (or his agent) is reluctant to arrange a home inspection, then you, the buyer, should ask yourself: “Are they hiding something?” HouseCheck is committed to helping home buyers (and sellers and their agents) to ensure that buying a home is an honest and transparent process - where everyone gets a fair deal. Some sellers and their agents may even be willing to pay all, or part of, the costs of the inspection. This shows honesty and transparency and buyers should feel comfortable in dealing with such people. I recommend a free, no obligations, HouseCheck quotation for a detailed inspection report. We could save you a ton of money and help you avoid a mountain of stress. Go to housecheck.co.za and provide us with the details of the property to be inspected and we will send you a quote. It could be the wisest decision you have made in your house-buying journey.
Posted on: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 08:14:36 +0000
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