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(More customer reviews)Are you neurotic like me? Do you pour over Amazon reviews scouring every aspect of every product so that you don't get hosed on something you buy? Well, imagine how much more that neuroticism goes into overdrive at the prospect of one of the biggest purchases ever -- your home. So this book really appealed to me -- yeah, now I'll have the expertise and know-how to really eye a potential property for defects that cost me a fortune later or at the very least, give me a leg up in negotiating a more favorable price.
And for those two purposes, this book definitely delivers what I intended. But my major complaint is that it is a very difficult read. It was almost like a crash course in home inspection. I'm not sure what I should have expected -- the book is VERY thorough. But that thoroughness is a little overwhelming. It pretty much lists in detail EVERY single thing that could possibly be wrong with a house. And it's organized by room, so you can do it as you walk from one part of the house to another.
But after reading halfway through the book, I started to panic. It was almost like, "Don't forget to to check the wall; don't forget to lift up the carpeting and look at the kind of wood underneath; don't forget to check the entire metal fence for rusting; check the pipes to see if they are PVC, copper, PB, metal, yellow brass, red brass (which is actually pale brown brass), galvanized, etc etc etc etc. WHOA! This is not the sort of thing that you would be able to check on every house that you were doing a walk-through on when you're about to check out 4-5 a day with a realtor. I would be surprised if you could even cover 60% of this stuff by yourself once you narrowed it down to a single house. I mean, you're not going to lift up someone else's carpeting that is probably nailed down to check out their floors.
What this book did make me realize was the value of a very good home inspector. And at the very least, it gave me a more thorough look at what sorts of things could go wrong in a home, the early warning signs and symptoms, the catastrophic consequences if you leave it untended, and how to go about fixing it. It's a great book both for buyers and current homeowners (just to help you keep your property up to snuff). It also helps you to understand so much about the inner mechanisms and workings of your home -- especially if you're like me and the extent of your handiness is putting a nail into the wall to hang up a picture frame.
I would recommend it, but if you're a layman, don't think that you're going to get away with avoiding a home inspector for the price of this book.
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Inspect Before You Buy: Insider Secrets You Need to Know About Home Inspection - With Companion CD-ROMThis book is for prospective home buyers, real estate investors, and those interested in starting their own home inspection business. Home inspections are an important step in the home-buying process. Everyone agrees that you should use a home inspection service before buying a home. Home inspectors conduct a thorough examination of your home to detect any problems before you purchase. A detailed home inspection usually takes a few hours, and you get a written report. But there are two problems: first the cost a good home inspection can cost several hundred dollars depending on the size of the house. And who has extra money when you are trying to afford a new home? Second, they are not flawless, mistakes are made. It is difficult to test everything in a house in just a couple of hours. No one will examine a house like the prospective owner. Now you can be armed with the right information and save a lot of money and time. Through explanations, the experiences of others, and dozens of forms and checklists you will learn all about: Foundations: floors, walls, paint, windows, decks, garage doors, roofing, flashings, chimneys, Plumbing: piping, fixtures, faucets, water heating and fuel storage systems, pools and equipment, Wiring: main service panels, conductors, switches, receptacles, heating, air conditioning and heat pumps, ceilings, Floors: railings, doors and windows, attics, walls, foundations, kitchens, and bathrooms. In addition you will gain valuable information about: septic systems, wells, water quality testing, mold, radon testing, asbestos, termites, carbon monoxide testing, and lead testing.
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