Rehabbers With The Wrong Idea

It seems the trend lately, when rehabbers fix up a house and put it on the market, is to do everything that shows or is cosmetic in nature perfectly, and then totally fall down by cutting corners or disguising the things that they think people will not notice. This is a very disturbing trend, especially if you are the buyer, or the home inspector that has to come in and "burst the bubble" so to speak.

I know times are tougher, and real estate sells a little slower maybe, and prices may be down a bit too. But are those excuses for not doing a complete job, and trying to pass something off as being "totally rehabbed, A-1 condition" when you know that is not the case?

I just inspected a house that from all outward appearance looked very nice, and every room was finished in grand style. The roof and siding had been replaced, as well as the windows and doors. Kitchen and baths were totally remodeled, including granite couters, tile floors and showers, even premium fixtures and cabinets. The basement was totally finished into a very nice rec room in the front 1/2 of the house. Re-plumbing and wiring had also been done, along with a brand new air conditioner unit outside. New deck, new gutters, new garage door. Every surface had been expertly painted, and new carpet and Pergo flooring in every room. So, you can see why it was easy for this family to fall in love with this house. They even told me "We don't think you will find very much wrong"....WRONG!

Well, that is where the love affair ends. Enter the big bad home inspector, with his ladder, clipboard, camera, flashlight, and an array of inspection tools at his disposal.

Some things were fairly obvious- at least to me. Such as the garage roof, which had some extensive rafter and sheeting replacement... right next to very obvious exposed roof sheeting boards that were water damaged, and had large chunks missing! And then of couse they put brand new shingles over it.

The garage concrete had cracked and heaved, and was in need of immediate replacement as well, and the bottom wood wall plates on the garage were severely water damaged too.

The basement totally amazed me, since the back 1/2 of the basement (not finished, where the furnace, water heater and laundry area was) had extensive interior waterproofing done, complete with under slab drainage, and a sump crock and pump to remove the water. Trouble is, the front 1/2 of the basement that WAS FINISHED, brand new drywall and carpet, DID NOT have ANY waterproofing measures done before the drywall and carpet were installed. Result? Carpet was wet around the perimeter when I came through, and a slight smell of mold/mildew was already developing.

Top it all off with a 25+ year old furnace with corrosion visible in the heat exchanger (Remember, the A/C unit was brand new), and an open uncapped sewer line in the crawl space, and many other smaller defective items that are too numerous to mention.

Add it all up, and we have a "bursted bubble", because neither the agent, or the home buyer had a clue about almost all of it, except for the garage floor.

I guess it's all in a days work for a home inspector, but I would much prefer to hand the client a "clean slate report". Rehabbers and house flippers need to beware... There just aren't too many buyers out there any more that will not get a home inspection, and most of us inspector-types are not going to miss those things.