Why do I need to have a brand new home inspected? Three horror stories!

Many real estate agents that I work with tell me that they are asked this question by new home buying clients all the time..."The house is brand new...why do I need a home inspection?". I'm also frequently asked this question when I speak at home buying seminars. I give the usual reply that "no house is perfect"... "it's good to have a second set of eyes look it over"... yadda yadda yadda. Then I tell them three horror stories that I've encountered when inspecting new homes. After hearing these stories most clients agree that they do indeed need to have a brand new home inspected prior to closing.

Horror Story #1

This was actually an inspection of a home that was coming up on its one year warranty expiration. When I arrive for this type of inspection I'll always ask the homeowner if there are any particular problems that they've noticed so I can take a more exhaustive look at it. This particular homeowner told me that he's been noticing a really "musty" smell at one corner of his house for a couple of months. The house was about 3500sf and had an unfinished 3rd floor when they moved in. The 3rd floor was set up for a game room and was roughed in for a bath. He finished the 3rd floor and had been using it for about 6 months. The house has a crawl space which is the last thing I will inspect. As soon as I opened the hatch to the crawl I knew something was not right. After a couple of minutes I called the homeowner out, asked him to go up to the 3rd floor bath and flush the toilet. He did and whoosh. Yes, the plumbers did rough-in a 3rd floor bath BUT they did not connect it to waste underneath the house. So this poor homeowner has been flushing their toilet underneath their house for about 6 months!!! Quite unsavory to say the least!

Next week...horror story #2...stay tuned!