Inspect-a-Home

Buying Your Dream Home? Make Sure It’s Not A House Of Horrors!

admin — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:08:55 +0000

The CPA is on my side… Right?

Warming hearts across South Africa, the new Consumer Protection Act (CPA) seeks to protect the consumer from being taken advantage of in business transactions. Break a vase in-store? It’s no longer your problem. Your new DVD player doesn’t work? Take it back to the seller and decide whether you want to have it repaired or replaced. It seems that, in a few easy steps, the CPA has made sure that consumer purchases are no longer a nightmare of fine print. However, few consumers know that the CPA is not a blanket Act – it doesn’t cover you simply because you are a consumer. The CPA only applies to the consumer buying from a supplier (someone who sells goods/services in the course of their daily business). Buying a piece of furniture from your next door neighbour? You’re not covered by the CPA as this is a consumer-to-consumer transaction.

What does this have to do with buying a house?

Too many consumers presume that the CPA covers all transactions, and why not one of the largest purchases you will ever make – your dream home? If you buy that home from another consumer, then this is not a business-to-consumer transaction and you’re not covered. What about estate agents? It is important to remember that, when estate agents sell houses, they do so not as suppliers (in the same way that car dealers sell cars) but as intermediaries who are contracted by sellers to sell their property. They are required to operate within a mandate but that does not mean that they are governed by the CPA. If you buy a property with a leaky roof, you can’t go back to the estate agent and demand your money back. In terms of CPA Regulations, an intermediary must disclose any relevant information that he/she may reasonably be expected to be aware of but this does not mean that the estate agent is required to climb into your roof, uncover structural problems, and present them to you. In this way, as a buyer, property inspections become your responsibility.

And, there’s more bad news. Many estate agents are asking sellers and buyers to sign disclosure documents, stating whether they know of any major defects in their properties, releasing them from liability at a later stage. These defects range from patent defects (visible defects such as cracked walls) to latent defects (defects that are not easily visible but may impair the use of the property, such as rising damp).

Unless you are a structural engineer or qualified building inspector, it is unlikely that you will be able to identify latent defects or their potential repair cost, which can run into hundreds of thousands of rands!

Sellers are liable for latent defects that existed at the time of the sale but, by signing a disclosure document, buyers often sign away their rights to that claim, effectively making the defects the buyer’s problem. You do not have to sign a disclosure document and have the right to conduct a thorough home inspection prior to signing a sales agreement.

What should I do?

The law cannot protect you from ignorance. Investing in the services of a reputable home inspector, with National Association of Certified Home Inspectors (NACHI) accreditation, should be an important part of any property purchase. As is standard practice in Europe, home inspections should take place before any sales agreement is signed.

Before buying a property, Inspect-a-Home’s CEO, Eric Bell recommends hiring a qualified property inspector who will deliver a comprehensive report on the interior and exterior of the property. “It is essential to receive an objective and fair assessment of your property from a reputable home inspection company. Costly oversights can be avoided, giving you peace of mind about your purchase,” says Bell.

Why Inspections Are Vital

admin — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 07:41:43 +0000

From: Property At iAfrica.com

To avoid future disappointment, buyers should consider a home inspection before signing on the dotted line…

Few property buyers are structural, electrical or construction engineers, which means that most people looking at properties for sale would be unable to spot serious structural problems or other common defects such as damp or water damage during an informal walk through.

Defects are generally classified as patent or latent defects. Patent defects are clearly visible to anyone inspecting the property. For example, a leaking roof would be evidenced by water damage to the ceilings and walls. Latent defects are not obvious during an inspection (e.g. a faulty plumbing system).

“Hence, many home buyers rely on estate agents who are bound by the industry code of ethics to do a proper visual inspection and the seller to act in good faith by disclosing any defects,” says Adrian Goslett, CEO of RE/MAX of Southern Africa.

While the new Consumer Protection Act, once implemented, may affect the application of the “voetstoots” clause in standard sales contracts, the clause currently protects sellers against liability for latent defects that existed at the time of sale.

“If the property was sold ‘voetstoots’ or ‘as is’, the buyer does not have any recourse against the seller if defects are uncovered after the sale, unless the buyer can prove that the seller not only knew about the latent defect, but also deliberately concealed it. In such a case, the buyer could institute a legal process to have the sales contract declared null and void and the seller would have to refund the purchase price,” says Goslett. “Clearly, this is likely to be a costly, drawn out process which may not result in the buyer getting back all the money paid.

“Given this reality, homebuyers should consider a home inspection before concluding the sale, particularly if the home is very old or they have reason to suspect that there may be latent defects,” advises Goslett.

A professional home inspector will inspect the structural soundness of the home, check the plumbing and the geyser, investigate the causes behind patent defects such as damp and cracked walls, and uncover any safety hazards. A full report is then provided, detailing the problems, possible remedies and even the costs involved. Such a report provides the homebuyer with an objective assessment of the condition of the home, provides an estimate of repair costs and future maintenance costs to allow the buyer to make an informed decision and eliminates surprises after the sales has been concluded.

“Only use an inspector registered with the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors (NACHI). These inspectors have the necessary training as well as Errors and Omissions (E&O) insurance and subscribe to a code of ethics. Also be certain to check that the inspector will do a thorough inspection followed by a detailed report, instead of just a simple ‘checklist’ type of inspection,” suggests Goslett. “If you opt not to have a home inspection done, make sure you work only through a reputable estate agent who will take the time to do a thorough inspection, is experienced enough to spot any defects and will honour the industry’s code of ethics by disclosing all the information he’s aware of to the buyer,” he concludes.

Home Buying Horror Story # 107

admin — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 20:22:44 +0000

Mrs and Mrs Dreyer had a brand new multi storey home built in Cotswold Downs estate in Hillcrest. During the build process they realized that the builder was not building according to good building practice. The Dreyers noticed that the house was not been built according to how they had visualized it. The architect who had designed the home was supposedly supervising the build but he erred as the house had many design flaws visible to the owners.

As it turned out, once the roof was installed the owners were dismayed because the open roof truss design where specially constructed roof trusses were supposed to be utilized was not done by the builder and ordinary roof trusses were installed.

Due to the very poor quality of the roof structure it was then decided to put in ceilings to hide the poor workmanship and quality. In so doing this contravened the building regulations where the ceiling height was supposed to be a minimum on 2.4 in sub economic dwellings. The ceiling height ended up in 2.3 meters which is well below the ceiling height regulations. This meant that the house was non habitable and non saleable. Fortunately the owners called in Inspect-A-Home, who ended up testifying as expert witnesses against the builder and the architect with the result that the builder through arbitration lost the case and had to reimburse the owners R1.2 million. The house now has to be rebuilt with the walls 300mm higher. Obviously the whole house is going to have to be restructured. Bathrooms are going to be affected, floor surfaces, etc will have to be rebuilt.

What is not commonly known, is how Inspect-A-Home can avoid having such a disaster by offering new home owners a “quality control” service where we will supervise and “police” the build process or the construction of your home to ensure that the builder is building correctly. What one must realize is that most builders have very few qualifications and it is very hard to find anyone that is had building work done that is satisfied or happy with their builder.

Home Buying Horror Story #106

admin — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 12:02:41 +0000

A Mrs Viljoen from Fourways in Johannesburg, recently widowed with two young children, purchased a house and could not understand why the roof was sagging.

She called in Inspect-A-Home and after a thorough examination we found that the house had been severely damaged in a fire and the roof trusses badly burnt. The previous owner had used Acroprops inside the roof cavity to hold up the rafters and the roof was in imminent danger of collapse.

Fortunately our in-depth survey was of great assistance and the previous owners were forced to completely renovate the roof, costing them nearly R200 000.

This is just another example of how Inspect-A-Home can make your dream home a reality.

Home Buying Horror Story #105

admin — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 11:53:59 +0000

Recently we inspected a house in Westville where the roof cavity had over 30 paint tins and old buckets all collecting water from the roof leaking badly.

The owner had thrown sawdust 50mm thick over the entire ceiling to catch all the splashing. When I enquired about all the paint tins and sawdust in the roof, he told me that although he had been there for 30 years he had no idea how the paint tins and buckets had got up there.

My reply was I found it very hard to believe as one of the paint tins had a batch code of 2009 and was the same colour as his passage.

This is typical of the fraudulent disclosures most home owners make when they’re confronted with somebody buying their home.

Just remember – don’t let your dream home turn into a nightmare!! Call Inspect-A-Home right now!