January 09, 2009
The Wisconsin Home Inspection
Thinking about buying a home? Don’t forget to include a Home Inspection Contingency in your Offer to Purchase. In Wisconsin, this contingency is found in lines 298-315. The contingency provides for “…a Wisconsin registered home inspector” to perform “a home inspection of the Property.” Thus, if Uncle Ed is a contractor and you want him to take a look at your future home, that’s all well and good – but unless he’s a “Wisconsin registered home inspector…” anything he finds will be for your personal information and will not offer you the standard protection of this contingency. On lines 299-300, you may also include language that would allow “any additional structural, mechanical, electrical or system inspections as recommended”. Thus, if the home inspector suggests that you have additional inspections, there is language already in the Offer to Purchase to that effect. Buyers should know what is – and is not – covered in a home inspection. The purpose of a home inspection is to confirm the condition of the major components and systems in a building. In the words of the home inspection contingency: “For the purposes of this contingency, a defect is defined as a structural, mechanical, or other condition that would have a significant adverse effect on the value of the Property; that would significantly impair the health or safety of future occupants of the Property; or that if not repaired, removed or replaced would significantly shorten or have a significant adverse effect on the expected normal life of the Property.”
Together with the Real Estate Property Condition Report, the Home Inspection report should give you a fairly complete assessment of the property you are purchasing. While the Real Estate Property Condition Report discloses defects and conditions the Seller “has actual knowledge of” the Home Inspection Report may reveal additional conditions and/or defects. Remember to keep things in perspective and to obtain as much information as possible before addressing the report. Every home has its own set of circumstances and a condition that may be unacceptable to one buyer may be a “non-issue” for the next. A perfectly wonderful 100 year-old home on Delavan or Geneva Lake may have a damp basement and while that may spell trouble for a buyer who has bailed rain water; another buyer may simply acknowledge its existence and see it as a condition that can be addressed. Don’t lose out on your dream home because you can’t see the bigger picture. When you’re ready to look for your new home, visit my website, www.SellingLakeGeneva.com or email me at Janis@SellingLakeGeneva.com. I’ll guide you through the buying process!
Posted By: 
Janis Hartley
Tagged With:
buying a home,
home inspection report,
real estate property condition report
and wisconsin home inspection
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