Inspection Checklist For Real Estate Investments
Many people would argue that investing in real estate is one of these safest and most exciting ways of building up your retirement account or even creating current income. I would probably agree with that. But one thing that often gets overlooked in the scurry and hurry to purchase new investments is the inspection.
Sure you will probably hire an inspector to do an official inspection but you’re really going to want to go in there yourself with your own checklist and poke around so that you have a good idea of what you’re getting yourself into before it’s too late to back out.
So here is my personal inspection checklist that I like to use before purchasing a new house. You can use this for both real estate investments as well as purchasing a home for your own living use.
First I always start in the basement because often times defects in the house are more obvious down there. What you want to look for are any bulges in the walls and also look for any fresh patches that have been applied or any high water marks. Also look for cracks in the plaster or for crumbling mortar.
Look around on the floor and look for signs of any leaks or even seepage of any kind. Plus note how the air smells. Is there a damp odor to the air? If so that may indicate flooding. Also keep an eye out for a spare sump pump or a hidden sump pomp because that might indicate frequent flooding as well.
You’ll also want to check the basement pipes for any kind of corrosion. Hot water pipes should always be copper and hopefully insulated, while cold water pipes will be either copper or plastic.
Check the fuse box, generally speaking 16 to 20 circuits are going to be needed for an 8 to 12 room house so take a few minutes to check just to make sure because you’d be surprised how often there aren’t enough circuit breakers to fit our modern technological needs.
Next make your way to the outside of the house and look for any sags. Also look at the walls, are they aligned properly and is there any missing mortar or cracks? What kind of siding does the house have? I prefer aluminum to wood. If you find any places that have been painted while the rest of the house has not been painted then those painted spots may be covering up rot or something worse, inquire about it.
Finally you will want to look at the roof and check for missing shingles as well as any paper bubbles or broken patches that you might see. Also look at the metal sheeting that goes around chimneys and ventilation systems, make sure they appear watertight.
These are just a few simple things that you can check on your own without any sort of training whatsoever. You don’t have to be a licensed inspector in order to look for these things and you can do so in just a few minutes time, making it a no-brainer for anybody serious about purchasing a house for real estate investment reasons or otherwise.
