We waited until the short sale lender accepted before scheduling an inspection. I dont think its worth paying for one until an acceptance happens, but the inspector missed a lot of things and hes a general contractor, not that it says much but he was highly recommended by several people.
If you’re serious about the home, if I had to do this over again, prior to a short sale acceptance, I would also have a roofer, electrician and plumber come out. They will all do this for free, so as long as the owner agrees, schedule all of them for the same day. The roofer is really important if you have a tile roof because the only way to really look at a tile roof is to have a roofer walk it, and an inspector typically don’t do this.
Also in an older home, particularly with ones where you see visual damage or deferred maintenance, budget 10-20k in fixes. There are bound to be things that need fixing that won’t be uncovered. But you might find out a month, 2 or six into living in the home.
Finally, if you are looking at a house on a slope, do some homework on what to look for. Are there any major cracks in the house, stuck doors or windows, obvious signs of drywall /stucco repair from cracking? Talk to the neighbors, does anyone have any soil settlement, or slope failure issues? If the house is on a steep slope, what type of soil is typically in the area? Are there any retaining walls? If so, are any of them bulging or slipping? Is water/ drainage in place at the home? IE gutters, drains, etc. Basically you dont’ want water going down a slope, you want it out to the street to prevent erosion. If you think theres problems, call a soil engineer prior to buying the home. ask them to come out to look at a slope and give you a visual interpretation. If there are suspected issues, you’ll need a soil study which is thousands of dollars, and then potentially 10s of thousands to fix it.
