Q:Β Iβm a renter, but Iβm interested in buying my own home. Recently, I have been looking at houses for sale owned by people who originally bought them as investments only. They made some improvements in the houses but quickly put them back on the market. I wanted to make offers on three of them. In each case, I hired a home inspector to look at the houses and problems were found, so the sales fell through. In all, I spent about $1,000 on inspections. Is there any recourse for recovering that money? Shouldnβt there be red flags on houses like these?
A:Β Thereβs no way to get reimbursed for those expenses. But you were smart to check out these homes carefully before finalizing sales. Make a list of some of the problems that the inspectors found. That list could help your real estate agent pre-screen houses before showing them to you. You might also tell the agent that you want to buy a house that actually had been lived in β not purchased as an investment. As you continue the process, you will probably be able to spot problems very quickly yourself before you decide to hire an inspector again.
Go to rosieonthehouse.com for more do-it-yourself tips. An Arizona homebuilding and remodeling industry expert for 25 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Saturday morning “Rosie on the House” radio program, heard locally from 8-11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson and KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 888-767-4348.
