First time home buyer help

Hi ,

I got referred to this forum from some of my local Maplewood friends.My wife and I are looking at homes in maplewood and going through the process of lining up the next steps whenever we find our home.

Does any one have any recommendation for

(1) Home Inspector who can help with a thorough inspection for a 1920-1930 home

(2) Hardwood Floor (and General )contractor

Very much appreciate your help. Thank you.

Dan Meyers of MHI Services is the best home inspector in New Jersey.  Check out his website.  

You wouldn't be related would you?

Also , anyone in this group have any experience with home inspection from Jason Chang ?one of my friends mentioned him but has not used his services first hand.

My only recommendation is to ensure, to best of your ability, that the home inspector has NO tie (overt or covert)  to any party with a financial interest in the deal going thru.

I was involved in a transaction recently in which a Dan Meyers report was used. It was very good.

This is excellent advice! We used a house inspector recommended by our realtor and sorely regretted doing so. 

dickf3 said:

My only recommendation is to ensure, to best of your ability, that the home inspector has NO tie (overt or covert)  to any party with a financial interest in the deal going thru.

We had a very positive experience with Eugene Sullivan as a home inspector.    He was incredibly thorough but not alarmist and really took time to explain details to us as we walked through the inspection with him.  Our realtor who had not worked with him previously was so impressed that she has since been recommending him. 

No matter who you choose, it is important that you (and both of you) accompany the inspector as she/he goes through the house.  Ask questions, learn how the heating system works, whether issues are major and in need of immediate or near term attention or something you can live with.

Good luck and welcome to our community.

Inspector - Joe Corsetto at Shelterworks http://shelterworks.net/ - you'll get a thorough inspection and corresponding report which will serve as a users manual for your home for years to come...

1. Understand what your taxes plus mortgage payment is likely to be for each of the next seven to ten years. Ask around.

2. Count on unexpected repairs and upkeep costs of about one percent of the purchase price each year, more if your roof is old.

We used Jason Chang in the fall when we were buying this house.  Found him to be thorough and haven't had any big surprises thus far. We found him through MOL not our realtor.  

Check for an oil tank. Then double check. Consider triple checking. Even if the home does not currently have oil heat, or if it had a tank inside the basement, it may still have an older tank buried in the yard somewhere.

ditto on the advice to use an independent inspector - we got hosed by a popular realtor and her 'inspector', (and we were very naive).

for floor refinishing check out Jacob Ysseldyk -http://professionalfloorrefinishing.com/, a craftsman who really cares about his work and fairly priced. He did a beautiful job on our floors.

For the floors: D & G Hardwood Floors: 973-372-2526. We were very pleased with their work and their professionalism.

our realtor reco'd an inspector and the guy was actually spot on.  

I need to throw my $0.02 in here, as a realtor. Inspections are the responsibility of the buyers side and when I'm representing them I want the most intense/thorough inspection you can get. In fact, I've used, who I call, the "inspector from hell", because he will uncover anything. May make for a long inspection, but o want/need to protect my client. So having said that, I don't get all the talk about agents and inspectors being in cahoots.

vermontgolfer said:

I need to throw my $0.02 in here, as a realtor. Inspections are the responsibility of the buyers side and when I'm representing them I want the most intense/thorough inspection you can get. In fact, I've used, who I call, the "inspector from hell", because he will uncover anything. May make for a long inspection, but o want/need to protect my client. So having said that, I don't get all the talk about agents and inspectors being in cahoots.

Most of the time the realtor is representing the seller and recommends someone who is less likely to point things out.

Frankly, I've never had/allowed a listing agent to recommend an inspector to my buyer client.  In fact, I think that's very rare.

I don;t believe I;ve ever even spoken directly to a seller's agent.  why would I.  I have my own agent.  In fairness, some agents acting as buyer's agent, just like any profession, ain't too good.  That's why you interview them, not just take the one who happened to answer the phone at the office.

jimmurphy said:

vermontgolfer said:

I need to throw my $0.02 in here, as a realtor. Inspections are the responsibility of the buyers side and when I'm representing them I want the most intense/thorough inspection you can get. In fact, I've used, who I call, the "inspector from hell", because he will uncover anything. May make for a long inspection, but o want/need to protect my client. So having said that, I don't get all the talk about agents and inspectors being in cahoots.

Most of the time the realtor is representing the seller and recommends someone who is less likely to point things out.

Agree that this is at least generally true. Realtors are ultimately salespeople who want to close a sale, and like salespeople in general, some are more self-serving than others in their advice and recommendations.

Consider the purchase of a house a business transaction. It is very hard, but try not to fall in love with any house. Once you do you are doomed. You will glance over issues and try to justify the purchase no matter what. Stick to logical thinking and at try to be rational. Don't start redesigning and remodeling the moment you like a home. It is at time heart breaking to have to walk away or have someone else make a better offer. This said by someone who learned from previous mistakes .

Pick your own Inspector and most definitely pick your own lawyer!

Be very careful with the buyers' inspector.  When I sold my Maplewood house last year, he put in the report that I had a gas leak in the basement (I didn't -- when I asked him specifically where he said the realtor smelled gas); that I had a TV antenna on my roof (I didn't); that I had a smart TV hung on the wall (I didn't); that my outdoor light in the rear of the house was not professionally installed (it was); that my oven was inoperable (it was working just fine); and on and on.  I had to spend a helluva lot of money to prove to the buyers' attorney that it was all rubbish.  I honestly don't know what the hell he expected to gain from this shoddy report, but it cost me money and caused a lot of resentment.

mumstheword said:

Be very careful with the buyers' inspector.  When I sold my Maplewood house last year, he put in the report that I had a gas leak in the basement (I didn't -- when I asked him specifically where he said the realtor smelled gas); that I had a TV antenna on my roof (I didn't); that I had a smart TV hung on the wall (I didn't); that my outdoor light in the rear of the house was not professionally installed (it was); that my oven was inoperable (it was working just fine); and on and on.  I had to spend a helluva lot of money to prove to the buyers' attorney that it was all rubbish.  I honestly don't know what the hell he expected to gain from this shoddy report, but it cost me money and caused a lot of resentment.

Similar thing happened to my in-laws when they sold.  Inspector also went around poking the gap between the moldings and the floor with a screwdriver and wiggling it up and down so vigorously that it cracked some of them.  When the buyers asked for credit for the damaged moldings(because it was on the report as "water damage") they showed them the video that they shot of the guy doing this.  Needless to say that demand got dropped.

Your real estate attorney will be able to recommend a good inspector.  Your attorney will get paid whether you buy the house or not.  As a realtor with 21 years of local experience, sadly, there are more inspectors who I would not recommend than who I would.  Most local Realtors (except the ones who advertise all over) get a significant amount of their business from referrals and repeat clients.   If we did not do right by our clients they would not come back to us or recommend us.  So I take issue with the advice  to not trust your realtor.  If you don't trust your realtor then you have the wrong realtor.  In no particular order  I like Rick Hammet of Foresight engineering. In addition to being a home inspector he is a structural engineer.  

I also like David Rose of Astute Inspections.  He recently took almost 3 hours to inspect a smallish condo which is a looong time.  He checks everything.  Good luck and welcome to a wonderful comminity

do not pick your own lawyer unless it is a personaL recomendation from someone local who had a good experience.  Your lawyer should be a real estate attorney, an attorney who does only real estate, not an attorney who also does real estate.  There are a lot of attorneys who do a lot of stuff and real estate too.  Stay away from that.  Use an attorney who specializes in real estate.  

I will second sarazm's advice about the lawyer. Get someone who really knows real estate. You want to make sure they can look out for your interests at every turn. Lots of real estate deals go smoothly, but the ones that don't will kill you.

When I sold my mother's condo a few years ago almost everything had been recently and beautifully renovated. It presented beautifully and I knew that everything worked well. In spite of that, the buyer's inspector had a page-long list of mostly little items. I looked it over, fixed four or five of them myself and said "No" to the rest.

I told my realtor that if the buyers wanted a completely new place, they should buy one. The buyers said fine and bought the condo with no additional negotiating. Both parties were happy. -With that I realized that it can all be bit of a game.

steel said:

When I sold my mother's condo a few years ago almost everything had been recently and beautifully renovated. It presented beautifully and I knew that everything worked well. In spite of that, the buyer's inspector had a page-long list of mostly little items. I looked it over, fixed four or five of them myself and said "No" to the rest.

I told my realtor that if the buyers wanted a completely new place, they should buy one. The buyers said fine and bought the condo with no additional negotiating. Both parties were happy. -With that I realized that it can all be bit of a game.

it is SUCH A GAME !! some buyers view the inspection as a re-negotiation of the price of the home and many realtors/lawyers coach towards that game (offer high and renegotiate price with concessions from inspection issues as the seller doesn't want to put the house "back on the market").. Despite having clauses in the contract re acceptable issues that can be negotiated