HOME BUYER'S FIRST DEFENSE AGAINST BUYING BAD HOUSE

Today's smartest home sellers, before putting their homes on the market for sale, obtain professional home inspection reports. If any serious defects are revealed, sellers should have them corrected so they don't become detriments to a successful home sale.

The best realty agents recommend home sellers also have customary or required inspections completed before marketing the home, such as for termites, energy efficiency, well-water quality, septic system, radon, and building code compliance. Savvy home sellers then have any defects corrected to avoid later problems.

However, the home buyer's first line of defense against buying a bad house is to hire his or her own professional home inspector in addition to the required or customary specialized inspections. To avoid wasting money, the buyer's professional inspection should be completed after the seller accepts the buyer's purchase offer.

Before hiring a professional home inspector, buyers should check the inspector's credentials. Be wary of an inspector recommended by the realty agent. The inspector might be known as "easy" because realty agents don't want to recommend a tough "deal killer" inspector.

The cost of a professional home inspection should be around $300. That's cheap because a typical inspection requires at least two hours, plus time to write the report. Smart home buyers and their realty agents accompany their professional inspectors to discuss any problems discovered.

Incidentally, hiring a professional inspector is also a great way to avoid buying a "sick house." Don't hesitate to ask your professional inspector about moisture and mold, radon, asbestos, lead-based paint, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and other negative influences that concern many home buyers.

IF BUYER DOESN'T ASK, SELLER USUALLY DOESN'T HAVE TO TELL

Except for statutory defect disclosure requirements, which vary by state law, if a buyer doesn't ask, the seller usually doesn't have to disclose. It's up to the home buyer to ask about special concerns.

For example, if the roof leaked, but the seller had a new roof installed a year ago and it hasn't leaked since then, the seller isn't required to disclose the roof previously leaked. However, if the seller knows there is toxic mold in the attic from the leak, the mold problem should be disclosed.

But some problems are of special concern to just a few buyers. Death on the premises is one of these potential problems that bother some buyers but not others.

To illustrate, a few years ago, a San Francisco real estate broker was sued by his home buyer for failing to disclose there had been a suicide in the house. The broker knew about the suicide, but didn't disclose it because the event had nothing to do with the house's structural condition or desirability. However, the buyer came from a country where suicide on a property is considered a bad omen. After learning about the suicide, the buyer sued the realty broker. The jury found the broker had no liability because the buyer didn't ask if there had been a recent death on the property.