Life in Big Canoe, Real Estate in the Mountains

Congratulations! You found the Big Canoe real estate home of your dreams and you are ready to buy it! The nest steps are the offer and negotiations. Once this is all settled you will most likely have a due dilligence where you can conduct all the inspections your heart desires. The most important part of this due diligence period is to perform a home inspection. A licensed inspector can be hired to come out to the home for about $300 and comb through every part of the home. The inspection usually takes about 2-3 hours, and a report is usually available directly thereafter.

REMEMBER, you paid this person around 300 bucks so he/she will find all the problems in the house. The reports usually come out to about 15 pages or more complete with pictures and explanations. The most important part of the inspection is the summary sheet where you’ll find the highlights of the necessary repairs. There is no need to panic over everything. This blog is to help the buyers understand the most common concerns that come up on inspections in Big Canoe real estate.

Brand new construction homes are dreamy but they also have repair needs. Bring the builder with you for a final walkthrough and have a list of questions ready before you meet. Most builders will give a one year warranty and they have a crew ready to touch up any issues.

Resales range from flawless to downright faulty. The older homes may have poly-plumbing, LP siding, non GFCI circuits, woodpecker damage on the trim, and critters in the attic. There’s no need to panic because all these things can be repaired relatively easily.

Who repairs the inspection issues? The Buyer will send the Seller a list of repairs they want fixed before closing. The Seller will probably agree to some but most likely not all. Sometimes the Seller prefers not to do the repairs and offers cash to the Buyer for repairs. Keep in mind that the inspection is most often treated as just nother part of the negotiation - nothing is written in stone.  The bottom line is that the Buyer and Seller must reach a meeting of the minds on the repairs.

My advice to my Buyers and Sellers is that the deal is over halfway complete and there’s no reason the “sweat the small stuff”.  Focus on what you feel are the most important repairs.  Sellers are usually aware of major problems in a home, so there are usually no big surprises on inspections, but they do come up.  In this event, as I mentioned earlier, everything usually progresses more smoothly if the Buyer and Seller are realistic about the both the problem and what they expect in the way of a credit or repair.

There are some great deals on homes right now both in Big Canoe and across North Georgia. Most of these homes will have issues that arise upon inspection. So, keep the above advice in mind, and try to make the best deal you can - whether you are the Buyer or the Seller.