Ocean City MD Real Estate | Home Inspections

One of the primary phases of buying real estate in Ocean City MD or Ocean Pines real estate is the home inspection phase.  In a majority of situations your are going to want to have a home inspection performed to ensure the Ocean City MD condos or Ocean City MD homes your are pursuing are sound structurally and that the mechanical systems and appliances are in good, working order.  The cost for inspections for most averaged sized Ocean City condos, Ocean City homes and Ocean Pines homes will be around $300.  This is pretty inexpensive "peace of mind" insurance considering the overall costs of these Ocean City MD properties and Ocean Pines properties.

 

There are two types of home inspection contingencies that can be made part of the contract of sale.  The first is your standard home inspection contingency and the other is an "AS IS" inspection contingency.  Each of these provides a contingency and protection for a home inspection, however each handles the results of the inspection differently.

 

Standard Home Inspection

Your standard home inspection contingency is included in the agreement of sale and is made part of the contract on a separate addendum.  The first part of the addendum determines the timeframe for when the inspections on the Ocean City properties or Ocean Pines properties will be performed from the time of contract acceptance.  Typically this timeframe is 10 to 15 days from the point which everyone has signed the contract.  These are done right away so that in the event there is a problem that can't be solved you as the Buyer are not wasting your time and the Seller's property is not off of the market for a prolonged period.  These timeframes are negotiable and can be structured based on your schedule, contract time table and your comfort level.

 

The next part of the home inspection addendum outlines the specific inspections that you will be having performed.  In a majority of Ocean Pines and Ocean City MD property purchases the only inspections that are done are a mechanical and structural inspection.  This inspection will cover the entire structure including the roof, foundation, walls, doors, windows, etc.  In addition they will check all of the mechanical systems including the HVAC, electric and plumbing systems and all related components.  Finally they will check all of the appliances, fireplaces and any other mechanical devices.

 

In the event that there are any other inspections that you would like to have performed, such as mold, well/septic, etc., we will outline them in this section and they will all need to be perfomed in the timeframe set above.  If there are any unique features of the home such as pools, boat lifts, etc. that you would like to have inspected we will make them a part of the home inspection contingency.  These will require scheduling companies that are familiar with these items as the typical home inspection will not cover such items.

 

Once we have determined the inspections that you would like to have performed I will schedule all of them for you.  You are more than welcome to attend and I encourage my clients to do so when possible.  In the event that you can not attend I will go to the inspections and personally oversee any issues that arise.  This way we will know exactly what we are dealing with and I can arrange for contractors to come out, determine what the solution is and provide us with a quote that we can then negotiate with.  The Ocean City MD home inspetors prepare detailed reports with descriptions and photos that clearly outline any issues that arise and they will email this report to you promptly after the inspection is complete.

 

Once we have the results back, technically we have 3 days to review them and respond to the Seller as to how we would like them handled.  Once the Seller has been notified they have the same allotted 3 days to respond.  In reality all of this typically happens relatively quickly and is wrapped up within a day or so assuming there are no major problems.  Once the Seller has your requests they can either agree to fix all of the items, provide you with a credit at the time of settlement for the Ocean City property or Ocean Pines property to deal with the issues, refuse to address the items or agree to remedy some but not all of the problems.  The Seller's response will largely be dictated by the overall structure of the contract of sale.  If they took well below market value they may not be so inclined to fix anything.  When we have the results of the inspection and the scope of them we can factor in the terms of the deal itself and determine which way to go.  At the end of the day it will be up to you to move forward or not.  In the event that you are not satisfied we will have a release signed that will get you out of the contract, your deposit will be returned and we will move on to another property.

 

AS IS with Inspections

"AS IS" property inspections recognize that the property is being sold in its as is condition, however reserves the right for a Buyer to perform an inspection.  In the event that the Buyer is not satisfied with the results of the inspection they have the option to terminate the contract.  "AS IS" inspection contingencies are typically used when purchasing Ocean City MD short sales or Ocean City MD foreclosures.  For short sales in Ocean City MD and Ocean Pines the Seller is not in a position to make any repairs and the bank approving the sale will not allow it.  In addition, the bank owned and foreclosure listings in Ocean City and Ocean Pines are sold by the bank in their "AS IS" condition and are factored into their below market listing prices.

 

When the offer is submitted on these properties an "AS IS" inspection addendum is included.  Timefames are designated as in the scenario above, however we do not have to identify which inspections we are performing ... you can inspect whatever you like.  Once we have the results of said inspections back you will need to weigh the results of them and the costs associated with the overall deal that you secured on the property.  In the event you are happy with everything, we move forward.  If the results are not to your satisfaction then we terminate the deal and move on to pursue other Ocean City MD real estate or Ocean Pines real estate.

 

In some situations, though they are very rare, if the problems are significant and it is something that the bank would have to fix in order to sell the property we can get them fixed or get a credit for them at the time of settlement.  This would be for issues such as mold, broken mechanical systems, etc.  The banks will not fix nit picky things or cosmetic items.

 

Conclusion 

As we stated earlier, in the grand scheme of things the home inspections for real estate in Ocean City MD and Ocean Pines real estate are relatively inexpensive and will save you potential headaches down the road .  Primarily they are intended for everything in the Ocean City MD homes or Ocean Pines homes to be in working order when you take possession if the property.  More importantly they give you protection in that if there is something major wrong that you are not comfortable with you are not forced to buy the property regardless of whether it can be fixed or not.  As always, feel free to contact us directly anytime of we can be of any assistance with your potential purchase of Ocean City MD real estate or Ocean Pines real estate at 443-614-9179 or by email.