5 Common Reasons New Homeowners Call a Handyman
Moving into a new home should be a joy. Before moving day, you may have imagined spending the next few weeks painting walls, decorating, and breathing a sigh of relief after an exhausting buying process. The t’s are crossed, the i’s are dotted and you can finally chill. Congratulations – you are a homeowner!
But amidst all this excitement, many new homeowners face unexpected expenses due to a laundry list of items that need fixing. This is often the case with homes bought as is. But even homes that have had a thorough inspection can be ticking time bombs for unexpected repairs.
We reached out to real estate professionals and recent homebuyers to uncover the most common reasons new owners call in a handyman. Read on for what home inspectors might be missing, what kind of fixes they come with, and what to look out for the next time you’re looking for a new home.
1. Dryer openings
When a washer and dryer block the vents, home inspectors often skip the inspection.
“When home inspectors can’t check dryer vents, it can be a big problem,” he says Patty Sakunkooa homeowner and real estate investor who has purchased seven homes in California, Nevada and Texas over the past 11 years.
“After the closure, we found that the vents were sometimes so clogged that the dryers couldn’t even dry the laundry,” she adds. “In addition, these blockages create fire hazards. If the vents are relatively easy to access and straight enough, you can clean them yourself. But you may need to hire a technician.”
Hiring a specialist costs between $50 and $150 an hour, depending on your location.
___
Watch: Cleaning Dryer Air Vents: It Must Be Done, and Here’s How
2. Defective major equipment
In general, large equipment has a fairly standard durability. But even if the home inspectors give your home the green light — and you think it has a few years to live — proceed with caution.
“Many appliances — especially things like water heaters and gas ranges — can fail with little or no warning, even after they’ve passed a home inspection,” she says Troy Portillo, Operations Manager of Studypool. “This is one area where I’ve found that buying a home warranty or an extended warranty on essential equipment can be a worthwhile investment. If you’re short on cash after buying a new home, a warranty can be a good short-term hedge against the risk of catastrophic equipment failure.”
Depending on the location and size of your home, as well as the cost and age of the appliance, a household warranty or extended appliance warranty will cost anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. But both options are much cheaper than buying a new gas stove or water heater.
3. HVAC failure
Maintaining the temperature of your home is vital to comfort. But often home inspectors just don’t have the time to assess real problems with your heating, ventilation and air conditioning system in a quick visit. Therefore, you may see problems after move-in day.
“The HVAC system, especially the air conditioning, has been a big problem in almost half of the homes we’ve bought,” says Sakunkoo. “Sometimes the inspector will say that the temperature delta is not optimal, but they didn’t want to elaborate on that. Then the vendors argue that the weather was unusually hot so the air conditioning couldn’t keep up when the inspector happened to be there.”
Sakunkoo says she discovered leaks in the system or that the coil or atomizer needed to be replaced after a few months of home ownership.
“Vendors often try to hide AC problems because they’re expensive to fix but hard to prove unless you actually live there,” says Sakunkoo. “And heating problems are often hard to spot in the summer when the heaters aren’t on.”
Even a small problem in the HVAC system will end up costing at least several hundred dollars, with the potential to cost thousands.
4. Roof damage
Generally, home inspectors look for cosmetic damage to a roof or obvious structural problems. But that means many issues that inspectors aren’t trained to spot fall through the cracks.
“While inspectors rarely overlook major roof damage, they often point out problems in the inspection report by recommending that a professional roofer take a second look,” he says Eric WallerOwner of Total Roofing Systems, with offices in Dallas and Grand Junction, CO. But because hiring a separate roof inspector will cost several hundred dollars, many cash-strapped homebuyers ignore the advice.
“Please don’t ignore the warning,” says Waller. “Home inspectors are not qualified to assess the true functionality of roofing systems and they look for cosmetic defects such as missing shingles and scuffs.”
Waller learned his own lesson the hard way in 2018 when he bought a large home with a damaged ridge section. He ignored the inspector’s red flag and shortly thereafter spent $35,000 to replace the roof. The bug inspired him to launch Total Roofing Systems and now he offers real estate agents proactive roofing reviews.
5. Poor insulation
Insulation is – or should – be everywhere in a home, but because it’s not immediately visible, it’s difficult to assess its condition. Inspectors often don’t have the tools to really analyze the soundness of the home’s insulation on a short visit.
“There are many types of insulation hidden behind walls, in attics and under floors, so it’s difficult to assess them all,” he says Cynthia Cummins, a real estate agent in San Francisco and owner of Kindred SF Homes. “Poor insulation, e.g. B. Air gaps between window frames, may only be noticed after the house has been occupied for some time.”
Gaps in insulation can lead to higher utility bills and excessive energy use. If certain areas of your home are consistently too hot or too cold, you need to call a handyman, Cummins says.
“Often using infrared cameras, they can detect temperature changes caused by inadequate insulation and repair damaged materials safely and reliably,” she adds.
Depending on the extent of the damage and the location of your home, repairs can cost anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars.
How to protect yourself
All of these issues can leave you feeling confused and anxious. But you can protect yourself.
“There’s a common misconception about how much a home inspector really knows,” he says Denise Smooth, a real estate agent and the founder of SparkRental.com. “A good house inspector knows a little about many things.”
So what can homebuyers do to ensure they aren’t buying a money pit?
“Read all contracts thoroughly,” advises Supplemente. “Also, pay attention to the seller’s disclosure. Some states, like Pennsylvania, require them.
“I’ve had a situation myself where a homeowner didn’t disclose a mold problem,” she adds. “The home inspector missed it. After living in the house for less than a few weeks, the mold started coming through. I contacted a mold inspector. He found that the mold had been there and had been painted over. Because they knowingly omitted the mold issue from the seller’s disclosure, the sellers had to pay for the remediation.”
Read your contracts, do your homework, and when in doubt, protect yourself and spend a few hundred dollars more on additional specialist inspections or invest in extended warranties.
