The hot housing market is “very bad” for this home inspector
The hot housing market is “very bad” for this home inspector
“My Economy” tells the story of the new economic normal through the eyes of people trying to make it, because we know the only numbers that really matter are the ones in your economy.
People often assume the hot housing market means Peter Drougas’ inspection business is very busy.
“It’s really more that we’re being burned,” Drougas said. “Doing 500, 600 inspections a year to doing less than 300. And we might only do about 200 or 250 inspections this year.”
With the shortage of homes on the market, Drougas said, more buyers are waiving appraisals and inspections to have their offers accepted.
“In the past year, we’ve actually found that a lot of people are calling us to do an inspection of a property after they buy it,” Drougas said. “Often that worked out OK, but there are a few examples where we did discover something where they probably wouldn’t have bought the house. Or they’re in a situation where they paid way over the asking price, so they’ve got no money and now a $50,000 repair to do.”
Drougas is hoping that the housing market will normalize, giving buyers more power so they can go back to insisting on inspections.
Let us know how your economy is doing using the form below, and your story may be featured on a future edition of “My Economy.”
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
