Condo Inspection in Chicago

Our thanks to Richard Zwierzynski of The Real Estate Inspectors Group for being a source of information for this article.

The real estate market in Chicago has something available for all kinds of buyers. If you are about to buy a property in the Windy City, the most important thing for you is to have it inspected. Buying a house is without a question one of the most important purchases you can make, so you have to be extremely careful, mistakes here will cost you a lot. Therefore, you must have everything checked and examined in details. And that's what Chicago condo inspections are all about. A condo inspection in Chicago covers everything from the foundation to the roof, excluding areas that are not visible or accessible, such as crawl spaces or insulation behind walls.

Condos are the undisputed leader in terms of the types of properties that builders are focused on. New condo projects are spawning everywhere, especially in the suburbs where developers find more available space. With this evident increase in the number of builders offering condominiums, the real estate market has started to inflate. Nevertheless, condo prices remain strong, ranging from anywhere between $150,000 to even $700,000 plus. It all depends on two main factors – location and included amenities. With this growth of the real estate market, condo inspections are becoming even more important. Since this is a big investment, you have to make sure you are putting your money in the right property. There is no doubt about that. Therefore, spend some time researching on companies that provide such services and get familiar with the process as a whole. They will assign you a home inspector.

A home inspector is someone who has working knowledge of the basic components and systems of a home. But the home inspection does not fix problems related to the condition of the property, it just pinpoints them. For example, a home inspector might spot a problem with the draining system, but he won't dismantle it. That is the job of the specialist. But this information can but you in a better bargaining position. Armed with it, you can lower the price drastically.

The thing with Chicago condo inspections is that they don’t just examine the unit itself, but also the common areas of the building, because that’s what you also get when buying a condo. You are becoming a partial owner of the property’s common areas and you pay monthly fees to a condo association. So you have to know the condition of the common areas and components that may directly affect your unit. Your CA (condo association) will tell you which exactly those common areas are, the areas that the inspector will be allowed to access.

Basically the condo inspection is visual and is not technically exhaustive in a sense that no engineering sciences are used. Hence, you must take into account the fact that the analysis is based upon brief, limited observations of the interior of the unit and its major components. In other words, it does not eliminate the risk, but it reduces it. Any findings should be considered partial or incomplete, until further evaluation is performed by the required specialist.