Is it a con-do, or a con-don't?

November 1, 2006 11:02 AM

Well, we've found a condo we want and now we need a good home inspector in the Vancouver/New Westminster BC, Canada area to make sure we aren't buying a lemon..

It's about 20 years old and I'd like to see what's been going on before committing. This is our first home purchase. We've been in town about 3 years but our friends are all renting (have you seen the house prices here?!) so we don't have any recommendations from them.

Does anyone know of a good one in the Vancouver/New Westminster area?

Bonus question: we're planning to do some renovations (knock down one wall, etc), before we move in, any local advice on contractors, suppliers, etc. would also be appreciated.

posted by concreteforest to work & money (8 comments total)

For a condo purchase one doesn't usually get a home inspection. Prospective owners get the status certificate for the condo corporation, and otherwise just eyeball their own suite. Problems that fall to the owner's responsibility to fix will be cosmetic, or things like replacing appliances.
posted by orange swan at 11:39 AM on November 1, 2006

Before purchasing my condo this year, I went to http://www.ashi.org/ , entered my zip, and looked through the available inspectors websites. I contact a few for quotes, and went with one of them.
posted by fings at 12:11 PM on November 1, 2006 [1 favorite]

I think orange swan is incorrect. Especially considering all of the 'leaky condos' issues we've had in this area, a home inspector is vital.

Friends of ours bought a condo last year and thankfully got it inspected, finding a repair that would have cost >$10k to fix, that ultimately was dropped off the price of the condo. I don't know who inspected it or if they were otherwise any good however.
posted by Kickstart70 at 1:29 PM on November 1, 2006

Previously: How necessary is a home inspection when buying a condo?

Vancouver has had a lot of problems with condos and building codes and owners being racked over the coals, so thoroughly checking out your purchase is doubly important in that city.
posted by Chuckles at 2:14 PM on November 1, 2006

I also disagree with orangeswan. I would definitely get an inspection; your lender may even require you to have one done. When we bought our house, we used an inspector that was recommended by our real estate agent. Have you checked with him/her?
posted by curie at 2:43 PM on November 1, 2006

When we bought our townhouse back in 2000 we had it inspected by Pierre Lacombe of Metro Home Inspections, recommended by our realtor. He found quite a few issues. Their website seems to have
posted by russilwvong at 2:45 PM on November 1, 2006

I've heard a lot of news coming from BC about "Leaky Condos". I'm not sure that I fully understand the whole phenomenon, but becuase of this I would certainly recommend getting it inspected - independent of the real estate company or the building association/owner. I've found some information about it here, here, and here. I'm sure you can find more about it by googling the phrase.
posted by youngergirl44 at 5:38 PM on November 1, 2006

Their website seems to have--

I hit Post Comment before completing that thought. Oops. What I meant to say was, their website appears to have some general information about home inspections.
posted by russilwvong at 5:53 PM on November 1, 2006