Buying an apartment can be a highly worthwhile investment, whether you plan to rent it out, renovate and resell it, or simply live in it for years while its value rises. But to actually get a good deal, a quality apartment at a fair price, you need a comprehensive home inspection (bedek bayit) before you buy.
What actually is a home inspection? The term covers a comprehensive, general check of a house, apartment or any other structure, done to assess its value, its condition, its qualities, and to help set its price.
People order one for many different reasons, but here we mean an inspection meant to determine the real value of the apartment you are considering, and how much you would need to invest in renovation to bring it into good shape for selling, renting or living in.
What does it check? In this case, as much as possible, and as thoroughly as possible. Take waterproofing against dampness: are the doors, windows and other openings really sealed well and professionally?
Will that sealing last for years, or will you need to hire someone to redo it soon? Does water or dampness get in through some crack during storms and heavy rain? These are genuinely critical questions when you are trying to make a worthwhile deal: an apartment that needs re-waterproofing and renovation can stop being a good buy once you add those costs to the purchase price.
A comprehensive inspection also covers construction defects: was the house or apartment built properly, or does the structure itself have substantial problems? Structural soundness and quality matter enormously when you are trying to assess the apartment's value and work out whether buying it is actually worthwhile.
How do you get a good, comprehensive inspection done? The simplest way to get reliable answers about an apartment's qualities is to hire professionals for the job. Many companies in Israel specialize in comprehensive home inspections today, employing professionals from various fields, among them building and electrical engineers and real-estate appraisers.
They know how to assess exactly what the apartment is worth and where its qualities and flaws lie, and you get a detailed report on any renovation needed to bring it into good condition, if it needs any at all.
Hiring a professional company for a home inspection is a smart, sensible move that can make the difference between a good investment with an attractive return over the years, and a genuinely bad one: not just financially unworthwhile, but a real waste of money on a failed project.
If you are planning to buy any real estate soon, invest in a serious, professional home inspection: it will pay off in the end.
The engineers of Arad Bedek Bayit, led by building engineer Ron Arad, whom courts appoint as their own expert on construction defects. The company has been inspecting apartments and buildings since 2001. Engineer Ron Arad · More about the company