Inspecting Luxury Properties

Purchasers of luxury homes are generally sophisticated buyers with more interest in getting accurate information than saving a few dollars on a real estate transaction. We have noticed some trends in the local luxury home market as follows:

1. Newly constructed luxury properties often have more serious construction defects than a newly home built by a production builder. The reason for this is simple. In production homes, the tradesmen and supervisory personnel become familiar with the various plans and elevations in a tract. Mistakes that are made early on in the subdivision's construction are often corrected as similar models are erected. In other words, they get better and better at assembly due to the repetition. In a custom home, the builder may be seeing and constructing a given design for the first time so the crews don't get to benefit from repetition. It is common to believe that attention to detail must be extraordinary given the staggering costs associated with construction of a luxury home. Very often this is not the case. We have seen luxury homes that are very well constructed and others that are so poorly constructed that we get embarrassed for the builder. To be fair, it is important to realize the immense complexity associated with building today's custom luxury home. Potential for mistakes is incalculable. Any lapse in supervision will have an adverse affect on the project. Misunderstanding between design/construction personnel can cause calamity and luxury homes are not immune from underskilled tradesmen. See the potential?

2. I am always astonished at the way we all believe that municipal inspections during construction provides identification of every defect and that "the system" protects us from mistakes made during construction. In reality, the municipal inspectors are only able to provide a cursory screening of certain code related defects. Limited is a good word to describe the benefit of municipal inspections. They are important but they are not enough. Independent inspections are crucial.

3. In the resale luxury home we often see deferred maintenance. When expensive systems are installed we somehow tend to think that maintenance is either unnecessary or rarely necessary. It is not uncommon to find heating and cooling system filters that have never been serviced or water heaters that are leaking because the homeowner does not normally look into the mechanical rooms. Buyers and sellers are often shocked to hear, from the home inspector, about the extensive deferred maintenance items in a resale luxury home. A home's high value does not always mean that it is in good condition.