elimination of home inspections

​Housing Market Frenzy in Windsor & Essex County
How it affects the Home Buyer
 
Windsor, ON April 2, 2019:  The ‘hot’ housing market in Windsor & Essex County has negatively affected home buyers in many ways. The current trend to eliminate home inspections from offers-to-purchase puts home buyers in a precarious situation. Home buyers are being strongly advised to purchase a home with no conditions because a condition will jeopardize their offer even if their offer has a greater dollar value than the next.

The Ontario Government protects car buyers with the Used Vehicle Information Package and Safety Standards Certificate. Yet, the governing bodies are not protecting Ontario home buyers. Unlike vehicles, the Consumer Protection Act, 2002, does not apply to transactions that involve the purchase, sale or lease of real property.  When contacted, the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services stated “The Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) is responsible for administering and enforcing the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act. RECO regulates the conduct of real estate agents and works to increase consumer protection in the real estate industry.” That’s like solely appointing the Ontario Motor Vehicles Industry Council (OMVIC) to regulate the purchase, sale or lease of vehicles!! The Ontario Government did not believe that was enough to protect consumers and therefore the Ontario Ministry of Government and Consumer Services stepped in.
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With the current Real Estate trend, whoever 'wins' or out-bids others with their offer-to-purchase does not truly know the condition of what they are buying! Ontario home buyers should have the RIGHT to take the time to have a FULL Home Inspection performed by an Ontario Government-Recognized Home Inspector so that they can make an informed decision on their largest investment. If each offer-to-purchase had this clause, every home buyer would be protected as they would all be on the same level playing field.
 
We are now performing post-purchase home inspections and more times than not, the new home buyers are surprised with our findings and are in deep regret because they feel that they have no recourse – they’ve already bought the house. They all wish that they would have gotten the home inspection performed prior to making the decision on their biggest investment.
 
Why does the Ministry of Government and Consumer Relations protect car buyers but not home buyers? The Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) cannot possibly protect home buyers while its members are the ones receiving compensation for Ontario real estate transactions. Just like the car sales industry, a governing body which is not associated with or affected by the monetary transaction of a purchase/sale/lease must be involved in order to protect the consumer. When will the governing bodies protect Ontario home buyers? We are back to square one…Caveat Emptor (buyer beware).